There aren't actually any heating systems designed to raise ambient (air) temps for herps that I know of -- that would be convective heat (like a forced air furnace in a human house). CHEs, RHPS and incandescent lamps are radiant heat sources.
The main reason any of these heat the air is by heating objects which transfer that heat to the air -- that is, by turning an object in the viv into a heat exchanger. RHPs do this pretty well presumably since they can heat a large area to a moderate temperature (as opposed to something like a CHE which heats a smaller area/object to a higher temperature).
Keep in mind that when measuring 'ambient' temps a person is also measuring the radiant heat on the cool side of the viv that's falling on the sensor or object the IR gun is measuring. Measuring actual air temps would need to be done behind a heat shield of some sort. Also note that thermostat probe temps may be very far off (in absolute values at least; with thoughtful design and placement relative temps should track pretty reliably) from the surfaces the snake encounters; an 80F probe may maintain a snake-accessible surface temp much higher or lower than that, depending on where the probe is placed.
I prefer to measure a bunch of surfaces in the viv (including the snake's body surface), correlate that with the locations the snake hangs out, and try to figure out if the snake wants things warmer or cooler and where it wants this. Without a gradient, this communication with the snake isn't possible, since the snake can't hint it wants things a different temp by hanging out in the Goldilocks zone and shouting 'Like this! This is how I want it!"
Reply With Quote