what watt?

[zoe]

ok i moved my diamond baby into his 2 foot cage from the little critter cage and i'm trying to work out which are the best globes for heating it. we bought some globes from where we bought the cage and they're totally crap...they're blue except for the top of the neck and it's letting too much light in i think cos he's been in his hide a fair bit even at night when he's usually out. i was gonna go buy some of those proper night light ones but they all come in different wattages and i wouldn't have a clue which one to get for our size cage. also the temp gradient isn't exactly working to plan cos i put the thermostat (which is on the same side as the globes but further back) at 28 degrees and the thermometer tells me it's 32 degrees on the cool side...then i turned the thermostat down to 25 to see what would happen and the thermometer still said about 30 on the cool side but putting my hand in there it doesn't feel as warm as the thermometer says...
i'm confused :?
oh and if i put my hand under the two 40W globes it's not all that warm...dunno if that's relevant.
anyway jules just ate yesterday so he's happy in his hide at the warm end so i'm not too worried for now but any help would be most appreciated
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[Alexahnder]

what type of thermometer are u using?? I have found that the dial type ones (they work the same way as speedo's in cars) are much less accurate than the digital probe ones. I have found that the dial thermometers may vary in temperature reading by a few degrees.

 

[zoe]

it's a dial one.
what's a good one to buy?
i'm happy to get whatever's gonna do the job right

 

[africancichlidau]

I use the dual thermometer / Hygrometer digitals from Dick Smith. They are excellent as they have one temperature sensor in the body along with a hygrometer and one temperature sensor on the end of a wire so you can check humidity and both cool and hot end temps at the same time. They cost about 50 normally but on special last time I looked at 44 bucks or so I think. Well worth the investment! If this is a bit too expensive then the herp shop has some good ones but without so many features. Oh yes, one thing with the Dick Smith models is that you can change one of the temp readings to a clock at the push of a button and, yes you guessed it, the snakes often do this themselves meaning you have to reset it.

 

[Alexahnder]

i got a digital thermometer / humidity gauge from URS ( [url]www.ultimatereptiles.com.au )[/url]

 

[Simon_Archibald]

*^*

 

[zoe]

god no...did i give that impression or something?
we'd probably have him in a 4 footer depending on how big he gets i guess...what sizes do most people prefer to put fully grown diamonds in?
i did think it would be partly the new environment thing but i figured he'd still come out at night (which he hasn't).
i actually just got the 'care of australian reptiles in captivity' book and it said that painted globes with clear at the top of the neck defeat the purpose of having lighting that won't disturb them at night so that's where i got that idea from.
i'm going to dick smith's tonight to see if i can get a better quality thermometer

 

[Alexahnder]

diamonds are an arboreal species so they need a lot of height in a cage

 

[Nicole]

Semi-arboreal, I would say, but yes, especially juvies love to climb, so I agree with Alex, some height it the way to go.
My little yearling is in her "big home" now, 800mm W x 1200mm H x 650mm D. She has a hide up high that she loves and uses all the time, and one on the ground she's not too fussed with, and plenty of branches that she loves climbing around on.

 

[Brodie]

Hi,
My bredl (all Morelia Spilota are similar in habit) always likes to climb on his branch, the only time I ever see him on the ground or in his hide is after a big meal.
Cheers

 

[Hawkeye]

Wattage is a little bit irrelevant if the aim is to just heat an enclosure. The larger the wattage the faster it gets to temp. The thermostat is what controls things. The only issue is that the point directly under the heat lamp may get very hot so a cage is mandatory especially if you have high wattage lamps. I would suggest a high wattage lamp (possible even a ceramic as they last longer) of 130w or so.

Cheers Hawkeye

Oh yeah Brodie my Bredl spends most of its time on the ground and climbs only occasionally so its a bit horses for courses thing...I'd say semi-arboreal