# Heat Lamps



## MajorManny (Oct 10, 2015)

So, I have an L3 ghost mantis and soon will be getting an L2 or L3 orchid. I know that orchids are more sensitive to the cold, so I want to make sure I keep them nice and warm. I saw that some of you use heating pads, but what do you think about heat lamps? What is your experience with them, if any?

Thank you so much!


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## mantisman 230 (Oct 10, 2015)

I prefer heatlamps, simply move it closer or further away to adjust temperature


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## Ranitomeya (Oct 11, 2015)

I prefer heat pads because they're more energy efficient and I can place several in different areas without the utilities bill skyrocketting.


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## mantisman 230 (Oct 11, 2015)

If you play your cards right the lamps aren't that costly to use either.


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## MajorManny (Oct 11, 2015)

I'll only need one as well. My ghost won't likely need it since, unless the power goes out or something, it won't ever get colder than 65F in the house. So, at most, it'd be there for two small mantis enclosures with two little mantids. The power bill isn't a huge concern because I'd think it'd be cheaper/more energy efficient than keeping the house over 75F in the winter.



mantisman 230 said:


> If you play your cards right the lamps aren't that costly to use either.


Could you possibly suggest a good lamp for me? I'm not sure what to use that won't be too hot or dry out the enclosure too much?



Ranitomeya said:


> I prefer heat pads because they're more energy efficient and I can place several in different areas without the utilities bill skyrocketting.


Out of curiosity, is this for multiple mantids or do you do you use more than one heating pad for a single mantis? Do you put the pads around or under the enclosure?

Thank you so much, guys!


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## Ranitomeya (Oct 11, 2015)

I don't have the room to heat all of my enclosures in one place with a heat lamp, so heat pads are less expensive for me to use. If I did have an entire wall of a room I could devote to my critters, I'd probably install a rack and use a single heat lamp. Heat pads come in various sizes and the ones I use are long enough for me to place multiple large enclosures half on and half off to allow a temperature gradient. This allows the animals to freely thermoregulate and prevents me from drying out all the substrate in enclosures with substrate.

For smaller species like mantises that are housed in a collection of smaller enclosures, I use a large bin that sits on top of a heat pad. The bottom of the bin is in contact with the heat pad and the heat pad is resting on top of styrofoam to direct the heat up into the bin instead of both into the bin and down onto whatever surface it's resting on. The enclosures are placed within the bin and are elevated so that they do not come in direct contact with the heat so that I've essentially created an incubator where all the enclosures inside are warmed by the air.


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## perrutzky (Nov 13, 2015)

I just use Ikea desk-lamps. 
they give a lot of heat and you can put them closer or further away, which gives you the possibility to regulate the temperature.


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## Rick (Nov 13, 2015)

Ranitomeya said:


> I prefer heat pads because they're more energy efficient and I can place several in different areas without the utilities bill skyrocketting.


And won't dry out the air around the enclosure.


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## twolfe (Nov 13, 2015)

What is your daytime and nighttime room temperature where you live?

I only use heat lamps for those species that like it really hot such as Blepharopsis mendica. Otherwise, I use heat mats or just keep them at room temperature.


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## PlayingMantis (Nov 17, 2015)

I used these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AQCXM?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AQCPK?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

I only needed them because at that time, I had a dozen idolos in net cages.

Now I use this heating pad for plants:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MT10006--19-1-2-Inch-Seedling/dp/B0001WV010/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1447820870&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=plant+heating+pad

It's more energy efficient since it's 12 watts vs 60 watts for the lamp, and it warms up my gongy's nicely. I've found ghosts and orchids do well in room temperature. Keep in mind that heating pads and lamps will dry out the air faster, and increase the risk of mismolts due to the environment being too dry.


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## mantisman 230 (Nov 28, 2015)

I usually put species such as Heterochaeta and Idolomantis close to the lamp. I have two of them and they can heat a broad area.


