ammie question

[reptile boi]

Hey Ammie keepers,

I was wondering for those of you who use heat pads to heat up your ammies, do u put the heat pad on top of the cage, tape it onto the side, or do u leave it on the bottom? Also, what are good temps to keep ur ammies at? I read a bunch of different caresheets and they all tell you to keep em at dif temps some say in the high 70's to low 80's and some say 85-90F




Thanks,
Ben

[BoidKeeper]

I go for 85-90. Heat pads IMO are meant for the bottom of the cage. Rather then trying to heat up the middle of the air with a heat pad why not just use a heat lamp. I have a male that is always on the ground so I give him a heat pad. My female has both a heat pad and a lamp.
Cheers,
Trevor

[SerpentLust]

I go for 85 area as well. I have a large heat pad for my Male as he spends his day on the bottom and his night in the branches, it covers a third of the bottom and all of the side.

My female is always in her branches and for her I use a Ceramic Heat Emitter Bulb thingy. Works very well.

[reptile boi]

hmmmm, do u gise leave the bulbs on at night as well, or do u give em pads at nite?




Thanks,
Ben

[reptile boi]

hey gise,
Would u put 1 heat pad on the bottom of the cage and 1 on the top both set at a temp that when combined equals 85-90F? Reason i ask is because i dont really like to use heat lamps (because they tend to dry out the air and my aunts would most definitely turn it off because its a "waste of electricity" even though its keeping something warm)



Thanks,
Ben

[BoidKeeper]

black lite on 24 hrs a day.

[reptile boi]

hmmm, where do u get em? I got one from a friend of mine, but its 100 watts.




Thanks,
Ben

[likeal0stchild]

has anyone ever heard of black lights harming or blinding snakes and other reptiles???????I think this is crazy but I am now scared to use a black light for my snakes because id rather be safe tahn sorry and dont want to spend 40-50 bucks on a ceramic heat emitter

[BoidKeeper]

It's a black incondecent bulb not floresent. You can buy them at just about any hardware store that sells light bulbs. Or you could go to the pet shop and buy an expensive red heat lamp and pay three times the price. If your bulb is too hot, ie 100w when 60w will do just hook it to a dimmer.
Trevor

[reptile boi]

hmmm, dont blacklights emit some sort of UV rays? I could be confusing this with some other kind of bulb, but on this lizard video that i own, there was a part about lighting for diurnal lizards and they said "use a blacklight, which are available in petstores and this will prevent bone deformities"




Thanks,
Ben

[reptile boi]

any input?

[BoidKeeper]

Just a regular black light bulb from a hardware store is all you need.
Trevor

[reptile boi]

icic, and do u put it over a screen cover or hardware cloth on the top of the rubbermaid?





Thanks,
Ben

[amazongirl]

There are two type of blaklights - flourescent and incandescent.

The incadescent one are good at providing a 24H heat source while producing little visible light. The don't produce anywhere the same amount of UV as the flouresent types in fact this type of bulb would be totally useless at preventing MBD in basking lizards. I hate the marketing tecniques that some reptile light manufacturers use in marketing the incadescent type "full spectrum" reptile bulbs as they produce no UVB and have tricked many a novice into thinking they are providing the necessary lighting for their beardie, or iguana etc..

The only use a flourescent black lite would have for a snake keeper would be if they were having a dance party or trying to find urine stains and bacteria growths!

I use a heating pad with my ATB as I like the humidity and air current they creat by placing a water dish on top of it. I find the lights very drying (lead to an incomplete shed in a hatchling), unpredictable in their life span and dangerous. I've melted many a plastic aquarium rim.

[reptile boi]

Hey amazongirl,

Where do you mount ur heat pads on the cage? (top, bottom, side), also, do you keep ur ammies in a rubbermaid or glass tank?



Thanks,
Ben

[still_matic]

i recommend heat pads, heat tape, or something of the sort..

[reptile boi]

still matic, where do u recommend i mount the heat pad onto the cage?





Thanks,
Ben

[still_matic]

well, it's all personal preference really and it depends on you in the end.. I use appropiate rubbermaids for all my snakes and they're all on a rack type system that takes rubbermaids of all sizes, including huge ones... i recommend heat pads, heat tapes, etc.. because i feel light fixtures make it hard to maintain humidity, although many many people have/had success with it.. it's my preference though.. if it was a glass tank i'd say put it on the bottom and not the side as this is kinda useless in my opinion, unless you cover most the top with plastic wrap and towels to maintain the heat in ther.. basically, all snakes should have a hot spot in an enclosure when they can curl up and hang out to digest there food.. i'd put it in one corner of the tank and hook up a dimmer or thermostat to control the heat and not burn the snake.. my general rule is to never go over 90F... they way i have mine is with heat wire running thru the back causing one side to be warm and approx 90F while the other side is in the low 80's.. this has worked well for me although ATB's don't necessarily need much heat other then a 80-85F one.. the hot spot is usually where you'll find your snake after it ate.. good luck

[BoidKeeper]

I use a heat pad underneath and the heat lamp rest on the screen lid. For a rubbermaid yes you can cut a piece of the lid away and attach metal screen or wire cloth to the top on the out side and rest the dome for the heat lamp on that.
Hope this helps,
Trevor

[reptile boi]

boidkeeper, do u add the heat lamp for the fun of it, or does it help with husbandry?




Thanks,
Ben

[BoidKeeper]

The heat pad on the bottom helps to raise the ambiant in the cage and the lamp above provides a basking spot. It all depends on you snakes and your ambiant temps. In my living room the air temp is much lower then up in my snake room. Also my female perches all the time and my male almost never perches so their cages are completely different.
Female has a heat pad and heat lamp. Male has a heat pad only.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Tarentola]

true black lights give off UV rays

[BoidKeeper]

How can an incondesent light bulb painted black give off UV?
Trevor

[still_matic]

it can't... but isn't there a certain type of black light that does give off UV but isn't flourescent?? i think i might be thinking of led lights though..