Che wattage

[Guest]

I'm sick of buying bulbs all the time, so I'm wanting to switch over to CHEs, but I don't know what wattage CHE I need to get to properly heat the enlosures.

My boa is in an enclosure that measures 4'Lx2'Wx2'H. It is an all glass enclosure.

The other is a 40 gallon critter cage that I keep my Ball Python in, and it measures 3'Lx18"Wx18"H

The temperature in the house is 72 degrees F.

I think a 100watt CHE would work for the Boas enclosure & a 75watt CHE would work for the Ball Pythons enclosure, but I am not sure.

[sclark]

Re:Che wattage

Hey Viper.

Wish I had an easy answer for you.. There are some many varibles like air flow, other heat souces like UTH, basking lights, etc.. I would guess, and its only a guess, but a 100 watt CHE should be best.. Should bring the hot side upto about 90. You could and should throw a rheostat on it and you can adjust the output you need.. Better too much with a rheostat then can be turned down, then too little..

Hope that helped a little..

Steve

[bigmitch]

Re:Che wattage

;D I used to house my boa in a 40 critter..with a 75 watt CHE it is going to be hard to get a gradient unless you put the CHE on one side of the enclosure and it should give you a good gradiant . you may have to hang it up a couple inches off the top of the enclosure because more then likely it will heat the whole aquarium to about 90-95 degrees..those bad boys get hot!! Good luck..

[Guest]

Re:Che wattage

Well I have done some thinking, and I have decided that for now I will tolerate the bulbs, but as soon as money allows I will purchase a couple of the Boaphile Enclosures & switch my snakes over to those. 8)

[bigmitch]

Re:Che wattage

Thats a good idea..The boaphiles plastics are the best but if your tired of bulbs buy a strip light they last for ever..and buy under the tank heaters..ie cobra mats with a regulator I think these are the best way to heat an aquarium...

[Guest]

Re:Che wattage

I don't mind using Heat lamp bulbs, I just wish they lasted longer.

But If I ever have to replace any of my enclosures I am replacing them with Boaphile Enclosures.

[Larry]

Re:Che wattage

I use a 150 watt CHE. I have it hooked to a thermostat (this is a must >) set at 90. This provides a good gradiant throughout the cage. 150 is larger then I need based on the size of the enclosure, but with the thermostat and all, the CHE is actully on less, which may be savings me a bit on my electric bill......just a thought

Larry
Waynesboro, VA

[ClayEnglish]

Re:Che wattage

I have said somewhere (lol) that I recommend the 60 and 100 watt CHE's. The larger ones (120-150) are really capable of getting too hot, and if you ever have a runaway thermostat, you are in big trouble. You MUST control all CHE's with a thermostat, but in worst case scenarios, the 60 watts with full on power would not be catastrophic.

Extremely large enclosure may require the larger wattage CHE's (120-150) but at that point you need a high end, double protection thermostat unit that can still shut off should one thermostat fail.