Heat lamp vs. Heat pad?

[lunarstorm]

I wish I read this first! I just bought a heat matt for my Ghost!

No worries! The heat mat/pad will be fine, many have kept p. paradoxa at room temps without issue. Regardless, I suspect it will still be fun and beneficial to experiment and determine temperatures under various conditions (e.g. what's the average temperature inside a small plastic container, 32oz cup, glass terrarium, etc.?)

 

[CoolMantid]

I just dont want it to melt the enclousure. Its a plastic one.Ugggh! im getting nervous

 

[lunarstorm]

I just dont want it to melt the enclousure. Its a plastic one.Ugggh! im getting nervous

Unless it's a very powerful mat and a very thin, low grade plastic I wouldn't worry about it. Tammy keeps her mats on all the time and uses plastic enclosures.

I actually use two heat lamps and two seedling heat mat. I like both for different reasons. I keep the heat mats on all the time, and it seems to help keep the plastic enclosures more humid than the ones under the heat lamp which dry out more quickly. So, I use them for different species. I also have a desk lamp too. All of the lamps are on timers. The seedling heat mats seem to work better with plastic enclosures instead of glass.

 

[CoolMantid]

Oh good. But my ghost has passed on. Now im incubating a ooth.

 

[Mvalenz]

Sorry to hear about your ghost.

I noticed that i can regulate the temp in my enclosure easly by adjusting the distance between the light and the enclosure. Not sure if i could do that with a heat pad. I also noticed that since my enclosure is more tall than wide it heats up better when i place the light on the side instead of on top. I place a temp strip about 2/3 to the top since it spends most of her time up there. I keep it at 82-85 degrees. Is this a good temp for a little budwing?

 

[sporeworld]

Yeah - I'm able to get temps nearly 80F (at the top) just from mounted flourescent tubes. Distance is they key.

As for the heat mats, if you're worried about the plastic, you can put a sheet of glass between the enclosure and the mat to protect it.

 

[Psychobunny]

Ultrtherm UTH's from Bean Farm for enclosers 12'' high or under.

If stacking 12'' net cubes, I have the lower one on the UTH (set to 100F) and a 60W

heating element (no light) about 4 inches from the top cube.

You can buy fixture stands that which are height adjustible for pretty cheap at Amazon to

attach your lamp fixture and raise it as high as needed.

The 60W heating element (for reptiles) gives me more heat then a basking light bulb.

But just about all my containers are on Ultratherm heat pads, which are the only ones

on the market I like and are only sold through Bean Farm.

Also, it helps to keep the room temp on your home thermostat in the mid 70's.

I also VERY highly recommend one of these (or one like it):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QVP6QC/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details

Need to find one that has adjustable emissivity.

This way, you can monitor the temps in any location inside or outside your pet's encloser.

 

[Chivalry]

I picked up a UTH (Zoo-med I think) and it says to only use it on glass enclosures, or for the little model I got, a critter keeper type enclosure. I have mainly deli cups and a few larger but all plastic enclosures (recycled jars and the like), and one net cube. Can this still be used somehow?

 

[Termite48]

I use heat lamps, a space heater for raising the ambient room temp, and a couple of heat mats. I think that all heating devices have a certain use. We all know that a high wattage lamp can dry out the contents of a container in no time at all. I have lost untold numbers of mantids learning this lesson. I felt the outside of a 32 oz. deli-container after it had been touching one of my light fixtures mounting and the container was very warm. Luckily the mantid inside likes it warm and was not touching the plastic at all. I will not allow that to happen again. Be careful using the heating lamps, as they are very effective and can kill things.