Green Pet Care - energy efficiency and reptile ownership.

[Steve]

The fact that it has been many years since I was in school really shows in this article! This is a rough draft that I am presenting here for input and criticism. I could use a hand. Let me know what your observations have been, in terms of the costs associated with reptile ownership and what you've done to make things more efficient and reduce cost of ownership. Have you switched heat sources, used a more insulated tank, started breeding feeders or growing fruits and vegetables. I want to hear from you guys.

http://www.e2macpets.com/Green-Pet-Care

If you have advice on how to better phrase various facts or better format the article, I'm up for that sort of input as well.

Thanks!

[Arkangel]

What a great idea for a topic!

Anyone who raises their own feed for their pets contributes greatly to helping the environment.

I'm no fan of Mercury vapor bulbs though. Too dangerous. Too toxic. Under tank heaters are also dangerous to some extent. Some reptiles like blueys need an overhead heat basking source.

It's a topic worthy of discussion and we should all be thinking about what we can do to eliminate or reduce energy consumption.

[Steve]

I agree about Mercury Vapor Bulbs (and of course, flourescent tubes are not without their fair share either) and have not yet gotten into that aspect of this article, but intended to. It's a tricky subject.

The fact is that for basking animals that require or could benefit from UVB, Mercury Vapor Bulbs are the best artificial source.

I am a big supporter of the 60 watt external ballast Mercury Vapor Bulb from reptileuv.com and actually am talking to Bob Mac about becoming a distributor. I also like his heat projectors quite a bit.

Ceramic is not environmentally friendly in any way shape or form... either.

My Pink Tongue Skinks do seem to enjoy basking, even though they don't need the extra heat I've noticed they seem to spend part of their day at the highest point in the cage. I will have to see once spring comes and they become active again how this behavior plays out... I really did not have enough time with them in warm weather this year.

[Fatal_S]

I'm hoping to get some breeding colonies of various feeders soon. I'm looking for 1-2 types of roach, and a few types of worms. My friend also owns a cottage that has a garden infested by potato beetles half the year, so instead of these being killed needlessly, they'll be skink food next year.

I wouldn't put the under-tank heaters for my BTS, as in nature they bask. I do like ceramic, and it lasts a long time, which helps. Natural sunlight is the most enviormentally friendly, so I'd use that over UVB bulbs generally. I plan to have a regular light and just take the skinks outside for as much of the year as possible. This way I don't need to replace a bulb every 6 months.

[Steve]

My problem with Ceramic heat emitters is that ceramic can not be recycled effectively. They are also not very efficient sources of heat and get dangerously hot to the touch.

[NomadOfTheHills]

I would never use ceramic heater emitters again. They get dangerously hot.

[Fatal_S]

My CHEs do get extremely hot (over 200F!) on the surface. However I've made it so the skink is unable to get near the bulb (wire screening), and I've used my thermometer to make sure nothing is heated to more than 100F. I do understand that the CMEs could possibly be dangerous, but they last for a long time, so I don't have to change it annually, and I haven't heard of a case where one shattered, unlike some bulbs.

For those who dislike them, what do you use? I'm going to be building new tanks soon, so I'm very open to safer/friendlier suggestions.

[Steve]

As you know I'm a big fan and advocate of this brand-
http://www.reptileuv.com/megaray-hp-60- ... jector.php

yes you have to replace it annually, but comes with a one year warrantee so you can be sure you will not have to pay for replacements if you have failures prior to the year mark.

the claim is that they are much safer as well as more energy efficient. never used this particular item personally, though.


I've been giving some thought to using rope light as a heat source for my pink tongue skinks. Since you can build the cages very tall and the pink tongue skinks are just as likely to be high in the branches as they are to bury themselves in substrate, it might work well. Rope light with the mini incadescent bulbs consumes just over 5watts per foot. The new LED type are more energy efficient and don't produce much heat.

[NomadOfTheHills]

I don't worry about the CHE for the safety of my skinks, I worry about burning down my house lol... I'm pretty forgetful and sometimes those heat lamps don't always make it back onto the tanks, and are on timers lol...

[rosebud]

I started a mouse colony for my ball python when I first got him. It was extremely efficient. I started with just four mice - 3 females and 1 male. I haven't had to buy another mouse yet, and I stopped breeding about a month and a half ago. My caging was minimal, feeding is easy, and it just costs less.

