Alternate Heat Source Besides Electricity?

[Daaad]

Hi all, I've joined up because my daughter has gotten 5 baby millies, and her mom is unhappy with the heating pad stuck to the bottom of the tank, plugged in continuously.
She's got a point, we're trying to keep our costs down and this is not going to help. Also a simple resistor plugged into a wall outlet (the heating pad) does have potential to be a fire hazard.
Also... is it good for the millipedes? I have seen mention of a thermometer in a discussion, and wonder about temperature, and if there's a better way to provide warmth?
We live in Rhode Island and it's winter here now. Our house is kept around 62 or so, a little cooler than most like it.
We have a hundred year old radiator system in the house, and the radiators do work well. Maybe the tank should just be set by/ along the front of the radiators?...

Thanks for your time.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

In front of the radiators would be a good choice - that way you'll have a bit of a horizontal temperature gradient that allows the millipedes to find their happy temperature. You'll just want to keep an eye on the moisture level, since heat will dry out the substrate faster. In general, bottom-heating is discouraged for burrowing arthropods because their instinct when overheated is to burrow down, which ends up bringing them closer to the heat instead of further from it. I don't know for sure about millipedes, but I assume this would be the same for them as it is for tarantulas and scorpions.

 

[Daaad]

In front of the radiators would be a good choice - that way you'll have a bit of a horizontal temperature gradient that allows the millipedes to find their happy temperature. You'll just want to keep an eye on the moisture level, since heat will dry out the substrate faster. In general, bottom-heating is discouraged for burrowing arthropods because their instinct when overheated is to burrow down, which ends up bringing them closer to the heat instead of further from it. I don't know for sure about millipedes, but I assume this would be the same for them as it is for tarantulas and scorpions.

I might've used the wrong reaction emoticon... I'll pull it together here... thanks for the reply! I've sent my kid a link to the convo here, I'll move the heat pad to the side when I very hone- just dropped her at work.

Much appreciated!

 

[viper69]

space heaters perhaps? Or nuclear power.