WINTER IS COMING!!!

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kmsgameboy

kmsgameboy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 22, 2008
Messages
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Location
NC
Wow this year has flown by hasnt it!?! So with cooler weather just around the corner I am a bit concerned on how to best controle the temps in my four plastic mantis enclosures. I know light bulbs are both a cheap and easy way to warm a mantid but my concern is this: 1. Mantids live longest/healthiest with daily time in the dark correct? How can I keep them healthy and happy if I keep lights on them 24/7? 2. What is the cheapest/easiest/most efficiant way to keep my four tanks warm with the lights? Does one bulb or wattage work better than another? Can I heat all four of my mantids with one bulb? My house can get very chilly in the fall and winter (it stays around 60-70°F inside my home from October to March and on cold winter nights the temp can dip down into the low 50's) and I dont want my beloved pets to die! Please give me some ideas for set ups! If you would like to see my tanks and how I have them possitioned in relation to one another you can see a photo by clicking HERE. Note that the tanks and even the small shelves they stand on are plastic so whatever I do needs to be safe! I dont want to burn down my house or toast my mantises! Thank you all!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you don't have yr mantids in yr bedroom and want to use bulbs, here's what you do. First, you must have a a good digital thermometer, either a small humidor one or a large one with a probe. Otherwise you are likely to bake yr mantids before you know it! Heat rises. You will need two bulbs, one for each level. If you use regular incandescents (cheapest) you can simply cover yr enclosures with cloths. For a little more (about $10 a throw) you can buy black heat lamps used for herps, at a pet store.

Alternatively, you are welcome to come and liv in Yuma. :D

 
A ceramic heat emitter is basically a resistor inside a ceramic case. For use around plastics I would recommend finding yourself a rheostat and regulating the amount of voltage going through the emitter. The emitter produces a lot more heat and does not give of light so it is preferred.

http://www.reptilesupply.com/index.php?cPath=30_70

These are sold pretty cheap but I have found cheaper at my local pet store. Try to go for the 100 watt. :)

 
You could also go for heat cables. Those you should be able to get from pet stores that sell reptile stuff etc or from the internet. :)

 
Does your house get really cold? Normal room temps are fine for most mantids. I don't do anything speciel for winter. My room stays in the low 70's in winter. It gets a little cooler at night but it has never been a problem.

 
Rick said:
Does your house get really cold? Normal room temps are fine for most mantids. I don't do anything speciel for winter. My room stays in the low 70's in winter. It gets a little cooler at night but it has never been a problem.
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Yes I live in an OLD house with wood floors and a lot of cold air comes up through the floors and under the doors in the winter. Thankfully NC winters arnt that harsh but still on the coldist nights the temps can still get down into the 50s and 60s INSIDE my home.
 
kmsgameboy said:
Yes I live in an OLD house with wood floors and a lot of cold air comes up through the floors and under the doors in the winter. Thankfully NC winters arnt that harsh but still on the coldist nights the temps can still get down into the 50s and 60s INSIDE my home.
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Been there mate! I've slept in houses where you could see your own breath when you got up! The bulbs are probably the cheapest way to go. No way that you can really check them out though, before winter sets in, though I guess that you could see if the will raise the temp 30F above ambient.

 
PhilinYuma said:
Been there mate! I've slept in houses where you could see your own breath when you got up! The bulbs are probably the cheapest way to go. No way that you can really check them out though, before winter sets in, though I guess that you could see if the will raise the temp 30F above ambient.
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I am thinking about picking up a nice floor lamp. I saw one that has two bulbs on different levels. Would something like this work well you think? Maybe I could put black light bulbs in it since they seem to get a little hotter and wont disrupt the day/night cycle of my mantids.
 
PhilinYuma said:
Been there mate! I've slept in houses where you could see your own breath when you got up!
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Me too! I spent my middle school through high school in an old farmhouse (over 100 years in the same family before we purchased it). Our stepfather (at the time) wouldn't allow us to turn on the electric baseboard heaters upstairs where me and my brother's bedrooms were. And he rigged a thick blanket to block heat from going up the stairway! You could always see your breath in the wintertime, and I slept under a mountain of blankets, including an electric one. But I can definitely see your point and concerns with lower than average temps.

kmsgameboy said:
I am thinking about picking up a nice floor lamp. I saw one that has two bulbs on different levels. Would something like this work well you think? Maybe I could put black light bulbs in it since they seem to get a little hotter and wont disrupt the day/night cycle of my mantids.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure a floor lamp would emit heat close enough to the cages to be of much help. It seems a desk lamp, or clamp on brooding lamp might be a better choice. But just my opinion... maybe some others will weigh in on the subject.

 
Wow your house does cool way down. You can get a space heater for the room with the mantids. I did that once at another place.

 
Rick said:
Wow your house does cool way down. You can get a space heater for the room with the mantids. I did that once at another place.
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Yeah our house isnt weather sealed and to get the whole place up to date would cost a TON so we just keep the heat set at about 65. I have thought about a space heater but I am scared that it could cause a fire. Every year you hear about families dying because they left a heater on over night and it cought fire. I have little girl who is almost 2 and I want to play things on the super safe side so I thing a lamp of some kind would be the best buy...the question is how many and what kind!
 
kmsgameboy said:
Yeah our house isnt weather sealed and to get the whole place up to date would cost a TON so we just keep the heat set at about 65. I have thought about a space heater but I am scared that it could cause a fire. Every year you hear about families dying because they left a heater on over night and it cought fire. I have little girl who is almost 2 and I want to play things on the super safe side so I thing a lamp of some kind would be the best buy...the question is how many and what kind!
Click to expand...
The new space/room heaters are much safer and better than the old "fired up red hot wires exposed" kind of yesteryear. I have one I use 24/7 in the winter, and have never had a problem. You might want to investigate them. Mine's called the Voranado, or something like that.... too lazy to go up and look at the name right now, lol. ;)

 
kmsgameboy said:
Yeah our house isnt weather sealed and to get the whole place up to date would cost a TON so we just keep the heat set at about 65. I have thought about a space heater but I am scared that it could cause a fire. Every year you hear about families dying because they left a heater on over night and it cought fire. I have little girl who is almost 2 and I want to play things on the super safe side so I thing a lamp of some kind would be the best buy...the question is how many and what kind!
Click to expand...
Not really a concern if you use common sense. Keep things away from it and be sure all sides are clear for about 3 feet. However if you cannot just close the door then teh child is a concern. In that case I suggest you get a heat emmiter. These send out heat but not light which will be good at night. Search for ceramic heat emitters.

 

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