Heating

[M Hatt]

Hi, i have quite a few slings that i now need to house in a cabinet but what would be the best heat source to use? I am currently using a heat mat but temp is only going up to 60. Asked in a local pet shop and he said to use a ceramic lamp which comes to a fair sum so wish to find out if it's any good before i buy. The cabinet is in the garage so not the warmest room to keep them in but have to keep the poor things away from a very anxious wife.

Any replies will be most helpful

[vincent winyard]

hi there m hatt and welcome to the forum. first of all it,s not a very good idea to use ceramic lamps to heat tarantula,s as they dont like any sort of light directly on them so i would say thats a big no no. as far as heat pads go they should be either at one end of the tank or at the back never under the tank. i would suggest putting polystyrene behind the heat pad as this will help throw the heat in to the tank. seeing as you keep your t,s in the garage it might be a good idea to invest in an electric oil filled radiator with a thermostat to help regulate the temperature in there. i hope this is of some help to you.

[Peter Lacey]

Lol vincent, a ceramic heat lamp doesn't give off light, just heat and is often used for reptile enclosures.
Seems to me you'll have a job heating your Ts in the garage without some way of resticting the loss of heat. I'd first look at insulating your cabinet with loft insulation and polystyrene sheets. You'll need to cover all surfaces including the bottom and front. I'd then look at thermo core cabling which you can buy from garden centres, and place this on the inside if the cabinet with a thermostat to control temeratures.
Of course if you could concentrate on the security aspects of your housing your best option would be to house them in your home which I presume is already heated

[vincent winyard]

what a plonker i am pete i thought the lamps that were talking about were what i,ve seen in reptile enclosures. my excuse is im still learning myself lol.at least i got the polystyrene sheet bit right. o well i did try and i,ve learn,t something else today. next time i.ll be prepared if this subject comes up again ha ha.

[Peter Lacey]

LOL Vincent, we're all learning, it made me chuckle.
Next time you're in an exotics shop take a look at the light brown spaceship looking bulbs in the enclosures, usually guarded with mesh, these are the ceramic heat lamps.

[paul fleming]

I use Ceramics for my snakes and they are pretty good.....give out lots of heat and last for ages.....I am still using the same lamps after well over a year.
All I would say is that if you are going to use ceramics,you really need to use a dimming stat or pulse stat to control the temps otherwise you WILL end up frying your T's.......these get very,very hot.A guard and a porcelain lampholder goes without saying.
Pics of one of my spares......they come in all sizes and power ratings.
Paul

[Eleanor]

It depends on how your cabinet is set out. If you've spare space in the cabinet and can get the ceramic well away from the slings then a ceramic is probably the best thing.

The ceramic will create a localised heat source and might not distribute heat very evenly to all the slings, unless the ceramic is some distance from the slings. If the cabinet is quite tight and has a lot of shelves in I'd say get more heat mats, or get higher wattage ones. When I was keeping mine in a very cold room (my bedroom lol) some years ago I had a shelf unit which I closed off at the front with sliding acrylic doors and at the back of each shelf I had a long heat mat which was designed for horticulture not animals and got quite hot, but with a stat and the slings placed a few inches in front of it it kept temperature in the unit very well.

Insulation is also a good suggestion.

[Stephen jordan]

Hi all, I have the same problem. I've even insulated the individual tanks and its still no good so I've just had to heat the room to a decent level and the mats do the rest. It going to cost me a fortune so I think for a cold house/room Eleanor had it right and a good size cabinet, insulated and kitted out with mats and a stat are the way to go. So for me it'll be a better investment to build a cabinet and save on the electric bill. Especially if the collection is only small like mine at present and cant justify heating a whole room for 4 adult and 7 slings. Just one question for Eleanor...Where do you get the horticultural heatmats from?

[Eleanor]

Just one question for Eleanor...Where do you get the horticultural heatmats from?

Sorry I can't remember, it was ages ago. It's bright green. I know that doesn't help... I'll google and see if I can spot something similar. You might be able to manage with ordinary ones though if there isn't much air space on each shelf, but you would then have to put the sling pots quite close.

You may be worrying more than necessary - if there's a reasonably warm bit in the tank then they're probably fine even if other bits are cooler.

[vincent winyard]

i,ll do that pete. like i said at least i've learn't something else lol.