Change of behavior because it is colder outside?

[tortoisenerd]

They are all very similar, but doing some research, I see that the Zoo Med brand quotes a 25,000 hr life for the same cost as some other brands which don't mention it or say 10,000 hr. What is tricky is the wattage because it really varies with what sort of set up you have (its hard to know what you need before you test it out--you may even want to buy from Petco so you can exchange/return it). I use a cage fixture and its maybe 8 inches above the substrate, 60 Watt, but it gets to almost 90 right under it, so I wouldn't have my tort's sleeping area set up right under how I have it set up. Trevor is about a foot to the side of it in his hay pile most of the time. I have the water dish on the other side. Really happy with how it all ended up gradient wise.

I leave the CHE on 24/7 because the MVB alone isn't enough heat for us in winter with a cool house and a large enclosure. I have a very long and narrow enclosure with the CHE and the MVB each at 1/3 locations. Right now I happen to have an Exo Terra CHE (wish I would have got Zoo Med). The Exo Terra also has a weird light red color vs. the usual white color. The 100 Watt I used before (too hot so I got the 60 Watt--I had to point it sideways instead of down) was a Zoo Med. I was just reading up on them because we plan to double Trevor's enclosure size soon (probably a Vision medium tub), so I guess we will need 1 or 2 more CHEs!

You may also want to look into black lights. Many here swear by them as they are cheaper for the amount of heat, but I don't have experience with them. Not sure why I haven't tried them out...maybe the whole don't have a problem with what I'm using thing. Good luck!

 

[Isa]

Kate, I am glad Trevor was doing better this weekend It is a very good sign. Poor little guy, his stomach must hurt with the antiotics.
Hermy is feeling better too, he eats, basks, walks around the enclosure to see if he could find a piece of mazuri in the aspen lol.
A lot of people here have CHE, I dont I only have a mvb. The ambiant temp in their room is 73.4 and the temps in the cold side is 75.2F. What is the temp in your enclosure (you guys that use CHE) when the CHE is open?

 

[ChiKat]

Kate- would you mind posting pictures of the location of your bulbs, when you get a chance? I'm having trouble visualizing how to set-up Nelson's lighting with a CHE (or secondary heat source) if I already have his MVB on the warm side.
I actually use black lights for my leopard geckos...
Hmm definitely something I need to do more research on! Nelson definitely needs another heat source though before it gets any colder.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Instead of having warm side & cold side, I more so have two gradients so the outer edges are cold, and I have two basking spots. You can see a bit on these, where the CHE is clamped to a board laid over part of the enclosure. I was able to get it so that every spot in my enclosure is warmer than room temperature since we're below 70 F in winter. Isa-you're doing well with room temps that high. I think ours is more like 64 F average because we're stingy on heat, and the enclosure is between 70 and 100 F in the day, and so far it has stayed above 64 F where Trevor sleeps (I'm fine with him as cold as 60 F...and he has the opportunity to move in the 70s and even 80s if he wanted at night). It looks kinda funny since the CHE is pointed at the water, but it actually warms up that whole part of the enclosure, even part of the hay area.

 

[ChiKat]

Thank you so much for the pictures! That helps a lot!!
I can't believe how much Trevor has grown He is such a gorgeous Russian- I just LOVE all that yellow coloring!!

 

[Isa]

Thanks for the pics Kate, I love the idea of having the 2 outer edges colder, I mean in the wild, there is not one hot side and one cold side, thanks for the idea.
Trevor is gorgeous, he got huge beautifuly and I love his bath