Thanks guys!
Okay, I can return the bulb for a CHE next time I go; I haven't used the red bulb yet. Do not mix substate. Save for that Herpstat - maybe even get a cheap on-off, use the dimmer and always check with the heat gun. *note to self, but it more batteries! The battery low message keeps coming up...*


@Chris, I've done A LOT of looking, and ordering from Canada and shipping to where I live (which isn't somewhere in the middle of no where!) is more expensive than shipping from Spyder themselves or Bean Farm (cheapest). Sadly, all options are near 200$ and I can't afford that right now.



@Soord, that unit at checkout is about 60$. I was hoping I would just save for a Herpstat Intro+, or a Hertpstat 2 if I should run the lamp+UTH. I have a digital temp/humidity probe and a digital - on - the - glass temp reader and a heat gun. The tank will be in an area I'm in 80% of the time, so there will be plenty of time to check it! I didn't think BPs could see the infrared light, though? How do we/you/they know they 'hate it'? I got red so I could keep it on all night. White light is stressful, and probably would not help me sleep I was wondering if a 'moonlight' would even be better than a red.


@Frankie_Frog, okay, I won't mix the substrate. I was just wondering since it feels chunky if it would be hard for them. Maybe I'm just a worry wart lol. I plan on doing the UTH/Lamp set up in the future. How long is the red lamp on at night? Are you saying that at night the UTH turned off and the lamp came on, or both were on at night?


@Soord, again, I'm afraid of the aspen my store carries now since my friend's was infested with mites... I also like the smell of mulch, hehe. I was worried about the soil/stuff getting caught in the eyes or heat pits, so that's why I asked. I just wanted to see if I could have a natural substrate that's less.. chunky, ad a bit more natural.


@Jordan, I'm keeping the BP as a pet, so I'd like him to have a nicer display than a translucent, plain papered tub that I can't enjoy watching him in. Yes, it would be the most cost effective and easily maintained, but I'd like to be able to peek over and see him doing his noodly stuff, than a foggy white bin. I understand their uses and pros, especially for breeders. But as a pet owner, I guess I'm going more for a... 'vivarium'?


What problems to heat and light emitters cause you? Humidity? I will be getting a UTH when I can afford a Herpstat, but 200+ is quite a lot for a unit that's 99$.


I'm not listening to the pet store employees; I mostly mentioned them because what they say contradicts the thousands of experienced keepers and breeders here, almost to a funny extent! I don't usually listen to them when they speak to me. Smile and nod, and read all you can weeks ahead of time. Though, I'd feel bad if someone said that to me and I worked in a pet store, because I love my animals and want to give them good care beyond "Oh yeah just get the plastic tiny hamster cage from All Living Things and all these tubes and attachments he can suffocate in. It's just a hamster, buy another".


I was talking to a breeder who used to work at one of the pet stores, who moved to a more specialized one, and when I told him he got upset and was tempted to go in and give them a big lecture! Some are passionate, some are there because "Animals!!!!" and a paycheck. Heck, I'd say most are there because "Animals!!!!",but that's a discussion for another time