Ceramic Heat Emmiters vs Infrared heat lights

[sattva]

I would have to assume that this subject has been talked about here before but I can find it... I'm try to see the pros and cons of the two...

[Andy_G]

Ceramic heat emitters are the superior or the two as they don't dry out the air or enclosure as much as an infrared bulb but will still do so to a small degree. It's thought that snakes are able to see even the "night time" style blue and red bulbs so it's no longer a good recommendation in most cases to use them, especially if you need a 24/7 heat source. CHE also need replacement much less frequently. Saying all that, radiant heat panels are still far superior to both of the heating methods you are inquiring about as the radiant heat penetrates much deeper and it is much more efficient and although the intial cost is more, it will most likely never need replacing, and it will also not dry out the air. Hope this is the kind of information you were looking for, Sattva.

[EL Ziggy]

I use IR heat bulbs on a few of my enclosures. Andy is right that they do dry out the enclosures a little but it doesn't cause any issues for my snakes. My humidity still ranges from 30-60% depending on the season and I've never had a bad shed or RI. I've had my bulbs for roughly 2 years and haven't had to replace one yet but I'm sure they'll burn out eventually. I prefer IR heat bulbs over ceramic heaters mainly because I have my red heat bulbs controlled by a dimmer switch and it makes lowering or raising the ambient temps pretty easy. It was harder for me to dial in the CHE as precisely. The heat bulbs also assist with watching the snakes at night which I do a lot of. I also agree with Andy that RHPs are the most efficient heat source. I plan on using them when I order my new enclosures.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t674/EL-Ziggy/Mobile%20Uploads/20151221_183001_zpszzkzck55.jpg (http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/EL-Ziggy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20151221_183001_zpszzkzck55.jpg.html)

[sattva]

All my snakes except Moe have a warm hide with a heat mat and a cold side with a hide... Moe came with a infrared heat light and he likes to hang out like a green tree python so a heat mat won't work... Eventually, as I can afford it, I am having new cages built for my guys... They will all get the the radiant heat panels... Right now I have two that have extra heat to heat the air because it's dipping into the 30* outside... My room gets down to 70* ...I don't like my guys getting cold... I hope to have all new cages by next winter... Thanks for the info guys!

[toddnbecka]

I use IR caramic heat bulbs on several smaller (30-40 gsllon) tanks, used them for years w/out any issues. There was one occasion when a BCI male escaped, and he burned his tail rather badly, but he did heal up from that incident just fine. I rigged up metal bases to support them and place them on the screen tops.

[scales.jp]

I know everyone says CHEs are better than infrared bulbs as reptiles can see red light and it interferes with sleep patterns, but from what I understand snakes don't actually "see" it with their eyes but sense it with their heat pits. As CHEs also put out infrared, wouldn't these be just as disruptive and visible to the snake? I have a heat panel for 24 hour heat with a blacklight on a thermostat for 24 hour supplemental heat (not blue, it puts out almost no visible light which I imagine is much closer to natural nighttime light).

[jjhill001]

I know everyone says CHEs are better than infrared bulbs as reptiles can see red light and it interferes with sleep patterns, but from what I understand snakes don't actually "see" it with their eyes but sense it with their heat pits. As CHEs also put out infrared, wouldn't these be just as disruptive and visible to the snake? I have a heat panel for 24 hour heat with a blacklight on a thermostat for 24 hour supplemental heat (not blue, it puts out almost no visible light which I imagine is much closer to natural nighttime light).

Not all snakes have heat pits. Certainly not the most popular species.

[dannybgoode]

I know everyone says CHEs are better than infrared bulbs as reptiles can see red light and it interferes with sleep patterns, but from what I understand snakes don't actually "see" it with their eyes but sense it with their heat pits. As CHEs also put out infrared, wouldn't these be just as disruptive and visible to the snake? I have a heat panel for 24 hour heat with a blacklight on a thermostat for 24 hour supplemental heat (not blue, it puts out almost no visible light which I imagine is much closer to natural nighttime light).

I don't use infrared bulbs for this reason. Some snakes can see it and some are less susceptable but I use CHE's as a rule.

That said - near visible IR-A penetrates muscle more effectively and heats tissue more effectively than IR-C and CHE's only output IR-C so particularly for dinural reptiles a proper visible light basking bulb is better.

[jjhill001]

There is no difference between a CHE and a light providing bulb in terms of effecting ambient humidity. If you have a CHE and a IR bulb on equal cages, set to the same temp, with equal ventilation the humidity will leave at the exact same rate. The primary driver of humidity is ventilation.

However that said. Picking between the two CHE is preferable because it doesn't provide any light. There is argument that a snake can see some IR and maybe they can. If they can yeah, it's not good. If they can't, well you can still see it and if its in a lived in part of your house I count that as a negative. If they can see it, I count it as a double negative.

That said, CHE decent sized bulb is about 15-20 bucks a really directed fixture is 15 bucks, a wider fixture which I like to use to spread the heat more evenly is about 20 bucks as well. So you're looking at 30-40 bucks minimum for this method of heating. If you have the money and depending on your philosophy on hot spots you can spend a bit more and spring for the radiated heat panel which will offer a better spread of temps over a wider part of your enclosure than either the CHE or IR bulb.

That said, if you are interested in night time viewing of your pet. It's not the worst idea on the planet to grab a very low wattage IR bulb and a cheapo fixture that can be turned on when you want to see whats going on and then turned off when you are viewing it.

[scales.jp]

Not all snakes have heat pits. Certainly not the most popular species.

Sorry, I meant for pythons and boas (and whoever keeps pitted venomous species!) I'd say Ball Pythons are amongst the most popular pet snakes.(^_-)

[scales.jp]

I don't use infrared bulbs for this reason. Some snakes can see it and some are less susceptable but I use CHE's as a rule.

I'm just saying that maybe Ceramic Infrared Heat Emitters produce as much detectable light to snakes with heat pits as Incandescent Infrared Bulbs do. Maybe not. Anyway, this article on the subject is worth a quick read:
https://m.phys.org/news/2006-08-snakes-vision-enables-accurate-prey.html