Heating Questions

[yarok]

I use a mercury vapor bulb during the day but at night I turn it off. What can I use at night to keep the enclosure warm? ceramic heat emitter? if so what wattage would I need for a 20 gallon long tank?

 

[drxl34]

What is the pet in question? You probably don't need anything at night depending on room temp but I use a red light in the winter. Try a heating pad if you have a glass tank just have it cover about a third of the floor

---

For wattage since you only need one side to be heated I'd say 75w red bulb or purple bulb.

 

[yagyujubei]

Yes a CHE is what I use. It really depends on night time room temperature. I think if you get similar wattage to your MVB, you should be fine, you can put it on a dimmer, or raise and lower to get temps you want.

 

[yarok]

Baby sulcata

 

[Len B]

I would get the largest wattage CHE I could, and use something as simple as a lamp dimmer to reduce the heat to what you want, as your tortoise grows you can increase the temp needed for a larger sulcata.I have a 60 watt che that I use a lot for the smaller tortoises but the most I will ever get out of it is 60 watts and there are times I could use just a little more heat. Len

 

[drxl34]

I would get the largest wattage CHE I could, and use something as simple as a lamp dimmer to reduce the heat to what you want, as your tortoise grows you can increase the temp needed for a larger sulcata.I have a 60 watt che that I use a lot for the smaller tortoises but the most I will ever get out of it is 60 watts and there are times I could use just a little more heat. Len

Where do you guys get Che? They are so expensive in prtsmart

 

[DanaLachney]

Where do you guys get Che? They are so expensive in prtsmart

U can order online but by the time u pay shipping and wait for days for it to come in it's about the same

 

[Len B]

CHE's are a bit pricy but they pretty much last forever with proper care. Len

 

[Jacqui]

I agree get the larger CHE and just move it or use something to control the amount of heat it gives off. I also agree CHEs seem to last forever. Seems as long as I (or the cats) don't do something stupid and actually break the CHE they rarely stop working even years later. I also found that to me, the smaller wattage ones just were not worth the investment and did not produce the heat I wanted/needed.

 

[Madkins007]

Ditto- buy big, get a controller, and figure the cost over years. My favorite so far has been these black series from Big Apple Herps- http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Black-Infrared-Ceramic-Emitters.

However, instead of a lamp dimmer (which you need to make absolutely sure can handle the full wattage- many cannot), I recommend a thermostatic controller, even the cheapo Zoo Med unit (http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...-timers/-/zoo-med-500r-thermostat-with-probe/ ) With one of these, once you dial in the desired temp, the controller will pretty much keep it there for you regardless of other temp influences.