Cold weather help?

[Zeusy]

Here in Brisbane it's been getting pretty cold overnight (about 5 deg last night). I went to check on my hatchy in his click clack around 10pm last night and looks as though the 7w heatmat isn't up to the challenge. The basking spot was down to 28 degrees (set to 32 on the thermostat), warm end ambient was 23 and the cold end ambient was 16.
I checked again at 4am this morning, basking was 26, warm end was 19 and the cold en was 13. He always hides in his cold end hide so I removed this to force him to use the warm end.
Should I buy a heat cord (15w or higher?) setup under a tile the full length of the click clack and just make the coils, for want of a better word, nice and close together at the warm end an just a few coils toward the cold end to try and warm it all up a bit, or just have some coils down the warm end? Any other suggestions? Are the current temps ok and I should stop stressing? Should I put my cool end hide back in as once the day comes, it will return to normal operating temps? I have bumped the basking spot up to 34 once, about a month ago, but made him fairly stressed and flighty.
Thanks for any info you can give me.

 

[Bart70]

I have a 14w heat mat with a click clack on each side - so using 7w per tub and have no problems maintaining temps well into the 30's. At 6am this morning mine was still showing 31c (haven't checked but outside night temps were predicted to be around 5c and the house was not heated overnight).

A drop to 26 overnight would not really concern me as long as it was recovering during the day - but would have thought that you would still be able to maintain temps with the 7w. How is it set up? is the tub sitting directly on the mat?

How are you checking temps? Surface temp with an IR gun?

 

[Zeusy]

Thanks, it is directly in contact with base of the click clack. I tested with a surface temp probe which screws down onto the base. I have compared to it's reading to an ir gun and provides nearly (+/- 0.4 degrees) exactly the same temp. After i checked it last night, i noticed some heat coming underneath the timber the click clack sits on so i put a towel with some alfoil under the heatmat to try and reflect the lost heat back towards the click clack. This morning there was little heat under the timber.
The heat has recovered now and will be fine for the rest of the day i'm sure, was just worried about that drop overnight.

 

[Bart70]

Maybe I just have a really efficient mat that puts out a bit more heat than normal cos I have heard others comment about 7w mats struggling at times. Mine is the 14w but is basically s x 7w strips with a click clack on each strip so they basically sitting on a 7w each. Mine is sitting on a timber bench top - pine about 25mm thick.

26c is not biggie in my view as long as it is not 24/7 - if it is recovering back to normal relatively quickly during the day I would just monitor it and see how it goes.

Happy to be swayed by other peoples thoughts though......but I don't see a 4 or so degree drop for a few hours at night causing any real issues....He would endure worse in the wild.

 

[Skitzmixer]

Don't suppose its placed near any windows or any place that's effected by drafts? I had issues with my click-clack getting the temp up and all I had to do was move it to a different spot. Been running fine for a while now

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Doesn't sound too much of a problem - just cover it with a towel or some other insulating material when it gets a bit cold. That should be enough to trap heat in there overnight.

Jamie

 

[Riffherper]

Glad to see this thread. I'm having the same issue at Coffs Harbour. I'm running a 40 watt heat mat for two hatchies and last night got down to about 25. I'm trying to think of a way to get temps up overnight. Temps do recover during the day however I want to be able to keep temps right up and fee throughout winter.

 

[Riffherper]

After a bit of research I'm inclined to think my problem is the window. I thought that it wasn't an issue as it is always closed however I now think coldness is coming through the closed window. Ill take steps to minimize its impact and see how I go. Unfortunately every room in my house has windows :s

 

[Skeptic]

Something doesn't seem right here. A 7 watt heat mat should give you surface temps into the 40's without a thermostat to stop it. What brand are you using and is it a green bag variety or the clear/black plastic?

 

[Bart70]

Glad to see this thread. I'm having the same issue at Coffs Harbour. I'm running a 40 watt heat mat for two hatchies and last night got down to about 25. I'm trying to think of a way to get temps up overnight. Temps do recover during the day however I want to be able to keep temps right up and fee throughout winter.

Not sure what brand of mat you are using.....I have a 28w pad that I put 4 tubs on (taking approx the size of a 7w each) and a 14w that I do the same with 2 tubs. My mats are "Underworld" branded and have to be run off a thermostat or will reach well in the 40's as Skeptic indicated.

Keep in mind that with most mats the higher the wattage still gives the same heat per sq cm of mat area - the mat is just larger. For example it makes no difference to me if i use a 7, 14, or 28w mat - my click clacks when placed properly will only cover the equivalent of 7w of heating are on any of these mats (Not sure if that made sense.....) so having bigger mats only allows me to put more click clacks on the one mat.....makes no difference to temps until the tub size is increased.

Maybe that window sucking up the some warmth....exposed glass can be a killer sometimes.

 

[Zeusy]

It's a reptile one brand and just runs flat out so I guess the heat is simply being absorbed by the cold air straight away. I assumed it would maintain the basking temps through winter but I guess not. It's in a sealed room that has no windows and the doors have very little gap to the floor. Basically it's an insulated plasterboard room built in my shed. So definitely no draughts. Will try a towel/blanket around it tonight and see what happens.

