Ceramic heat emitter or basking light?

[mjk19]

I was wondering what you guys think would be the best choice. I can't decide between 100 W basking light or 100 W ceramic heat emitter. I know they're the same wattage, but I am not sure if one will put out more consistent and better heat. What I do like about the ceramic heat emitter is that you can leave them on all day and all night. I live in Pennsylvania and right now the weather start starting to get cold. Plus my cage is in my basement. What do you guys use, and what do you guys think is best?

[Bird_Brain]

Regardless what you use, it is pretty common practice to have a temperature drop at night to replicate their native temps and climate. With a Che you will likely need to provide an additional light source

[LarissaLurid]

CHE tend to heat up the whole room and dry out the air as well as not heating up the surface area (which is necessary for the skink since they utilize body heat to properly digest food and such) Also you can't tell by looking at them if they are on or off so they can pose a fire hazard if someone puts it on the floor or on a table, etc while still on. I personally don't like them at all from my experiences and have heard the same from many others.

I would definitely use either a basking light or infrared heat lamp. I use the infrared heat lamp for my skink so that it can be on 24/7 for when it's cold at night, unlike a basking bulb which creates bright visible light and can't be on all the time.

[tylociraptor]

I use a heat lamp for my skink, under tank heat for my geckos, and over tank RHPs for my snakes (sort of like a CHE but safer). I would stick with a lamp, personally. First, if you don't use a timer, it's less likely that you forget to turn it off. Also, I feel like it would give them more of an idea as to where the heat is initially, or if you moved the cage stuff around (but they seem to be pretty smart for reptiles, so maybe that's not the case). I like them because they simulate the sun a little better.

CHEs can be perfectly safe, but they do tend to run a little hotter, so keep that in mind.