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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
 Posted - 03/10/2009 : 21:34:13
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i have had a few problems with Boo's tank.
First I had a heatmat on a thermostat which only went to 81oF and so had a 25 watt light to boost the temp, unfortunately made to temp go to 96oF so had to keep turning the light on and off to keep the temp stable.
Then i was told to get a 75 watt infra red reflector red bulb and put it on a dimming thermostat and get rid of the heatmat. I swapped the matstat for a dimming thermostat today, brought a 60 watt red heat bulb and got it all set up, thought it was good till i realised that the bulb was too big for the guard, the guard was boiling in the heat.
So i decided to put the 40 watt bulb on the thermostat to see if that would work as it was smaller than the 60 watt. no luck as the 40 watt only managed to get to 82.9oF.
So for now i have had to put the heatmat and 25 watt bulb back in, and get another matstat for it, so ended up spending so much money these last two days i have no money left.
can i buy a 60 watt bulb, the same as i have but smaller, i see the bulbs go up in size as the wattage goes up, but surely you can buy a 60 watt light bulb that is say the same size as a 40 watt cause we have normal lightbulbs for the house that are all different wattages but are all the same size.
if not i am going to have to buy a bigger light guard, but to be honest i am thinking about getting a ceramic heater, so i dont end up with a lightbulb shop in my bedroom. do i need a heatmat with a ceramic heater or can the ceramic heater be used seperately.
if anyone knows that i can get a smaller sized 60 watt bulb then that would be great.
if not then gonna have to go to ceramic heater.
sorry about the length, nothing like this happened with my other snakes, so im kinda annoyed
thanks |
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Remmy
Sub Adult
United Kingdom
642 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2009 : 22:11:36
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| Hi reptilekeeper, How big is your guard? I have a 100w IR bulb in tillys viv and that fits into a standard guard. It is a Komodo and i got it from 888 reptiles but you might be able to get it somewhere local. |
1.0.0 Ghost corn Tynan
0.1.0 Normal corn Sully
0.1.0 Royal Tilly
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wolfspirit
Old Royal - I Post too much!
United Kingdom
5741 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2009 : 22:19:18
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bulbs can be so frustrating cant they..
have you got one of Reptiles Inks guards ? what sort do you have?
not sure what area size you are trying to heat ...
but in my corn snakes viv i have a bog standard guard (not one of Daves) and a 75w IR, its not much bigger than a standard light bulb, but it struggles to keep the temps up..so i will eventually move that over to one of Daves hinged guards and a bigger wattage bulb.
i cant fit a bigger bulb in there, but with Daves guards in my other vivs i have the plesure of being able to put in a 150w ceramic a 100w IR and a 250 Ceramic and another 150w bulb...
the 150's and the 250w are bigger bulbs but still fit nicely into his guards..
If your heating a 3 foot viv then i have found the bulb needs to be a minimum of a 100w to heat it sufficiently for a royal,
it would be cheaper for you to get a guard than a ceramic heater though surely...
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"No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from
now and make a brand new ending."
-- Source Unknown
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2009 : 22:38:13
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ok, i am not sure what light guard make it is, i brought it from the pet shop because i needed one quickly, i will measure it quickly.....
not good on measuring 3D objects:
from viv ceiling downwards - 6 inches
from side to side - 4 inches
from front to back - 5 inches
(i dont know all this length width and depth stuff lol)
the vivarium is:
3ft long, 1.3ft tall, 1.4ft deep (front to back  )
the 60 watt light bulb is massive, one of those wide bodied ones almost touches the side of the guard, so looking for a small 100 watt infra red reflector heat bulb if poss
be my pleasure to abuse me at my rubbish ways of measuring |
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2009 : 22:51:27
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if i cant get a smaller bulb, i will get ceramic.
888reptiles have 80mm (8cm i think) diamter ceramic bulbs, so if i replace that for bulb, put in bulb holder and use my light guard, will that be ok
i dont need to have the ir bulb because i only liked them cause they had a nice light to them, my bedroom light always on till about 3am so im never gonna not be able to see into the tank
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spor
Fully Grown Royal
United Kingdom
1226 Posts |
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
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Remmy
Sub Adult
United Kingdom
642 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 09:02:30
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| Reptilekeeper, my guard is smaller than yours and my 100w fits in it, look at previous post. |
1.0.0 Ghost corn Tynan
0.1.0 Normal corn Sully
0.1.0 Royal Tilly
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Blackecho
Royal Python Admin
United Kingdom
11327 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 09:49:31
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| I use 60W or 75W IR bulbs. |
 
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 18:32:16
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here are some pictures, the bulb just looks massive in the guard, i put my hand on the guard when the light has been on for 5 minutes and its boiling, thing is i cant tell whether it is the guard that it hot or the heat from the light, either way it burns my hand, so surely Boo????
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matty18714
Royal Python Moderator
United Kingdom
2016 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 18:41:40
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| The guard will be hotter for the first half hour of the bulb being on. it should cool down after that time. |
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wolfspirit
Old Royal - I Post too much!
United Kingdom
5741 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 18:46:12
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as Matty says once the heat has had time to settle the guard will cool down...
that guard is fine for that bulb... |
"No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from
now and make a brand new ending."
-- Source Unknown
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 18:47:39
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| ok, the light isnt infra red but it is a heat bulb, i will get an infra red in due time if its better. Boo has only just eaten so i dont expect her to be coming out of her hide for a while, i will take a picture of where the dimming thermostat probe is so that you can tell me if it ok, also i have set the dimmer to 88oF so im guessing right next to the bulb it will be about 95+ maybe 100oF |
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 19:07:12
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ok this is the prob position with the bulb
i am measuring the temp in oC and have set the themostat to 30oC,but at the moment the digital thermometer is reading 32.2oC. the thermometer prob is placed in a corner at the hot end on top of the substrate the substrate. How long will the temperature to sort itself out, if i have set it to 30 is should go down to 30 but not sure how long it will take |
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matty18714
Royal Python Moderator
United Kingdom
2016 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 19:22:26
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| 32*C is alright as a basking temp, though I prefer nearer 30. Turn the stat down a bit if you want it lower. Also, take the tape out of the viv, the snake wont appreciate it getting stuck on its skin or head. Use a cable nail instead. |
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 19:28:01
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its ok, i have that 3D background bark stuff that covers the wires. i have holes in it where the probs poke out of but all the wiring sits behind it, i took it out to show you where the prob was exactly.
its gonna be annoying putting it back though with Boo trying to rest.
but thanks for the advice anyway guys/girls |
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 19:54:53
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Ok, the temperature is sitting at 31.1oC. I'm sure it will fluctuate, that's what happens, but this seems to be the temperature that it wants to sit on.
The light is very dim for a big bulb, and if I turn the stat down a bit more there is practically no light on at all.
Is 31.1oC a decent enough temperature, its between ambient and basking temperature so I'm hoping that this will be fine.
Guess the only way to tell if Boo is happy is if she eats mouse on thursday |
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matty18714
Royal Python Moderator
United Kingdom
2016 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 20:10:12
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| That temp is fine. |
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reptilekeeper1992
Yearling
United Kingdom
331 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2009 : 21:20:22
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| thanks very much |
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Topic |
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heating frustrations
