# New Vivarium Heating Setup



## chivs2580 (Jun 10, 2013)

Hi, Newbie here. 

I have owned snakes now for around 6-7 months, (Not long I know)
But my collection of snakes has now grown from the original 1 to 4!

I'm after some advice on heating for my Viv's..
I have 4 Viv's on order and they should arrive in around 4 weeks, so I want to get all the bits I need before they arrive.
I think I'm going to go down the ceramic heat lamp route, as it seems they will be less intrusive into my sleep, as the Viv's will be in my bedroom.

The main things I'm looking for advice on, is as follows:

*-What is the ideal wattage of the ceramic heaters I need to use.
-Which is the best kind of thermostat to use. (Bearing in mind there will be 4 lamps)
-What are the ideal temperatures for the snakes day and night using the thermostats.*

I have 3 Ball Pythons and a Hog Island Boa.

One of the pythons is nearly full grown (around 5 feet) and the other two are around 2-3 feet.
The Boa is still a baby, and is around 1.5 feet.

Also, if anyone has any alternative idea's on heating, that would be good too.

Thank you in advance


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## RLS (Feb 21, 2013)

i prefer heat mats for royals, if you plan on stacking your vivs, you would only need one stat for a whole stack of vivs. Mats allow you to get the substrate up to temp even under hides etc.

As for the boa, ceramic, as for wattage depends on size of your viv?


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## Neonblack123 (Mar 18, 2013)

Seeing that your collection has grown, will it keep growing? I know mine will. So I'm investing in a rack. Just a thought to consider.


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## Kimora (Mar 7, 2012)

I'm going to assume that the new viv's are 3 or 4ft so the advice will be based on that : victory:

I would personally go ceramic for heavy bodied snakes, which i include royals into. I'm a pro mat user but when you start going chunky then ceramics/bulbs/AHS are the way forward to avoid thermal-blocking which may cause heat spots which could burn.

Ceramic for a 3-4ft terrestrial i would use a 100w (150w tops for a 4ft)...this should provide the hot spot needed and still give a nice gradient, you can use a dimmer or a pulse stat with ceramics (heck, people use mat stats too but i would recommend a dimmer or pulse.), remember to guard it to avoid burns and use a ceramic holder (plastic IMO just isn't up to the job). I'm assuming you already have digital thermometers : victory:

Some keepers cut all heat to enclosures of a night time but that is personal preference and for your species i wouldn't see it as necessary...but only you can decide that.


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## Artisan (Mar 27, 2011)

Im with kimora. You dont want to be using heat mats in a wooden viv for any snake that gets a good size/weight on them. Its an accident waiting to happen like thermal blocking/burns/potential fire. Royals and boas are best heated by ceramics, with a guard on. You will need a pulse stat for each bulb.....you cant run more then one bulb per stat.....well you can but if one bulb fails then the viv thats still got a working bulb will get so hot it could cause lots of issues....fry your snake/cause neuro issues from over heating etc because the working bulb will get hotter and hotter if its in the viv with no stat probe. You can buy dual stats with 2 probes so if you got 2 of these then you can use 2 stats on 4 vivs providing the bulbs in each set of vivs has the same wattage.
Bulb wattage depends on size of viv and also how cold your house gets. I know its summer now but my house gets freezing in winter so if you think ahead and think you might need a higher wattage bulb?
I personally use 100-150w in 3 foots and 250w in 4 foot and over. Not that I need to power it up that high but when its cold in winter....it just means my bulbs dont have to work as hard to hit and maintain temps and I never need to turn the stat up full so it prolongs the life of both the stat and bulb IMO : victory:


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## Hypermonkey (May 5, 2013)

I've just got a 3 month old BCI and have put her in a 3x2x2 and she appears to be enjoying being there. She's spent the last 2 nights roaming around and settling on a branch at the front. The days have been at either end, on the deck or on the shelf.



I've added a link to my viv set up if it's any help regarding placement of heat, hides etc. I'm running a 600W pulse stat on a 150W ceramic ---> http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/snake-pictures/967053-new-girl-viv.html



One thing I would have changed is the setting up of the thermostat sensor. I'm going to use the system Seven outlines in his post on this thread as the link he directs to explains it very well for a beginner (read as 5 weeks of snakey ownership) like me.----->http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/snakes/967203-stat-probe-placement-help.html

Hope this helps,

Simon.


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## Se7enS1ns (Mar 11, 2012)

RLS said:


> i prefer heat mats for royals, if you plan on stacking your vivs, you would only need one stat for a whole stack of vivs. Mats allow you to get the substrate up to temp even under hides etc.
> 
> As for the boa, ceramic, as for wattage depends on size of your viv?


This is a mixture of your own personal preference, and all round terrible (and potentially dangerous) advice. I'd actually struggle to disagree with you anymore if I tried.

Firstly - Heatmats are widely regarded not suitable for large bodied snakes, for a couple of reasons. Firstly - thermal blocking. And adult Royal is bulky and weighty, and can cause both burns to its belly or sides, and cause the heatmat to develop hot spots and malfuction. Secondly, I do not believe heatmats should be used inside vivariums at all, in their "out of packet" unmodified state. The electrical connections on them are not waterproof, and something as simple as the snake tossing it's waterbowl (common in heavy snakes) or even exctreting on the block can cause malfunction of the mat. 

Whilst heat mats may be fine for hatchling and juvenile Royals at a stretch, they are not suitable for adults - so why not do it correctly from the start, and go for a ceramic. I'm sure I dont have to mention how heat mats do little at all for ambient temps.

As for advising using one thermostat to regulate multiple vivariums, well this beggars belief. Think about the job that the thermostat is doing, yes? It is regulating he temperature of the individual heat source. These mats are going to be at different temperatures depending on depth of substrate, decor, height of viv, and whether there is a snake on it at the time or not. Using one viv as a "control" will cause temperatures to swing around wildly (and potentially dangerously) in the other vivs, and offers absolutely no safeguard against a malfunctioning heatmat in an uncrontolled vivarium.

Whilst you are welcome to keep your own snakes however you like, please refrain from advising new members looking for help to do the same, because your "advice" will quickly be discredited, particularly in this area of the forum.


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