I only stopped because my parents moved and didn't want mice in their new garage. Otherwise I would have kept going. I still have about 15 frozen mice from the deal.

[Tattoo]

I am attempting to start a snail colony to feed my guy. Have two batches of mystery snail eggs that hopefully will hatch over the course of the next month.

[Steve]

The floor of my herp room is concrete, so I'm not too worried about fires when I set a heat lamp down on the ground and forget about it... but yes, that is always a serious concern with something that produces so much heat!

[Zach]

I don't worry about the CHE for the safety of my skinks, I worry about burning down my house lol... I'm pretty forgetful and sometimes those heat lamps don't always make it back onto the tanks, and are on timers lol...

This is an excellent reminder. If you have timers, boy be certain the lights get back up where they belong.

[Zach]

My CHEs do get extremely hot (over 200F!) on the surface. However I've made it so the skink is unable to get near the bulb (wire screening), and I've used my thermometer to make sure nothing is heated to more than 100F. I do understand that the CMEs could possibly be dangerous, but they last for a long time, so I don't have to change it annually, and I haven't heard of a case where one shattered, unlike some bulbs.

For those who dislike them, what do you use? I'm going to be building new tanks soon, so I'm very open to safer/friendlier suggestions.

Remember it's important that for basking sides, actual heat lights be used. The basking bulb is suppose to replicate the the hot sun beating down, and the UV is meant to replicate the natural daytime ambient light (and uv of course).

[Zach]

Steve, we conserve a little bit by utilizing the heat that comes from below each cage. You can see in the picture, the heat sources are on the outer ends of each unit and they are all above and below each other. The heat generated from the bulbs heats the the basking area of each cage above it. This way, we only have to use 30-40 watt mini spot bulbs instead of a big 100 watt. We use simple bulbs bought at home depot or similar store. There are spacers to create enough space between each unit and open air rear for ventilation (as well as the back of each unit is pegboard.

And this is indeed a great thread! We should all comment about how much we actually use, and how we dispose of our stuff. We have 10 BTS, so to minimze waste, we use 2 to 4 food dishes at a time. If some food is left, we condense it into another food dish. We do this until all food is gone, or we need to make a tad more. If there ends up being a little left, we flush it down the sink. Leftovers are never quality foods like chicken or whole meats. We use these sparingly and make sure there is none left. This is easier to do though if you have 10 BTS instead of just one because there's always another hungry mouth to pass it on to. When a light bulb goes out, we recycle it in the glass tub. I asked about that because it didn't seem right. Let me know if there's a better alternative. We have recycling at our complex for metal, plastic, tin, cardboard, and glass. They told me to throw bulbs into the glass tub. We don't use UV lighting as our animals get out more than every other day on average during summer. We brumate all of them during winter with shorter and low lighting and cooler temperatures. This conserves a TON in winter. We are able to do this with the dimming feature and individual lighting shut off on each unit.

Our substrates are just wood chips and natural bark material. I have thrown them away, but I have also just thrown it into the bushes and it breaks down.

[Steve]

That's great Zach! Do you have anything under the bottom tank though? What's the variation in temperature from bottom tank to top?

[mom22wins]

I am a big supporter of the 60 watt external ballast Mercury Vapor Bulb from reptileuv.com and actually am talking to Bob Mac about becoming a distributor. I also like his heat projectors quite a bit.

Yeah, I took your advice and purchased this very bulb for the UVB in my set up. Believe it or not, Sammy seems more alert and out and about more since I got it. She even naps in the light when she's finished basking under her basking spot light.

I don't have any other heat emitter but am considering a night bulb that may give off a small amount of heat if need be. I don't want to heat her up at night but I don't want her temps to go below 69 degrees either.

The only thing I can think of that has helped me to save money was to buy the dog and cat food in bulk. And to hold some vegi's from dinner for her meal the next day.

[NomadOfTheHills]

Why not below 69? They can handle down to 60 with no problems at all.

[Zach]

That's great Zach! Do you have anything under the bottom tank though? What's the variation in temperature from bottom tank to top?

Oh, forgot to mention -- the bottom unit needs hotter bulbs. At least 75 watt. It just shows how much heat is supplied to the units from the basking lights from below.

There really isn't variation in temps except the bottom. The top down to the second to the last are all identical. The bottom one just needs that bigger bulb.

[Steve]

I just want to add - Ikea has a very active recycling program. If there's one in your area they are probably the place to go if your town doesn't have a program in place.