Heat lamp too close?

[Mraw]

Hi, do you guys think my lamp is too close to the encloser?  Could the light being so close damage the mantids eyes?  It is a 60w bulb.

 

[River Dane]

Wild mantids have to look at the sun pretty much 24/7, so your light should be fine for their eyes.

 

[MantisGirl13]

What species do you have? The lamp won't hurt their eyes, but it might be too hot for them.

- MantisGirl13

 

[ausar318]

I’ve never had any problems with bright lights, and I use LEDs most often. Like River Dane said, they would be looking at the sun all day long if it was in the wild. 

Tye key is the heat. As long as the light doesn’t heat up the plastic too much (or melt it ?) then you should be alright. Just make sure that you don’t bake your mantis!

 

[Cole 78]

First of all, @River Dane, mantids would not be looking at the sun 24/7. If you didn't know, that's 24 hours, 7 days a week. If the sun was out for that long well... We may have some issues with our planetary orbit. Anyways, in the wild they have a set amount of time (with fluxuation) in how long the sun is out vs. the moon. I mean, having the "sun" shining on you (headlamp) would go against natural law of code. I suggest playing God, and choosing how long the sun is out. I suggest changing throughout seasons for an optimal experience. Ex: In the summer longer days vise versa. Winter, shorter days vise versa. During winter I suggest doing 10-11 hours with the lamp (starting at roughly 7 AM) and the rest off. 

Also, wattage does not have anything to do with brightness, but instead electrical output. Increase output means more heat, in simpler terms. Here's a quote that would sum it up a bit better. "Power (watts) is volts times amps.” So, more electrical power means more heat just as a bigger pile of firewood mean a bigger fire and more heat output"

This is something you could do if you had a bit more time on hand. Move the lamps slowly around through out the day, just like the Earth orbiting around the sun.

Hope you learned something!

 

[hysteresis]

?

 

[River Dane]

Thanks for the correction, @Major. I should have been more specific that I only meant to say that typical artificial lights, especially those intended for pets, wouldn’t hurt a mantis’ eyes. However, I personally have never had any issues with my mantids having lights on them 24/7.