Hi,
How would I go about setting up a radiant heat panel in an enclosed chamber?
I have a 2 1/2 year old male Russian tortoise.
This is my current set-up:
Cage is 4x2x1.5, very similar to (if not actually the very same as) this one from AP Cages: https://apcages.com/collections/terrestrial-cages/products/t11-48l-x-24w-x-18h.
I need to add a basking light. Should have done this at the start, but I didn't, so I want to fix that now. To do that, I can either mount a second flush light socket in the cage, which maybe is preferable, but I'm nervous about messing that up somehow, or I can buy and insert a radiant heat panel and get rid of the ceramic heat emitter I'm currently using, and that way, the basking light could go into the existing socket, and I could connect the radiant heat panel to the thermostat that keeps temps fairly steady in there, roughly 92-98 on the warm side, 70-80 on the cool side, and humidity somewhere in between 40 and 70% (still getting familiar with that aspect). There is a 10.0 UVB strip that runs across the middle of the ceiling lengthwise that I replace every 6 months.
My question is, is a radiant heat panel a good approach? Is it or a CHE better? If I go with an RHP, where do I put it and how? People mention the ceiling, but because of the UVB light, I don't think I can without having to figure out somewhere else for the UVB light. Someone in another thread mentioned on the wall, but since I want a gradient, how exactly do I do that? And what size should I get?
Thanks in advance for any advice or tips you want to share!
How would I go about setting up a radiant heat panel in an enclosed chamber?
I have a 2 1/2 year old male Russian tortoise.
This is my current set-up:
Cage is 4x2x1.5, very similar to (if not actually the very same as) this one from AP Cages: https://apcages.com/collections/terrestrial-cages/products/t11-48l-x-24w-x-18h.
I need to add a basking light. Should have done this at the start, but I didn't, so I want to fix that now. To do that, I can either mount a second flush light socket in the cage, which maybe is preferable, but I'm nervous about messing that up somehow, or I can buy and insert a radiant heat panel and get rid of the ceramic heat emitter I'm currently using, and that way, the basking light could go into the existing socket, and I could connect the radiant heat panel to the thermostat that keeps temps fairly steady in there, roughly 92-98 on the warm side, 70-80 on the cool side, and humidity somewhere in between 40 and 70% (still getting familiar with that aspect). There is a 10.0 UVB strip that runs across the middle of the ceiling lengthwise that I replace every 6 months.
My question is, is a radiant heat panel a good approach? Is it or a CHE better? If I go with an RHP, where do I put it and how? People mention the ceiling, but because of the UVB light, I don't think I can without having to figure out somewhere else for the UVB light. Someone in another thread mentioned on the wall, but since I want a gradient, how exactly do I do that? And what size should I get?
Thanks in advance for any advice or tips you want to share!