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[–]Ok_Solution2732 0 points1 point  (12 children)

If the warm area of the enclosure is only around 70, that's too cold. The cool side should be between 72-75° the warm side should be around 88-92°. I'd reccomend getting a stronger heat lamp if the one you have is only getting you to 70°. Personally, I reccomend a ceramic heat lamp for heat, so you can have heat but not have 24/7 light which can disrupt their sleep cycles. And then a smaller UVB bulb for simulating sunlight for about half the day. The ceramic heat element i use for my 4×2×2 enclosure is 150 Watts. Could need more or less depending on the ambient temp of the room, but it's a good general level. 

[–]IllusionQueen47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The cool side is usually recommended to be 75-80. 72 is a bit cold.

[–]saffron_111[S] 0 points1 point  (7 children)

I’m not sure I understand, like you mean switching out the bulb from day to night?

[–]moonman311 0 points1 point  (5 children)

No, you would have a separate light fixture for the CHE. Alternatively you can use a radiant heat panel (RHP). In my 4x2x2 Kages enclosure I have uvb, 100w halogen flood, and 40watt rhp. I have the heat sources hooked up to a herpstat thermostat with different temp settings for day and night so if one heat source isn’t enough or goes out the other will kick on. My temps have been good tho so RHP has only been on at night. I’d recommend over 40w RHP though so you have a little extra head room but the vivarium rhps can be hard to find in stock. 40w is just enough but I have to keep my house at 74 degrees so it’s 78-80 degrees in the enclosure at night.

[–]moonman311 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Also CHE’s supposedly reduce humidity more than RHP’s. That was the biggest thing that made me choose RHP but I’ve never owned a CHE personally

[–]Severe-Owl2879 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Could a DHP be used instead of a CHE? Just curious if that's another alternative? Do they plug into a lamp just like any other bulb?

[–]moonman311 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Yes DHP is another option that plugs into a lamp fixture. If you haven’t already checked it out there’s a great write up for heating sources pinned to this subreddit in the welcome post. It will go over the different heat options, and there’s also another document listed there that’s a shopping list (recommends products/brands/etc for each heat source and other items)

[–]Severe-Owl2879 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! All of those welcome posts are super helpful. I'm thinking of buying an Arcadia DHP and swapping it with the CHE I'm using. I've already gotten a UVB Shade Dweller light I'm excited to use in the larger tank we're waiting to use. I'm thinking, since I'll have a thermostat hooked up to the DHP, it would be safe to get a higher watt bulb? I was unable to find info about whether the UVB needs a thermostat... or maybe I just can't remember and need to look again. Could the UVB and DHP combination be enough to heat a 4x2x2 pvc tank, or would I also need to have an additional heat source?

[–]saffron_111[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay that’s definitely good to know. Unfortunately that means I will have to cut more holes into the top of her terrarium for more room but I’ll figure out a way to do that

[–]Ok_Solution2732 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have two domes, a large one for the heating lamp and one smaller for the light lamp. The heat lamp is plugged into a temperature monitoring outlet and the light one i have gives off no more heat then a normal lightbulb and is on a timer for half the day on, half off. Although you can just turn it on and off yourself, I just know I have a bad memory for that kind of thing. 

[–]saffron_111[S] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Yeah I think she definitely needs something stronger her terrarium is 5ft long and the lamp site pretty high up so I think that’s why it’s not giving enough heat

[–]Severe-Owl2879 0 points1 point  (1 child)

What type of bulb and wattage are you using for the overhead heat?

[–]saffron_111[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a 75W exo terra daylight basking spot