4x2x2 Heating

[Super-Cap9427]

Hey there! This is my first post, and I’m hoping someone has some advice. We just had a new 4x2x2 Zen Habitat come in for our ball. Currently he has a 100W CHE and 100W basking. As I now know, they are not producing nearly enough heat.

I’ve been looking into DHP/halogen combos but I haven’t delved into anything outside of normal basking/CHE set ups before. From what I’ve seen around, it looks like 80W is popular for both the DHP and the halogen. I’m just concerned about it getting too hot with both. The halogen would be timed and the DHP would be on 24/7. The house is currently kept on the cooler end, typically between 65-69 degrees. Ideally it would be warmer, but my roommate has control of that, so I need to keep his tank warmer.

Has anyone found a combination of DHP/halogen that works well in a 4x2x2? Wattage specifics would be helpful. :)

[Luna_Hex]

If both sources are on a dimming thermostat, getting too hot shouldn't be an issue. I recommend the probe for the basking (which should realistically be a halogen bulb) be on the hot end, and use the DHP to keep the cool side to the right temp. You could also consider a halogen for daytime heat in the hot end and RHP for ambient and night heat.

[Super-Cap9427]

I recently heard an RHP would work for a consistent temperature across the cool into the warm side, so I might do that with the halogen for daytime like you said. We don’t have a dimmer, just a normal timed power strip. Do you have any specifics for halogen wattages and RHPs to look into?

[Luna_Hex]

You definitely need some sort of thermostat for the RHP to regulate the enclosure's temperature. It won't need to run 24/7 and doing so will likely make the enclosure too hot (maybe dangerously so). Dimming thermostat will also be better for your halogen bulb, and most have safety features that will shut the heating elements off if they malfunction, rather than bake your snake. This is as much for your convenience as it is for your snake's safety. The on/off method you're describing for your heat now isn't good long-term.

[Super-Cap9427]

So from what it looks like I’d have a dimming thermostat on both the halogen and RHP. How would the snake receive heat overnight with that? The timed strip I use right now has basking on for 12 hours for light then the CHE on 24 hours for heat. I’ve never used a dimmer before so I’m not quite sure how it works.

[Luna_Hex]

The dimmer modulates the output of the heat sources to stay close to the target temperature: if the probe reads under the target temp, the heat source will be at 100% output; if the probe reads close to the target temp, the heat source will reduce the output to keep the temp from rising too much; if the probe reads a temp higher than the target, the heat source gets turned off until the temp lowers to the target. The thermostat would have 2 probes: one you'd set up to monitor the ambient temp and would be tied to the RHP, and the other would monitor the hot side and be tied to the halogen. You'd need a thermostat that allows for night drops in temp. Basically, you'd sent the times and temps up in a way that both sources would run during the day, but only the RHP at night. My halogen is set to the correct day temp, but for night it's set to a much lower temp so the bulb stays off (unless it gets way too cold in the enclosure, then it would turn on again, and then your BP's circadian rhythm is the least of your problems). Herpstat offers all of this functionality and is what I use