Gas Heaters

[nolagurl]

My house is not reptile friendly during the winter.

I live in an old house with no insulation. It gets really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter. Summer is a herpers dream. It's the one time of the year that I can leave all my heating elements unplugged! Winter is a nightmare but it only lasts for about six weeks.

The only heating that this house has is gas heaters. I try not to use them in my reptile room but unfortunately when it's 50 degrees in the house they are the only option. My herps are far away from the heater but I still worry about gas fumes. The heater isn't too gassy. I can't smell the gas but I still worry if any small, undetectable amounts could harm my herps.

Each of my reptiles have a UTH and two heat lamps. I usually throw a pillow over the screen top and put a sleeping bag over and around the tank, careful to avoid contact with the heating elements. This will help keep heat in but the tanks still only get around 68-70 degrees without the gas heater on.

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery? And don't tell me *move* because that's not an option. ;)

[Lisa]

You could get electric baseboard heaters. though they dry the air alot.

[Linds]

Space heater? I have a neat one that works great, it's called the Galileo or something like that. It has a "communication center" you can place wherever you wish for it to measure the temp and use the thermostat from. All other space heaters measure the air around the unit itself. This way you can be sure that the air across the room is what you set it at.