I saw "radiant heat panels" mentioned in another thread. Has anyone had experience with these as a heat source for reptiles?
Yvonne G said:I spent $79.95 each for 6 radiant heat panels that I saw advertised in a bird magazine. They were supposed to be mounted outside the bird's cage, but close to where the bird usually slept.
Long story short, they just plain don't work in a tortoise house situation. You have to mount it down low on the wall next to where the tortoise would be, and if you do that, the tortoise wrecks it by bumping up against it and digging it, etc. If you mount it out of the tortoise's reach, the heat doesn't reach the tortoise. If you mount it on the ceiling, the heat won't reach the tortoise unless he's a pretty big guy and his shell is close to the panel.
I was very unhappy with my purchase.
Moozilion said:...but glad to know they're not the best for torts.
Yvonne G said:I spent $79.95 each for 6 radiant heat panels that I saw advertised in a bird magazine. They were supposed to be mounted outside the bird's cage, but close to where the bird usually slept.
Long story short, they just plain don't work in a tortoise house situation. You have to mount it down low on the wall next to where the tortoise would be, and if you do that, the tortoise wrecks it by bumping up against it and digging it, etc. If you mount it out of the tortoise's reach, the heat doesn't reach the tortoise. If you mount it on the ceiling, the heat won't reach the tortoise unless he's a pretty big guy and his shell is close to the panel.
I was very unhappy with my purchase.
Tom said:I've been using them in outdoor housing for large monitor lizards and tortoises and they work great for me. The heat reaches all the way to the floor of my 24" tall boxes with no problem, and never gets hot enough in any one spot to damage my tortoises shell or burn a lizard that wants to reach up and touch it. Mine also help to keep the air inside the boxes in the 70's on below freezing nights.
Yvonne, I think you must have gotten some that were too low of wattage or just a brand that didn't work well. I wish you weren't so down on them in general because of one bad experience. I've seen them work very well in many applications for many people. You are the only person I know that has not been happy with them.
Here is where I got mine:
http://www.reptilebasics.com/rbi-radiant-heat-panels
They make several different sizes and wattages. I am using the 80 watt panels and they are still functioning perfectly for me after about two years of outdoor use now.
Here is one of mine in use:
Moozilion said:...but glad to know they're not the best for torts.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but like so many tort related things, everyone will have a different opinion on this. I think they ARE the best thing for torts because they avoid the shell damaging hot spots that I've seen so many times with CHE's. Its a bummer that Yvonne's were not effective for her, but me and many other people are quite happy with them, and they are much safer to use in my opinion since they do not get hot enough to start a fire.
Moozilion said:So, Tom- what wattage would you recommend for an indoor enclosure that's 8 x 3, with 24" ceiling, enclosed? We keep our house between 68 and 70 in the winter, and I have a Hermann's.