Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Hooky87]

i am using exo terra vivs at the moment with heat mats with stats but am changing vivs from the exo terra to custom made viv that someone built for me they are the same as the ent vivs but without the false bottom my Question is as the glass is thinner than the exo terra viv`s wil having a heat mat underneath crack the glass and how will i get the sensor for the stat in the viv with the exo terra it has closable wire or tube inlets so its easy to stick the stat sensor in the viv is there any other way to heat the viv without using a mat the room they are in is a cool room so it will deff need to be heated any help with this matter will be great cheers
Matt

[MJ]

Matt,

There really is no need to heat a dart frog vivarium unless the room gets way below 60 in the winter.

Heat will kill a dart faster than cold mate and the lighting should provide enough heat to keep the inside of the viv at around 70-75 mate which is fine for most dart species.
_________________
Paul

For all your Tropical plant and Naturalistic Vivarium needs please enjoy Urban Bromeliad

[Hooky87]

but the room they are in is a big cool room and i only have 3 tanks in there also you say the lighting should be enough what lighting are you talking about i am using t8 at the mo

[MJ]

Lights above glass in a vivarium with little ventilation (as a proper built dart frog viv would have) will warm up well with T8 's depending on size of the viv and if you have reflectors on the lights mate.

I would recomend adding another T8 on the vivs it will increase plant growth and add a little more heat to the viv due to a green house effect.

In 11+ years of keeping darts I've never used any heating and never needed to even in cold rooms but I have had frogs drop quickly from over heating in the summer months so run a reverse cycle for that reason
_________________
Paul

For all your Tropical plant and Naturalistic Vivarium needs please enjoy Urban Bromeliad

[Hooky87]

cool so if i run a single t8 in warmer months and 2 t8 in winter months so is it because exo terra arnt proper dart frog vivs that it is hard to keep temp an humidity up without heating

[MJ]

Nope even with ET's you wouldn't need heating all yu would have to do is place glass over the mesh top.

Using a heat mat isn't a bad thing but it really isn't needed to keep a dart happy and healthy and could do more harm than good in most cases.

2 T8's all year wouldn't be a bad thing mate you would just need to watch temps in the hotter months and adjust your cycle accordingly I run lights from 10pm until 10am in the summer and 9am to 9pm-930pm in the winter months.. with blinds drawn through out the day in summer and a fan on and off all day long but I have very closed vivaria mostly
_________________
Paul

For all your Tropical plant and Naturalistic Vivarium needs please enjoy Urban Bromeliad

[Hooky87]

this winter i struggled with the temp getting a day temp of 18c so i used a heat mat if i struggle with the temp agen using 2 t8 should i use t5 also you keep banded leucs do you breed them

[MJ]

T8's should do fine mate you could try T5's but I'm sure T8's get warmer, do you have a hood on the viv or just reflectors?

Yep I have banded luecs available PM me and we can chat about that just to keep it off the forum
_________________
Paul

For all your Tropical plant and Naturalistic Vivarium needs please enjoy Urban Bromeliad

[Hooky87]

pm`d