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Heat Sources

22 16:48:28

Question
Hi Mark,

Thank you for your previous advice about lighting and heat. Just to clarify, I have a question. I have a 4x2 open enclosure (no glass) for my box turtle. I have a 100 watt ceramic heat emitter on one side, about a foot away on the same side I have a 75 watt basking bulb. The other end of the enclosure has no heat, just a UVA/UVB bulb.

The owners of the pet store where I purchased her said the ceramic lamp is enough and the basking lamp is too much heat. Although my turtle seems to enjoy going back and forth from the basking bulb to the ceramic bulb. Considering the size, open air flow of the enclosure and heat wattages I'm using, would you agree that I'm using too much heat? Should I increase or decrease any watts of either bulb?    

Thanks again,
Amber

Answer
The best answer is based on its behavior. If it stays in the warmer areas a lot, increase the heat a bit. If it seeks out cooler areas, decrease it a bit.

(Note- a UV bulb will generally put out heat as well. I'd move it closer to the hot end so they can get UV as they bask and have a shadier/cooler area to retreat to.)

Make the changes slowly and be ready to continually tweak them (after all, the real world is not consistant in temps!)

I cannot give you an absolute answer since I don't know the room temp, hot space temp, and cool space temp, but as a general rule, 175 watts of heat is kinda weak for a big open enclosure in most cases- but that depends on a lot of things so go by the behavior!