2 replies to this topic

[escoscottyb]

I have a colony of Novemessor Cockerelli with a queen and about 20 workers with a low 5 wattage heater underneath to generate a little bit of heat/humidity for the queen .  They're doing great, but I've also decided to add a ceramic heater from above, as recommended to me.  I have it all set up and bought a 100 watt ceramic heater bulb, but I'm wondering if that's too strong.  Any suggestions on heat wattage I should use?  FYI, I"ve attached a photo, and in it, the ceramic heater is about 4 inches from the top of the foraging area, which is about 8 inches from the main part of the formicarium.  

 

FYI I had to convert the photo to pdf to upload.  

Attached Files

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[drtrmiller]

We don't recommend high wattage bulbs for nests because they emit far to much highly focused heat. A heating cable works best. The wattage doesn't matter, as it pertains to the overall length, and not how hot an individual segment becomes.

http://amzn.to/2yL2nMl

For foraging areas, any low wattage incandescent or ceramic bulb would be fine. Measure the surface temperatures with an infrared heat thermometer gun and aim for between 80-90 F for desert species.

Edited by drtrmiller, December 16 2017 - 5:17 PM.

[nurbs]

I have a colony of Novemessor Cockerelli with a queen and about 20 workers with a low 5 wattage heater underneath to generate a little bit of heat/humidity for the queen .  They're doing great, but I've also decided to add a ceramic heater from above, as recommended to me.  I have it all set up and bought a 100 watt ceramic heater bulb, but I'm wondering if that's too strong.  Any suggestions on heat wattage I should use?  FYI, I"ve attached a photo, and in it, the ceramic heater is about 4 inches from the top of the foraging area, which is about 8 inches from the main part of the formicarium.  

 

FYI I had to convert the photo to pdf to upload.  

 

Yeah, too strong for what you have. Way too close. Your original setup is fine.

 

You want to create a gradient where they can choose to place their brood, and not just flood them with a flat wave of heat. While these are desert species that can tolerate intense heat, they also nest deep in the ground which is much cooler. 

 

I use two 60 watt ceramic heaters positioned so that one side of the formicarium is warmer than the other. It is aimed at a 7ft shelf housing around 300 colonies, 40 of which are N. cockerelli.