Radiant Heat Panels for reptiles..opinions?

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blonde.for.life

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 4, 2009
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findlay, ohio
Im going to be building a couple wooden enclosures and im trying to figure out a way to heat them at night without using bulbs. Ill use basking lights during the day but need something for night. Im not really comfortable with heat tape or UTHs and i dont think theyd work in a wooden cage anyways so is anyone using radiant heat panels? Specifically this is the model im looking at http://www.reptilebasics.com/80-watt-radiant-heat-panel . Looking for any experience anyone has had with these or something similar, how you like them and if they work like theyre supposed to..
Thanks!
 
Im going to be building a couple wooden enclosures and im trying to figure out a way to heat them at night without using bulbs. Ill use basking lights during the day but need something for night. Im not really comfortable with heat tape or UTHs and i dont think theyd work in a wooden cage anyways so is anyone using radiant heat panels? Specifically this is the model im looking at http://www.reptilebasics.com/80-watt-radiant-heat-panel . Looking for any experience anyone has had with these or something similar, how you like them and if they work like theyre supposed to..
Thanks!

Huh? I have a few DIY terrarium enclosures with beardys, and a red iguana. Never thought of these... kinda like a ceramic bulb but safe?

You could always just make a reptile only room and run a nice heater in it?




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Yeah apparently even if you dont use a thermostat(although you should) they pretty much stay at a low enough temp to not harm your animals. From further reading i guess id only need the 40watt panels. Unfortunately at this point my reps are in dif rooms and i cant do anything about that for a bit. I have 3 in a room that all drop to mid/low 70s at night and 2 in another room that need to be warmer at night and are a bit more nocturnal(right now i just leave a blue heat light on). At some point i will have them all together but right now theres not much i can do and honestly these panels even seem more safe than the bulbs as far as fire hazard(which im always thinking about).
 
Yeah apparently even if you dont use a thermostat(although you should) they pretty much stay at a low enough temp to not harm your animals. From further reading i guess id only need the 40watt panels. Unfortunately at this point my reps are in dif rooms and i cant do anything about that for a bit. I have 3 in a room that all drop to mid/low 70s at night and 2 in another room that need to be warmer at night and are a bit more nocturnal(right now i just leave a blue heat light on). At some point i will have them all together but right now theres not much i can do and honestly these panels even seem more safe than the bulbs as far as fire hazard(which im always thinking about).

Yea I feel you on the fire hazard.. at night my house is 73ish which isn't ideal but fine for my cresteds and iggy. My beardies both have UTH just to be safe. Their extremely cheap @ Rep shows.
CAM01289_zps82cc0980.jpg


They seem to migrate to the space where the heater is @ night. Also if you use slate you can attach the UTH to it and place it under the substrate with plywood tanks! Or you could go old school and have a river rock or pebble rock sub with whatever sub you use capping it, that way the rocks retain the heat during the day and stay warm at night.

Here's my plywood with my 12+ year old beardy named spike, he has a UTF attached to a piece of slate under that bark, the tank was a free build with old bookshelf pieces I had, its 3'x3'x1'
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And my 6 month old juvy in a 40b w/ UTH + MVB bulb. Growing like a weed.
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All that dw I found myself!


Sounds like you need to find a local herp show or buy some space heaters imo!


×Go S Vettel #1 Infiniti Redbull! 3x WDC!!!×
__________________________________________________________________

Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763
 
Im going to be building a couple wooden enclosures and im trying to figure out a way to heat them at night without using bulbs. Ill use basking lights during the day but need something for night. Im not really comfortable with heat tape or UTHs and i dont think theyd work in a wooden cage anyways so is anyone using radiant heat panels? Specifically this is the model im looking at http://www.reptilebasics.com/80-watt-radiant-heat-panel . Looking for any experience anyone has had with these or something similar, how you like them and if they work like theyre supposed to..
Thanks!

Hi,
I use them with my arboreals and think they work great, same principle as a ceramic heat emmiter only they dont get nearly as hot to the touch, and will not burn an animal even if they come in contact with the RHP.
The panels also have a much larger suface area then say a 3" dia bulb, allowing for a more evenly distributed type of heat, covering a bigger area in your cage.
 
I've been checking these out for the last couple of years and would like to switch out my current heating system in my Ackie Monitor enclosure to these.
 
I am picking up my very first RHP next week, I will let you all know how it works out.
 
I've been checking these out for the last couple of years and would like to switch out my current heating system in my Ackie Monitor enclosure to these.
I haven't heard of any that get that hot. I could be mistaken though.
 
I haven't heard of any that get that hot. I could be mistaken though.

There's a couple different companies that manufacture them and I've talked to people at rep shows that say they've used them with ackies. Plus, when you have basking spots that are 6" away it doesn't take much to get them hot.
 
Yeah thatd be great if you guys let us know what you think about them once you get them. After reading different things Ive pretty much decided ill be ordering the ones in the link but the 40watt instead of 80watt. Hopefully i can get the cages built this weekend and order the panels next payday..we'll see but thats the plan lol
 
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