I personally use bulbs for heat. Zoomed red bulbs. 40 watts in the summer 60 watts in the winter. So I'm very familiar with heating in this manner. Yes, you have to have a humid hide. And yes I totally understand what your saying. I have four males ranging from 2 to 3 years old and there all 1200 to 1300 grams. Yes red heat lamps dry out the air, but no where as much as a Che in my opinion. But that's just my two cents. If you have the rest of your husbandry on, It shouldn't be a problem. Good luck and I hope this helped.