# Rainbow boa heating problems?



## jaywolves90 (Jun 21, 2010)

Hi

I have a rainbow boa in a 5x2x2 wooden vivarium. Im currently using a 150w ceramic bulb comnected to a thermostat but it doesnt seem to be heating the enclosure up much. My ceramic holder can hold up to 200w

I have even tried a 200w bulb and still have the same problem

Ive had this problem for a while now ive had to use an heatmat too but with this cold weather its not really doing much either.

The lights on the stat are also always on so its trying to get the heat up but it just doesnt :/

Anyone have any ideas why?

Thanks


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

Firstly have you tried just turning up the stat? Never go by the numbers on the stat, always go by the temp gun. Also make sure the probe is placed sensibly. 

Next question is, have you temp gunned the ceramic bulb itself to make sure it is definitely working? 

Potentially worth adding a day time heat source in the form of a halogen on its own stat, this will up the temps during the day. Halogens are much better heater than a ceramic, but of course can't be used at night due to the light they emit which will disturb the snakes at night. If you can get the ceramic up to 21-24c then this will be enough for night time. 

Final thing is where is this enclosure placed? If it is in a garage or outbuilding and sat on the floor then worth raising it up off the floor, the air pocket between the vivarium and the cold floor will help keep the cold at bay.


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## jaywolves90 (Jun 21, 2010)

Thank you for the reply.

Yeah i have tried turning up the stat full and its still the same problem. I have even tried just using the ceramic plugged into the mains (without the snake in the viv) incase it was a stat problem but it was the same.

I have used the gun on the ceramic and it does get hot.


I think i might try the halogen as the viv is in my spare room but it is quite cold in there.

I already have a day low wattage bulb installed in the centre of the viv. If i changed this to a higher watt halogen would this be ok? Or with it being in the centre of thr viv warm the cool side up too much?


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

I'd move the daytime bulb over to the warmer end to have a proper thermal gradient. High watt halogen will be find, if on a stat of course. 

Where is the thermostat probe for the ceramic in relation to the ceramic? Image probably easiest way to show with clarity


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

That sounds as if the heater element or the stat is faulty or its design means its running at its capacity but struggling. I have a 150w trough heater in a 70" x 21" x 21" and it's maintaining around 32c even though the room temp has dropped to 14c during this current cold snap. Can you feel any heat if you place your hand below it?

Now it could be that the design of the CHE is such that its simply running at its full capacity and simply can't raise the temperature due to the low ambient temperature in the room. The way you could test this is run your heating in that room, so the room temperature is at a comfortable 22-23c and see if the hot spot temperature returns to what it should be. Alternatively, remove the snake and connect the heater directly to the mains - Monitor the temperature and see if it rises above the current levels and reaches a point that is at least 10c above the current reading. If it does then this points to the thermostat being at fault. As mentioned above all temperature readings should be done using an IR laser temp gun. Don't rely on the markings on the thermostat.

I wrote a sticky post in the snake section on heating, which covers probe placement etc, which might be worth a read (saves me repeating it here).


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## jaywolves90 (Jun 21, 2010)

LiasisUK said:


> I'd move the daytime bulb over to the warmer end to have a proper thermal gradient. High watt halogen will be find, if on a stat of course.
> 
> Where is the thermostat probe for the ceramic in relation to the ceramic? Image probably easiest way to show with clarity



I have the probe directly under the ceramic bulb, aound 12 inches away. With it being directly below the heat bulb i would have thought that exact spot should reach the correct temperature at some point, but all the time using it the heat light on the stat hasnt gone off which shows it hasnt reached the temp :/


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## jaywolves90 (Jun 21, 2010)

Malc said:


> That sounds as if the heater element or the stat is faulty or its design means its running at its capacity but struggling. I have a 150w trough heater in a 70" x 21" x 21" and it's maintaining around 32c even though the room temp has dropped to 14c during this current cold snap. Can you feel any heat if you place your hand below it?
> 
> Now it could be that the design of the CHE is such that its simply running at its full capacity and simply can't raise the temperature due to the low ambient temperature in the room. The way you could test this is run your heating in that room, so the room temperature is at a comfortable 22-23c and see if the hot spot temperature returns to what it should be. Alternatively, remove the snake and connect the heater directly to the mains - Monitor the temperature and see if it rises above the current levels and reaches a point that is at least 10c above the current reading. If it does then this points to the thermostat being at fault. As mentioned above all temperature readings should be done using an IR laser temp gun. Don't rely on the markings on the thermostat.
> 
> I wrote a sticky post in the snake section on heating, which covers probe placement etc, which might be worth a read (saves me repeating it here).


Ah i see. Yes i can feel heat when i put my hand under the bulb. I already have tried plugging the heat source straight into the mains without a stat but i still get the same problem. This is why i tried 2 other ceramic bulbs and still have the same issue


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

jaywolves90 said:


> Ah i see. Yes i can feel heat when i put my hand under the bulb. I already have tried plugging the heat source straight into the mains without a stat but i still get the same problem. This is why i tried 2 other ceramic bulbs and still have the same issue


So if you have tried both a 150w and a 200w plugged directly into the mains and you still can't reach around 30c in the viv then that's either a bad coincidence to have two faulty units or it's so cold in your room that any increase is cancelled out by the cold, something I find hard to believe as our lounge dropped to 14c in the small hours, but the 150w ceramic I have in my boa's viv maintained 32c in the viv. Mind you, the ceramic being a trough type may be better designed than those branded for use with reptiles. It has a larger surface area which also might make some difference.

I guess the viv is the traditional 18mm melamine with sliding glass doors, and not an all glass affair with the CHE sitting on top of a mesh screen?


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

jaywolves90 said:


> I have the probe directly under the ceramic bulb, aound 12 inches away. With it being directly below the heat bulb i would have thought that exact spot should reach the correct temperature at some point, but all the time using it the heat light on the stat hasnt gone off which shows it hasnt reached the temp :/



The image provided in the quoted post appears to me to show a Deep Heat Projector, rather than a ceramic. These only come in 50w or 80w and in my opinion aren't a very good piece of kit as they don't provide a decent spread and are incapable of heating large vivariums.

Nothing else sounds out of the ordinary, I have used 100w, 150w and 200w ceramics to heat 6ft vivariums and they work fine, even in cooler rooms. So, as Malc has suggested, something isn't quite right here.


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

LiasisUK said:


> The image provided in the quoted post appears to me to show a Deep Heat Projector, rather than a ceramic. These only come in 50w or 80w and in my opinion aren't a very good piece of kit as they don't provide a decent spread and are incapable of heating large vivariums.


Well spotted and I agree 100%. No way even an 80w DHP would heat a 5' x 2' x 2' viv


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## jaywolves90 (Jun 21, 2010)

LiasisUK said:


> The image provided in the quoted post appears to me to show a Deep Heat Projector, rather than a ceramic. These only come in 50w or 80w and in my opinion aren't a very good piece of kit as they don't provide a decent spread and are incapable of heating large vivariums.
> 
> Nothing else sounds out of the ordinary, I have used 100w, 150w and 200w ceramics to heat 6ft vivariums and they work fine, even in cooler rooms. So, as Malc has suggested, something isn't quite right here.


Ah yes i put this heat projector bulb in this morning to it to see if this changed any temperatures. 

I think i will head out and buy a new ceramic bulb and see if this does the trick

Cheers


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