Hi

With this being my first litter due soon, i would like to get peoples opinions and recommendations on HEAT PAD Vs HEAT LAMP???

What do you use? Which do you find best for mum and puppies?? Pros and Cons that you have found??!!

Thanks

I have always use a heat lamp on a swinging arm over one corner of the pen/ whelping box.  Whelp inside so ambient temperature is good, and allow mum enough room to move away if too hot.

What watt bulb do you use?? also do you have it a certain height??
Sorry if questions seem a little daft, just i've never used one and i wouldn't want to over toast the little ones :)

Heat lamp here too. I believe there is only one wattage but you can get white or red light. Set it quite high and adjust accordingly, there is no set height as it depends on surroundings & breed. If mum & pups are hot(panting) then make it higher. The pups will get quite a bit of heat from mum whilst she is with them..it's surprising how much heat is generated by her lactating udder.
My arm is 4ft 8", I then attach lamp to a hook, it can then be adjusted. to suit.

I have heat lamps with bulbs rangeing from 100w to 250w depending on what I use them for. I usually find the 100 -150w more suitable for pups. They should
be a minimum height of 3ft for the lower wattage and 4ft to 5ft for the 250w bulbs. hope this helps

I forgot to add, that there always has to be space, for mum & pups to come away from the heat, if they want.

For my toydogs and cats, heat pad under half the bed, so they can move away easily and mum can too. For my large dogs: never used either, regardless of what time of year pups have been born.

I prefer a heat mat at one end of the whelping box and this allows cool areas elsewhere, I had a look at a lamp in use at a friends and it was heating too large an area for my small breed with small litters, the pups will either be lying in a heap on the heat pad, scatter over it or scattered on non heated area, they manage to shift around very easily.

You need to keep the pups extra warm in the first few weeks as they can't control their own temp, if they get chilled for even a short time it may let Canine Herpes to get ahold and the pups will fade and die.

its good to hear the different experiences and advice :)

my only worry was that shes a pug and they don't do great in the heat normally, at the best of times and obviously the babies are going to be needed to kept snug but i worried about it being a bit much with the lamp and not enough with the pad?? Or am i just being OTT?? 

Another here with toys who need heat to survive.  Until 3 weeks of age, they are not able to maintain their own body temperature.  It's surprising how quickly they chill once mum moves away from them.

I found the heat pads a success.  Mum is able to move away if it's too warm for her.  And you will see the pups crawl towards the heat automatically if mum leaves the whelping box.

I've been told that a heat lamp is best to kill off any viruses,should there be the chance of any?.I used a heat pad last time,but am using a heat lamp this time around,as my litter will be born in Winter.

I've seen a great deal of misuse with heatlamps. Mothers are already very warm with their high metabolic rate and having constant heat on their heads is often unkind..indeed can result in poor mothering. To escape the relentless heat mothers can and will, get into the habit of leaving their babies for the cool.if the lamp is offset to one side the mother will chose to get away at least but this will have the spin off of babies following.
If a lamp is used it should be at least shatter proof and ideally fitted with a cage to avoid terrible burns if it falls.

Heat lamps have no effect on virus or bacterial species at all.
A well placed heat pad is small enough for the pups to lay on and the mother to lay off of.

>I've been told that a heat lamp is best to kill off any viruses,should there be the chance of any

None whatsoever.  Whoever told you this is wrong.

When I bred the cats, we used a heat pad.    Brilliant things!    The kittens could be on the heat pad but mum had the choice of using it or not.   

If I thought my pups needed more warmth, it's what I'd go with, as it also does away with something hot dangling in the air above mum's head.    Seems to me that mum, being much higher than the pups, would find it difficult to avoid the heat of the lamp.

Always a heat pad with litters.  When newborn, I also cover the top of the whelping box with a thick throw (my whelping box has high sides).  In the winter I pack a couple of hot water bottles under the vetbed as well for the first day or so.  With a heat lamp the mum can get too hot, and she can only get away from the heat by moving away from the pups, but with a heat pad, she can simply move off it.  You can make sure the pups are on the heat pad and feeding from the mum, who is laying off the pad.  But the heat coming through the vetbed from a heat pad is very slight and the bitches generally love it.  Also, the bitch is very content in the dark "den", much more natural than an open box with a constant light from the heat lamp.  I am very OCD with my litters and keep a bedside lamp on all night to make sure the mum can see her pups!!  Also of course it goes without saying that I sleep in the room for the first couple of weeks.

I have used a heat lamp in the early days, but I far prefer a heat pad.

Ditto everything pia wrote.

> I am very OCD with my litters and keep a bedside lamp on all night to make sure the mum can see her pups!!

:-)  :-)  :-)

Same here!!