Ceramic Heat Emitters

[Immy]

I went to PetSmart this afternoon to get one for my enclosure. I noticed the wattage of the bulbs are they were either 100-120 watts. Do they have anything lower? Also, Is there a recommended snake store online? I'm sick of going out hours at a time to find things some stores don't have..

[waltah!]

They will usually come in the higher wattage and you would use a thermostat to control the output.

[Kysenia]

They do come in lower watts, but I agree with above, use a control on the higher watts, if you use lower watt bulbs and need more heat for whatever reason they may not be able to meet your needs. Key to their use is a temp control device.....

[josh@outbackreps]

Ceramic heaters suck, there is no way around it.
If you have uromastyx or bearded dragons, they are fine but for anything but exreme desert animals they are not recomended

The problem with them is even with a thermostat the heat they give off is such a dry intense heat that it kills any humidity you have in the cage. They will dry a ball python out in no time even the lower wattage. Also if the snake is in a cage with a screen top just touching the screen will burn the snake from the extreme heat.

I would use a good heat pad and if needed use a bood black light to keep temps proper without drying it out like a ceramic. Thge other option is to get a different type of cage, like a vision, or a smaller reptiles basics cage that can be heated properly with a head pad/tape.

I would focus more on what you can do to make the environment easier to heat but yet still comfy for the snake rather than going for the ceramic.