Ambient Temps In Tubs

[Spirit_Scale]

Well---seeing as its getting chilly here in Canada I'm stuck trying to figure out how to keep temps up.

During the summer Ihy's tub was 93 give or take a degree (I have a hydrofarm thermostat) and about 75 on the cold side.
He's not doing so hot now that winter is setting in.
Hot side is still warm enough but ambient air and cool side is 67 degrees. He spends a lot of time buried under the hide, under the paper towel and right on the UTH.

He lives a rubbermaid tub (36x16x13) and is on paper towels. He's got his hide, a piece of driftwood to rub up against when shedding and a large shallow water bowl. My basic set-up was just a UTH on the warm side and that was it.

I can't boost the entire room temps because my landlord (whom I rent the room off of) would have a fit seeing as we don't have individual room control so I'd have to crank the entire house up to 80-85 and she would not be happy.

Seeing as the Montreal Reptile Expo is coming up I'm looking to redo his heating system entirely and was wondering what---seeing as he lives in a tub you guys would recommend?

I'm replacing his UTH anyway as its a crappy Exo-Terra (its all we can get around here) and the damn thing refuses to stay stuck the plastic bottom properly.

[Nathan777]

Suspend a red or black lamp a foot or so above the tub(i use a Zoo Med lamp stand) and use a decent-sized fixture, 8"-10", to spread the heat, use a dimmer or thermostat to set it where it needs to be to keep ambients up. Shouldn't be anywhere near hot enough to damage the tub, you're just looking for a bit of heat to warm the entire area. Also sounds like you only have one hide, i'd get a second identical one. I have a smaller tub, just a 15qt, but i use this set-up and it works great to keep ambients at 80+ even when the room drops into the 60's. If your room fluctuates a lot i'd probably use a thermostat attached to the outside lid of the tub and configure it that way to make sure temps don't spike too high if the entire room heats up, but if it's fairly consistent a dimmer/rheostat should work fine to just keep a nice, low warmth. As for your heat pad there's nothing wrong with the Exo-Terra if it's working and provides correct temps, just buy a roll of aluminum tape for ~$5 and tape around the edge to attach it to the tub securely.

Edit: One other option is to buy an oil heater or something of the sort and use that to heat the room, but if you're like me the thought of sleeping in an 80 degree room is none-too-pleasant, and it will be far cheaper to just heat the tub rather than the room.

[The Serpent Merchant]

You can either suspend some sort of heat lamp over it, or get an oil filled heater to heat just the room that he is in.

[Spirit_Scale]

Thanks guys---going to look into the lamp option as the oil heater is asking for problems considering the flighted parrot and my inability to tolerate heat

How does one prep the tub lid in order to set that up? Also would a CHE be a possibility in the tub if I hooked it up right?

Sorry guys---used to keeping leos which are easier.

[Nathan777]

Thanks guys---going to look into the lamp option as the oil heater is asking for problems considering the flighted parrot and my inability to tolerate heat

How does one prep the tub lid in order to set that up? Also would a CHE be a possibility in the tub if I hooked it up right?

I put a few holes in the top with a soldering iron, but even that's probably unnecessary. CHE would work fine.