Feeder Colony Heating

[mysterysock]

Whats the best source of heating your feeder colonies? Like what specific under tank heaters do you use bc I've read some will melt rubbermaid containers, which is what I will be using. Thanks!

 

[LQDragons]

Whats the best source of heating your feeder colonies? Like what specific under tank heaters do you use bc I've read some will melt rubbermaid containers, which is what I will be using. Thanks!

I use a regular heating pad, for people. I get them from Walgreens for about $16. Just get one that does not have auto shut off

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

i just switched over to a piece of sheet metal with some heat cable taped to the bottom of it controlled by a rheostat. I want to find out the temperature gradiant to see where im at. Before i left the bottom of my rubber maid was hovering around 89-90* and the metal sheet was something around 95. This was on full heat with a T shirt between the metal and the tub.

what kind of feeders? if there crickets or supers they dont need heat. Room, temp works out just find for me. My roaches are the only thing that i heat.

 

[mysterysock]

Yes, specifically I'm speaking about dubias. Just didn't wanna get a heating pad that gets too hot to melt the plastic.

 

[LQDragons]

yep, dubias here too

 

[clear]

I posted my setup in another thread, heating pads consume way to much energy for the heat they put out.

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

You can also use low voltage Flexwatt controlled by a T-stat. A lot of people who breed snakes use this product. I've never used them directly mounted on the sterilite tubs but I have used them to heat up a PVC plate and placed the tote on top to keep warm.

By far the absolute best way is to just heat a room up to about 85-90 degrees. This is what I do using an energy conserving, oil filled radiator purchased for about 30 bux from WalMart. Just plug it into an outlet, set the temp and there you go.

If you don't have a herp room or spare room as an option most people generally go w/ the human heat pad w/ shut off method.

-Ian

 

[clear]

By far the absolute best way is to just heat a room up to about 85-90 degrees. This is what I do using an energy conserving, oil filled radiator purchased for about 30 bux from WalMart. Just plug it into an outlet, set the temp and there you go.

That is by far the most expensive way to go. Anytime you try to heat a whole room it costs more.

 

[mysterysock]

Well I recently attained a heating pad. The probe thermometer reads 102 at the bottom of the tank, but at only like 2" from the bottom, it reads 73. Is this ok?

 

[ScooterBlenny]

By far the absolute best way is to just heat a room up to about 85-90 degrees. This is what I do using an energy conserving, oil filled radiator purchased for about 30 bux from WalMart. Just plug it into an outlet, set the temp and there you go.
-Ian

If you have an energy efficient radiator heater, then I definitely need to know what brand and model it is. I have an oil-filled radiator heater that I got from Wal-Mart to heat my bedroom, but it uses between 900 and 1500 watts, which is a HUGE amount of electricity compared to a heating pad.

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

By far the absolute best way is to just heat a room up to about 85-90 degrees. This is what I do using an energy conserving, oil filled radiator purchased for about 30 bux from WalMart. Just plug it into an outlet, set the temp and there you go.

Depending on the source you use yes it can be a more expensive way to go. Anytime you try to heat a whole room it costs more.

Yes and no. This was my initial fear w/ doing so. Baseboard heat will kill your electric bill. That's why I used the energy conserving radiator w/ adjustable wattage. My electric bill only jumps about 15-25 bucks a month in the winter months depending on the companies rates.

However for the few short months a year and the amount of dubia I have it is well worth the extra bucks. Also a lot of people keep them in their herp rooms so most of the time those rooms are kept at a constant 80 degrees anyway.

But you do bring up a good point. Do not use baseboard heating to crank a room or you will see an enormous increase in your electric bill.

-Ian

 

[Ihaggerty1313]

This was a reply to Scooter Blenny I couldn't get the quote to come up right. Sorry about that.

Mine is a Lakewood. It has 3 settings. 600 watts, 900 watts, and with both buttons turned on you get 1500 watts. I keep mine on 600 watts at about a setting of 7 during the coldest months Dec/Feb. This puts the room right about 85 degrees. The whole room is very well insulated which makes it great during the winter months, and during the summer can easily be vented for my animals to get fresh air on those really hot and sticky days.

Reading back I guess I spoke a little out of context on this issue. So I'll give it my best to clear it up. Not too many people I know have a heating system installed to where they can dedicate certain zones to certain areas of their house. This means that I can keep my upstairs a different temp to my downstairs or you can even dedicate a zone to a particular room such as a reptile room and keep that room at 80 degrees while the rest of the house is 65 degrees.

If you do not have one of these newer complex heating systems installed in your house, the next best thing to do if you'd like to have the option of heating a particular room rather than the whole house is to pick up an energy conserving radiator. Will your electric bill go up? Absolutely, you're definatly pumping more wattage than an over the counter heat pad. But it won't sky rocket like electric baseboard heat & gas will.

As I also stated at the end of my reply most people just get a heat pad from their local pharmacy and use that instead. When you're dealing w/ people who breed animals, have extensive collections or as in my case many, many bins of feeders you heat a whole room since it's much more efficient.

I was only giving options to the person who asked the question.

 

[WarEagle90]

Well I recently attained a heating pad. The probe thermometer reads 102 at the bottom of the tank, but at only like 2" from the bottom, it reads 73. Is this ok?

Can anyone answer Mysterysock's question? I have a similar set up.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[LQDragons]

Well I recently attained a heating pad. The probe thermometer reads 102 at the bottom of the tank, but at only like 2" from the bottom, it reads 73. Is this ok?

Can anyone answer Mysterysock's question? I have a similar set up.

Thanks,

Dan

that sounds OK, the roaches will move up if it's to hot, just keep an eye on the water crystals as they will dry out faster

 

[WarEagle90]

Thanks LQ