# Help with Heating vivarium



## Knoxx3112 (Sep 21, 2018)

Does anyone have any advice on how to heat a vivarium correctly? 

I have a 30x30x40 vivarium for my devils flower (picture attached) and it’s currently being heated by a 12w heat mat. I tried attaching it to the side however it didn’t heat up very much so now it is under the soil on the bottom. The ‘ground level’ area is around 26c however the rest of the vivarium is only around 22c

Any help on how to boost the heat would be very grateful!!! Starting to get stressed out about this ?


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## rantology (Sep 21, 2018)

A 12w heat mat is not going to have the output to heat anything but slightly warm the surface it's attached to... I'm sure you are aware of this now ?

I use ceramic heat emitters or halogen lights in combination with foil to heat my vivs. Though you have to be careful about ventilation if you foil the top to hold heat better (I installed fans on mine)

if you go this route I would suggest a 100W ceramic heat emitter &amp; appropriate wire cage fixture for it... You can apply some foil at the top as needed to direct/hold heat in but be careful of sacrificing too much ventilation. Or perhaps a 150W emitter would need no foil and be able to pump out the appropriate heat (if your room is 22c this may be the ideal wattage). The only downside to these is that they don't look great for aesthetics... but it will definitely get the job done.


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## MantisGirl13 (Sep 21, 2018)

rantology said:


> A 12w heat mat is not going to have the output to heat anything but slightly warm the surface it's attached to... I'm sure you are aware of this now ?
> 
> I use ceramic heat emitters or halogen lights in combination with foil to heat my vivs. Though you have to be careful about ventilation if you foil the top to hold heat better (I installed fans on mine)
> 
> if you go this route I would suggest a 100W ceramic heat emitter &amp; appropriate wire cage fixture for it... You can apply some foil at the top as needed to direct/hold heat in but be careful of sacrificing too much ventilation. Or perhaps a 150W emitter would need no foil and be able to pump out the appropriate heat (if your room is 22c this may be the ideal wattage). The only downside to these is that they don't look great for aesthetics... but it will definitely get the job done.


Yeah, I usually use heat lamps for my mantids, although I have never had Idolomantis before.

- MantisGirl13


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