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## intheabyss (Feb 11, 2016)

Thanks for this! My heating bill was huge last month, since I'd kept the apartment set at 71 all the time, worried that if it dropped below this, that my mantises would suffer. So I turned the heat down to 66 and recently purchased a 75W heat lamp (it was cheaper than the 60W one on Amazon haha) and fixture (from Lowes, much cheaper than Amazon). The mantises seem to like it, but now I'm wondering if it's overkill, given what I've just read here! I don't think I have any "high-maintenance" species. So I'm going to try a heat mat.


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## Starving Always (Feb 11, 2016)

I'm having problems too with the heating for my mantids. in my house, we have no built in air conditioning or heater. so whatever the weather is outisde, affects the temperature in my house greatly. back when I had orchids, it was fine with room temperature 'cause it was summer at the time and it was warm. now, it's still pretty warm too in the daytime, but i'd still need heating for the nighttime (and any other cold days LOL). thanks to this, I've been thinking of getting a heat mat, but wouldn't that only heat up the substrate? sorry I'm kinda new to this  :X


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## Introvertebrate (Feb 12, 2016)

Starving Always said:


> .............I've been thinking of getting a heat mat, but wouldn't that only heat up the substrate? sorry I'm kinda new to this  :X


I'm assuming the heat radiates upwards, through the substrate.  You've got a good point though.  Mantids tend to stay high up in the enclosure, away from the substrate.  You've got to wonder how high up the heat will go.


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## Starving Always (Feb 12, 2016)

Introvertebrate said:


> I'm assuming the heat radiates upwards, through the substrate.  You've got a good point though.  Mantids tend to stay high up in the enclosure, away from the substrate.  You've got to wonder how high up the heat will go.


do you happen to know what type of heat mat I should get. cause I saw one at a pet store that is 4 watts I believe. how do you know what watt to get?


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## Introvertebrate (Feb 13, 2016)

Starving Always said:


> do you happen to know what type of heat mat I should get. cause I saw one at a pet store that is 4 watts I believe. how do you know what watt to get?


Reptile heat mats are overpriced, and don't always heat sufficiently.  'PlayingMantis' provided a link to a seedling heat mat that would be worth a try.  You might also want to try the drug store variety intended for people.  Just pick one without an auto shut off feature.  Here's an example:

http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-756-500-Heating-Pad-UltraHeatTechnology/dp/B00006IV4N


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## Starving Always (Feb 13, 2016)

Introvertebrate said:


> I'm assuming the heat radiates upwards, through the substrate.  You've got a good point though.  Mantids tend to stay high up in the enclosure, away from the substrate.  You've got to wonder how high up the heat will go.


thanks! I just read the reviews and the people that received it complained that it did have an auto-off feature. I'll keep searching!! Imma message y'all (if that's okay) to know whether what I'm getting is suitable (-:


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## Starving Always (Feb 13, 2016)

PlayingMantis said:


> I used these:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AQCXM?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
> 
> ...






Introvertebrate said:


> Reptile heat mats are overpriced, and don't always heat sufficiently.  'PlayingMantis' provided a link to a seedling heat mat that would be worth a try.  You might also want to try the drug store variety intended for people.  Just pick one without an auto shut off feature.  Here's an example:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-756-500-Heating-Pad-UltraHeatTechnology/dp/B00006IV4N






Rick said:


> And won't dry out the air around the enclosure.






mantisman 230 said:


> I usually put species such as Heterochaeta and Idolomantis close to the lamp. I have two of them and they can heat a broad area.


how's this? im planning on getting both  my first ever time getting 'em

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MT10006--19-1-2-Inch-Seedling/dp/B0001WV010/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1447820870&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=plant+heating+pad

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NZZG3S/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1455382037&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=SY200_QL40&amp;keywords=Hydrofarm&amp;th=1&amp;psc=1


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## Introvertebrate (Feb 13, 2016)

I've been reading great things about that thermostat.


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