Hello, I am going to get a hedgehog soon(ish) and are preparing for it at the moment. I've finally decided to use a Ceramic Heat Emitter to heat my Sterilite Bin/s (two story) and was wondering how my idea was. I know that hedgehogs need about 12-14 hours of light and I thought that I could use a heating lamp with visible light to provide that. I know that people say not to have the heaters with visible light, but what if I had two different bulbs that I switched around, one with visible light for around half the day, and one with no visible light for the other half of the day? These would be of the same wattage and also save me electricity. I need to know if this is okay, or if it is simply wrong. Thank you for all your help!
Ceramic Heat Emitter - What To Do?
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I think what Daleo means is that with a heat source you need to have a thermostat that controls it. The thermostat is set to a specific temperature and will turn the heat source off when the thermostat senses it is above that temperature, then back on when it dips below that temperature. So if you are using a heat source with visible light as your hedgie's only light source, it will not get the amount of daylight it needs to keep on schedule.Daleo said:
Keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to buy a new lamp for the light source. You can use a normal, household lamp that you already have and buy an inexpensive timer (I've seen them for $5-10) for it so that it automatically turns on and off when you need it to.
Oh, okay. I get what you mean. I was just wondering though, since the average temperature where the hedgehog is will be about 65 degrees, will a constant 50-70 watt light with no thermostat built in (but one in the cage) will keep the cage constantly warm without having to turn off when the temperature is around 73-78 degrees? I just need a constant source if warmth, with not too high of temperature. Please tell me if a 50 watt is about right, or should I go to around 35 watt, or not do this at all?
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·I think what you are talking about in the cage is a thermometer, a thermostat will regulate what the temperature is suppose to be at and keep it at that level consistently.Smudge said:
Hm...I know that the main reason for the thermostat is concern for the cage overheating, but perhaps a low wattage bulb would work. I'm really not sure about this, so I would wait for someone with a little more experience to come along and give more advice. I know LizardGirl wrote a really fantastic guide for how to heat cages, so maybe you could try posting on that thread or getting in contact with her. Sorry I can't be of more help. 
?? You have been a great help to me! Thank you for all of your help and suggestions! :mrgreen:lehaley said:Hm...I know that the main reason for the thermostat is concern for the cage overheating, but perhaps a low wattage bulb would work. I'm really not sure about this, so I would wait for someone with a little more experience to come along and give more advice. I know LizardGirl wrote a really fantastic guide for how to heat cages, so maybe you could try posting on that thread or getting in contact with her. Sorry I can't be of more help.
Well, I've already read that, but thanks for the suggestion!
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I would suggest getting a higher wattage. If you get a lower wattage, it will struggle all night to keep the cage at a good temperature, whereas a higher wattage (100, I would say) would do the job nicely, and wouldn't have to be on all night long trying to keep up with the cold air getting in to the cage.
The thing is, I can't find a CHE with a thermostat built in at my local pet stores. I would have to have it on all night. That is why I was going to get a 50 or 70 watt.hanhan27 said:I would suggest getting a higher wattage. If you get a lower wattage, it will struggle all night to keep the cage at a good temperature, whereas a higher wattage (100, I would say) would do the job nicely, and wouldn't have to be on all night long trying to keep up with the cold air getting in to the cage.
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As far to my knowledge, they don't make them built into a CHE. Petsmart had a CHE and bulb, but no thermostat. I bought this one on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/emB96Smudge said:
It works great! You just turn the dial to the temp you want the cage to be, attach the probe thermometer to the inside of the cage (high up on the wall) plug the CHE into the thermostat, and done! It has been keeping Lily's cage nice and toasty at 75F. Oh, and I use a 100 watt bulb.
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A Ceramic Heat Emitter doesn't have anything built in to it - it looks like a light bulb, and emits heat. You screw the CHE bulb into a dome, and plug the dome into a thermostat.
I think you should go check out the Heatig & Lighting thread That will give you a better understanding of how a CHE set up works.
I think you should go check out the Heatig & Lighting thread
That will give you a better understanding of how a CHE set up works.I'm pretty sure that's the one I read before, but thanks anyways. Okay, I now know what to do. Thanks Everybody!hanhan27 said:A Ceramic Heat Emitter doesn't have anything built in to it - it looks like a light bulb, and emits heat. You screw the CHE bulb into a dome, and plug the dome into a thermostat.
I think you should go check out the Heatig & Lighting thread
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No, because all heat equipment must be used in conjunction with a quality thermostat (note that a thermostat is different to a thermometer!) - which will prevent the CHE from overheating.
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