Wattage of heatbulbs/emitters

[Rascal]

I want to confirm which wattage to use for snake setups. i have an adult BP
After awhile of searching i found this:

An average distance guideline:
60 Watt 10-14 inches (250-350 mm)
100 Watt 12-16 inches (300-400 mm)
150 Watt 14-24 inches (350-600 mm)

its about 18in from the bottom of my tank to where the lamp is. and i have a fairly large glass tank. im going to have a branch that might raise that afew inches too. what should i do?

is 150 the correct watts to use? i don't want to fry my baby
..I just wanted to confirm the "average distance guideline" sice i only found it in 1 place. do heat emmiters follow the same guidelines? thanks

[tigerlily]

Is this to be used as the sole source of heat, or in conjunction with an under the tank heat source?

[Rascal]

Sorry, it is being used with a heating pad that is positioned under the hide. The pad covers about a 1ftx1ft area. I'm going to recieve 2ft of 11" heat tape shortly though. The tank is 4ft long and 1ft wide.

[tigerlily]

You're going to have a hard time heating a tank that large. Unfortunately, it will be very difficult to give you a chart, similar to the guidelines you found, that will work. What is your average room temps, and what temps do you achieve with the heating pad? Have you considered a small room heater? With something that large it may be your best bet.

[Rascal]

The average room temp is 75, but drops towards 70 at night. The heating pad keeps the hide at 90, +/-.
If I were to use a room heater, should I just position it a foot or so away from the center of the tank? It sounds do-able but not a long term solution.

[tigerlily]

I position mine about a couple feet back from the cages. If you want to go with the heating lamp, I would try the 60 or 100 watt. You may have more success with the ceramic bulbs, since they will not burn out as often.

[_BoidFinatic_]

I know what wattage to use for a specfic tank. You say that you have a 4' x 1' x 1.5', but the only thing I know of similar to that is a 75 gallon tank (4' x 1.5' x 2') and I would use a 100W or 150W bulb/heat emitter for that if you are NOT using a heat pad in the tank. If you are, then use a smaller wattage bulb. It is your preference if you want bulbs (red/black for night and blue/white/yellow for day) or CHE. The latter lasts for about 7 years and bulbs only last 1/2 a year.

[Rascal]

so black/dark blue is the same as red? At my local pet store only the blackish ones are marketed as night bulbs. is it true they can't see red?

[_BoidFinatic_]

so black/dark blue is the same as red? At my local pet store only the blackish ones are marketed as night bulbs. is it true they can't see red?

Red is great too. I forgot to add that one as a night bulb. Oh, and they cannot see red so it makes a great choice for nighttime lighting.

[Rascal]

just picked up a black 100 watt bulb. the guy at the store said red and black would be the same, so i thought black might be better for me since i sleep within sight of it at the moment. i'll see how this effects the temps.