 

[Endeavour]

Don't know what size your click clack is but I have known people use those polystyrene boxes (the type that's used to transport tropical fish) to completely cover the click clack and its worked a treat.

Kindest regards

Endeavour

 

[BeZaKa]

Ive got a 28 watt matt partially under 1 reptile one plastic enclosure (45cm by 20 cm) approx. due to all the ventilation read: lid- front- back and sides, we had a 2 degree night and it ran all night trying to maintain 26 degrees (set to 31 degrees). Ive now placed the mat on top of a Perspex sheet and placed a ceramic tile on top of the mat then the container on the ceramic tile. This seems to capture and retain the heat longer and has not had a problem maintaining 32 degrees. Seems to have worked for me.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Getting down to the mid-twenties during the night should not be a problem at all, and should not affect interest in food. Remember that in the bush, these nocturnal animals rarely see temps above the low twenties at night (we all complain if the nights are hotter than that), so as long as the day temps run into the low thirties for a few hours, all should be well.

And please remember that when mucking around with heat mats... they are probably the most dangerous form of heating, and quite prone to scorching things or catching on fire if there is insufficient air movement around them. I've seen a 7W heat mat set fire to the top of a table when it was placed in contact with surfaces above and below, and heard of numerous other close calls. There MUST be a gap between the mat and the enclosure or tub placed over it or you're asking for serious trouble...

Heat cords are by far a safer and more flexible option.

Jamie

 

[Ramsayi]

The main thing is the cooler side temps.Once that drops low it is enough to switch off their feeding response.Having it drop down to 13C is way too low.

The first thing I would do would be to use a larger wattage heat mat and make sure the tub is placed against an internal wall as they are usually a few degrees warmer than an external wall.

 

[lizardwhisperer]

Why not put a second 5W or 7W heatpad in cool end that you turn on for him (set to lower temp than the hot end pad, 25-28oC say) and put the cold end hide ontop of it, he'll have the choice then and you can put it on a timer to come on an 30mins before the basking lamp and UV are turned off.

 

[ronhalling]

I am a little confused about a basking spot in a "Click Clack" as well as having a warm end and a cool end, I am using the same 14w heat mat as Bart70 and have 2 "Click Clacks" sitting on 1 side of the mat which means the other heat strip on the mat is unused, The probe for the thermostat is sitting directly on the heat mat between the 2 "Click Clacks" and set to 35 deg and have a digital thermometer probe in direct contact with the floor of the "Click Clacks" on the hot end and have no problems maintaining a constant 32 deg on hot end and 19 deg on the cool end, the outside temp last night was 6 deg and in my lounge room at 330am today it was 11 deg ambient, when i checked on my little 1s both "Click Clacks" were sitting at 32 deg, So as Bart70 suggested you might have a dodgy heat pad and as he said try covering it up of a night ..................Ron

 

[Bart70]

Getting down to the mid-twenties during the night should not be a problem at all, and should not affect interest in food. Remember that in the bush, these nocturnal animals rarely see temps above the low twenties at night (we all complain if the nights are hotter than that), so as long as the day temps run into the low thirties for a few hours, all should be well.

And please remember that when mucking around with heat mats... they are probably the most dangerous form of heating, and quite prone to scorching things or catching on fire if there is insufficient air movement around them. I've seen a 7W heat mat set fire to the top of a table when it was placed in contact with surfaces above and below, and heard of numerous other close calls. There MUST be a gap between the mat and the enclosure or tub placed over it or you're asking for serious trouble...

Heat cords are by far a safer and more flexible option.

Jamie

So true about the heat mats.....and a subtle reminder that I need to get some fibrous cement sheeting for mine that I have been meaning to do for ages

 

[BeZaKa]

And please remember that when mucking around with heat mats... they are probably the most dangerous form of heating, and quite prone to scorching things or catching on fire if there is insufficient air movement around them. I've seen a 7W heat mat set fire to the top of a table when it was placed in contact with surfaces above and below, and heard of numerous other close calls. There MUST be a gap between the mat and the enclosure or tub placed over it or you're asking for serious trouble...

Heat cords are by far a safer and more flexible option.

Jamie

I Should have been more specific, my heat mats are only partially covered. Also quality of mats seems to be a factor. Numerous respected breeders supplied me with this method of setup. Whilst I am always open to new and better ways of doing things (eg heat cords have never been suggested to me believe it or not) the amount of conflicting info I have received has been incredible. I would be interested to know how you utilise a heat cord with both a click clack and a wooden enclosure Jamie eg. in direct contact underneath wood/plastic. Should you sit them on wood etc. I have my heat mats sitting on a layer of Perspex to shield the wood of the bench underneath. Again any info on set up appreciated.

 

[andynic07]

I have used 5 watt heat mats with no problems sustaining 33 degree temperatures southside of Brisbane but this year changed to a heat cord because I have two hatchling BHP's and wanted a larger heating area from the one cord.