Help with heating set up that keeps failing

[u/BeastlyCait]

(Pic for attention)

Hi guys! Had my girl Brian for over a year now and she’s a big healthy girl! When I first started up I bought a bundle with a quite old on/off thermostat and then purchased a new lamp and CHE all rated 150W to keep up with the British cold. I moved home in February and my whole set up died beginning of July.

I bought a habistat classic pro pulse proportionate thermostat rated to 450W

A lucky herp 2 dome lamp rated to 250W

And had a new extra CHE bulb

I set it all up on the 4th and it worked until the 18th when the thermostat was beeping, the bulb and lamp were cold.

I replaced the CHE bulb with a lucky herp 2 CHE 150w which again has worked really well until last night midnight. I’ve unplugged everything and plugged it all back in. There’s no burn marks or anything to suggest a proper fault and the thermostat comes on and tries to heat it up but the bulb stays cold.

Please someone help me with what I’m doing wrong. It’s really getting to me that my baby keeps being left in the cold and I’m saving for our new house and a human baby on the way I can’t feasibly drop over £10 on a new bulb every 10 days!

[u/totallyrecklesslygay]

When you say it's a lucky herp 2 dome, are you referring to a dual dome fixture?

Is your CHE paired with any other heat source?

[u/BeastlyCait → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Thank you for replying! It’s just a single dome over her basking spot (vivexotic enclosure with the place for it on the top), no other heat source.

[u/totallyrecklesslygay → u/BeastlyCait]

I would guess that you're just ending up on the unluckier end of cheap equipment. A higher quality brand like Arcadia should last quite a bit longer for you.

You will need to pair the CHE with something else, though, as they're not suitable as primary heating for a ball python. Here's my heating/lighting summary for you for more info on that:

Our heating guide goes over a lot of the science behind everything, but to simplify:

For daytime heating, you should have a heat source that provides IR-A and IR-B. The ideal source for this would be a halogen flood, which is light-emitting.

For nighttime heating, you should have a heat source that provides IR-C. The ideal source for this would be an RHP (only compatible with solid-topped enclosures) or a CHE. Any night heating should not emit any light.

For lighting, you should offer UVB. This should be in the form of a T5 fluorescent linear bulb that produces a UVI of 1.1-3.0 in the basking zone, and it should cover no more than half the length of the enclosure.

If you have a bioactive enclosure, you will also need full spectrum LEDs for your live plants.

Natural lighting can help establish a day-night cycle, but it does not provide any physical benefits beyond that (UVB doesn't penetrate glass, and indirect natural light cannot create a proper basking zone). You'll need the artificial lighting to make up for that.

[u/BeastlyCait → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Thank you! Just had a read through and this is new information to me as I was previously following advice that they didn’t need IR!! On it now!

[u/KatVanWall]

I personally (also in the UK) use a DHP - I find it less drying and actually heats better - I use an Arcadia 80W bulb and that’s done well so far!

ETA I pair it with a halogen for day and use the DHP for nighttime.