# Help w/ Overheating



## Taroon (Jul 5, 2018)

Lately I've been having an issue with Knuckles: he's becoming extremely lazy, gaining weight, and sleeping in front of his wheel instead of using it. I've narrowed down the factors to his heating setup (after reducing his calorie/fat intake, giving him a more consistent schedule, and cleaning his cage. I've also adjusted the tilt to his wheel, reduced toy clutter in his cage, etc.).

Okay, so I'm going to try and be as thorough possible: The cage gets inconsistently too hot and greatly differs based on the part of cage and time of day. We're talking from 72 to 90+ degrees while the thermostats stay at the air temperature of 73-76. Knuckles chews the thermostat wiring if he can reach it, forcing me feed the two wires to opposite corners inside the front of his cage. Our apartment ranges from 68-72.

One idea I had was to use only 1 heat lamp (instead of 2) and use a mylar thermal blanket to trap in heat but 1) that prevents air circulation and 2) that makes cage viewing and management more difficult. The other idea I had was some sort of gizmo that allows me to put the heat lamps higher further instead of resting on top of the cage pointing down. I just don't know what to use to do that or if it'll help at all.

His cage setup has a small area with his plastic igloo (which gets very hot but is the only housing he doesn't chew like crazy) and "dig" bedding. On the larger side of his cage, he has his other bedding and everything else (litter box, toys, food, water, and wheel). I've put two heat lamps on top of his cage facing downward, one 60w ceramic heat lamp on one side and another one which is 75w on the other side. He also has a his light for daytime hanging off the small side of his cage (further increasing the heat on that side). Oh, in terms of measuring temperature I use two controllers, one gun, and a few battery powered thermostats.

I provided links to his equipment within this thread. Any help would be greatly appreciative as I don't want to overestimate his heating--causing hibernation--or underestimate it and continue to overheat poor Knuckles--causing aestivation. It's our first winter. Please help. Oh, and, have a Happy New Year.


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

maybe try a LED light bulb , they give off less heat than regular light bulbs and only use 6 watts of power . We have the thermostat and thermometer sensers hanging in the middle of the pen just above hedgie standing on back legs reaching up height. With the room temp at those levels I would be suspect of a faulty temp controller . They should turn on and off at a narrower temp range to prevent chilling and overheating. A 2 degree F temp span is more normal for a properly working controller.


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

I checked the specs on your controller and it looks like it has a 25 degree spread between turn on and off. What you need is one designed for use with reptiles. They have a narrower on and off cycle. Hope this helps.


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

I think ours is a zilla temp controller.


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## Taroon (Jul 5, 2018)

I do have a LED light bulb for his light cycle. I think mine is 7.5 (or maybe 9.5) watts. The controller may have a faulty sensor, sure but the issue is the heat gun is what's giving the extremely high readings (but matching my set room temperature correctly). So, I'm getting accurate readings but the cage is being heated in other places than the corners too hot. The corners where the thermostats for the controllers are cool but elsewhere--everywhere else is hot. Knuckles does spend time in the corners too so I can't just ignore the huge difference in temperature either. Any ideas?


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

We use plastic bins connected with PVC pipe so it has less air movement through the pen than your wire sided pen will . We have the temp sensors more in the middle of the pen close to her house she sleeps in. It is always warmer feeling around her house than in the corners and in her wheeling room or her play room. We keep the house pretty warm any way (76-78F) so we have no heaters in those two bins. Right or wrong I think she spends the time sleeping in her house where the temp is precisely controlled and when she is running and playing she stays plenty warm from the activity. The CHE seem to put out heat in a fairly small circular area and that makes it difficult to heat a larger square area evenly and when it has wire sides even more so. If I feel the fleece in her pen right under the element it is a lot warmer than 12 inches either side of it. I think if we keep her at the perfect temp when shes sleeping she will be fine .We do moniter her activity at night and she is really active at night wich is a good sign the temp is ok for her.


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## belties (Oct 2, 2018)

One idea I had that you might try is clear plexiglass on two or three side of your pen to help keep heat in but would not restrict viewing.


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## Taroon (Jul 5, 2018)

That could work and would be a lot more manageable than a mylar thermal blanket. I'll try thing out.


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