Heat..from below or from above??

[Tony the tank]

It's been dipping into the high 30 at night.. And I am once again using supplemental heating.... At the moment I am using heat lamps... Sometimes they sleep directly underneath it some sleep just outside the beam..there shell temp stays around 105*f

I do have a heat mat that's 4x3.. But I don't use it as I'm not sure it puts out enough heat.. When I did use it.. The mat temp was 90*f and the underbelly would reach 104*f the top of shell would stay around 71*F

So looking for thoughts and opinion on best way to heat them at night..

Thank you

 

[Tom]

What sort of enclosure?

In my night boxes I prefer to run oil heaters and heat all the air in the boxes. In my smaller 4x4' boxes, I run a heat mat on bottom and a Radiant Heat Panel on top, both on the same thermostat.

 

[knight_visionn]

What sort of enclosure?

In my night boxes I prefer to run oil heaters and heat all the air in the boxes. In my smaller 4x4' boxes, I run a heat mat on bottom and a Radiant Heat Panel on top, both on the same thermostat.

Tom, is there any advantage to using oil heaters? I'm setting up my guy to be outdoors full time, and was looking for ways to heat his night house. Ceramic heaters seem way cheaper (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GG8DWA/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20) given that I'm willing to run an extension cord from my home.

 

[Len B]

In Walkers house I use a 3x4 ft stanfield mat in a front corner and a 150 watt che hung in the center of his house so it is not right above the mat, this way if needed he can move from one heat source to the other or go to the back of the house away from the heat sources to regulate his body temps to what he is comfortable with. This winter I found some small oil filled heaters that measure 12x12x4 inches and I am going to incorporate these into the tort houses for next winter and hopefully many winters to come.

 

[Tony the tank]

What sort of enclosure?

In my night boxes I prefer to run oil heaters and heat all the air in the boxes. In my smaller 4x4' boxes, I run a heat mat on bottom and a Radiant Heat Panel on top, both on the same thermostat.

Well I'm using a Rubbermaid shed that was on the property when I brought it ..8'x10 with 12' ceiling...I was using a oil filled heater but on the coldest nights on full blast it kept the shed in the 50*F.. And I would find them under the heat lamps or on the heating mat.... So decided to remove the oil heater .. And install a cluster of heat lamps (4) toward the rear of the shed...So far this has kept the ambient air temp toward the rear of the shed on the coldest nights to 62*F... And around 110*F directly under the lights at 24".. Which I believe is fine... But would like to know which heat would be best... Belly heat or heat from above..