Heat lamp help

[Sarah Jane]

Hey all, long time since I’ve posted.

Got my boy (originally thought he was a girl until he shed sperm plugs lol) into his new enclosure! First time using heat lamps instead of heat mats. His branch was sitting at 23°, obviously too cool, so we’ve moved the branch closer to the enclosure and now the branch is sitting at around 27° but the ambient temperature surrounding the branch seems to be at 30°-34°. I’m hoping this is okay. I do have a lower wattage lamp (currently using 150W and I have a 100W one) but I saw that closer to the lamp up the top the degrees went up to 50 whereas closer to the lamp it sat at 30-34. Is this okay? I will try and attach a video so people can see.
Thank you in advance, I’m just trying to make it the best possible habitat for my snake.

 

[Tyrant pets]

Hi ill give my 2 cents on this.
I dont like using lamps inside of enclosures because i fear they will wrap around it and cause burns.
When i was using a lamp i used a 100w lamp outside of cage onto a platform.
(Pic lamp outside in pic above. This got to 33⁰ at the platform)

As for the temps 27⁰ for a hot spot isnt great but once your snake is on the hotspot he would be closer so it might 30⁰ish there.

I aim for my hotspots to be around 35⁰ to 38⁰ max using heat tiles.

 

[Sarah Jane]

Hi ill give my 2 cents on this.
I dont like using lamps inside of enclosures because i fear they will wrap around it and cause burns.
When i was using a lamp i used a 100w lamp outside of cage onto a platform.
(PicView attachment 329684 lamp outside in pic above. This got to 33⁰ at the platform)

As for the temps 27⁰ for a hot spot isnt great but once your snake is on the hotspot he would be closer so it might 30⁰ish there.

I aim for my hotspots to be around 35⁰ to 38⁰ max using heat tiles.View attachment 329686

Thanks! The dome for the lamp is pretty heat resistant so it doesn’t actually get too hot, I can comfortably put my hand around it. There is a few small metal parts that can be hot but they’re not actually too hot either. The branch has now gone up to 29° so I’m hoping it’ll turn into a nice little basking spot for him.

 

[Sdaji]

Sounds like you're measuring the temperature incorrectly; you can't have a dry piece of wood sitting stable at a lower temperature than the air around it.

Just a guess, but you might be using the infrared thermometer incorrectly. The laser is just a rough target guide, not the exact spot the temperature is taken on. Another possibility is that you are measuring the wood while it's still warming up.

 

[Sarah Jane]

Sounds like you're measuring the temperature incorrectly; you can't have a dry piece of wood sitting stable at a lower temperature than the air around it.

Just a guess, but you might be using the infrared thermometer incorrectly. The laser is just a rough target guide, not the exact spot the temperature is taken on. Another possibility is that you are measuring the wood while it's still warming up.

What do you mean? I’ll try and retemp it then. It’s been doing better but only sits at 29-30 degrees around about his basking spot so I’m trying to figure out other ways to get it to about 32-33.
[doublepost=1599820325,1599820255][/doublepost]

Hi ill give my 2 cents on this.
I dont like using lamps inside of enclosures because i fear they will wrap around it and cause burns.
When i was using a lamp i used a 100w lamp outside of cage onto a platform.
(PicView attachment 329684 lamp outside in pic above. This got to 33⁰ at the platform)

As for the temps 27⁰ for a hot spot isnt great but once your snake is on the hotspot he would be closer so it might 30⁰ish there.

I aim for my hotspots to be around 35⁰ to 38⁰ max using heat tiles.View attachment 329686

What do you use as the basking mat inside the cage??

 

[CF Constrictor]

Hi Sarah Jane
You can sandwich some heatcord between 2 ceramic tiles for belly heat. Personaly i would use heatcord or a heat mat through a good thermostat or dimmer switch underneath for ambiant heat, and use the lights for additional daytime heat, and to provide a day , night cycle. Good luck.

 

[Lurker]

I’d doubt you’re measuring ambient temperature with the heat gun, you’re measuring whatever surface the laser is hitting. If that’s the rear panel of the the enclosure, then that’s what it is. Try using a thermometer instead, it should give you a better ambient reading at different levels of the enclosure.

Here’s a guide to the radiant heat gradient of a well-known brand of ceramic heat globes, hope this is useful to you:
http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/ceramic_heater.php