I hope someone can help me with a bit of advice. I had a litter of puppies 3 days ago (our first) and reading one of my books on puppy rearing it advices that a heat lamp should be covered around the basket with a pin pricked sheet of foil from 7 days  while the puppies eyes are opening. I am useing an infra red buld in the heat lamp and wonder if this is necessary with this type of lamp.

Thaks Jackie 

Not sure on the heat lamp, but i prefer using heat pads, not so 'in the way' when mum or me are dealing with pups, sorry not much help for your actual question x

Jackies, I use an infa red bulb with my pups and have never heard of this method. I have the one that has 2 heat settings and I keep it on low. It has never done any harm to my pups eyes using the infared.

I have infra red, but find that I don't use it often.  I do, however, use a heat pad under the vet bedding.  And I use it for at least the first 3 weeks until pups thermostats kick in. 

Many years ago we used to use lamps with dull emitter bulbs instead of infra red, the bulbs are ceramic.  For the last ten years or so we've used a thermostatically controlled heat pad which we've found to be much better.

I too use a heat pad and have found it much less intrusive and if strategically placed can help keep the pups in one place with less chance of being sat/stepped on by Mum.
Can only think it is advised to cover the lamp to help protect baby eyes from heat/light damage while opening!!
Aileen.

Thank you to you all, I do have a heat pad as well, but I was concerned that when I tried it out before the puppies arrival that it didn't seem to get very warm and I was worried that the puppies would not keep warm especially when there was a vet fleece on top of the pad. I think though that I may change to the heat pad towards the end of this week when the pups are nearly a week old to be on the safe side as regards any possible damage to their eyes as they are opening. I think I worry more about these puppies than I ever did about my children as babies, (many years ago now) :)

Jackie

Can I please ask out of curiosity, those of you who use heat pads or lamps, are these for pups bred indoors as i bred my first litter over 12 months ago and and was advised that they didn't need anything like this.

Linda

Hi Jackie
The heat pads are not hot to touch but with anything on top of them they get warm. Try plugging it in and resting your hand on it for ten mins and you will find the heat comes through. The more there is on top of it ie. puppies the warmer it gets...lovely
And yes I do raise my pups indoors but in the twilight hours it can get chilly even in the house. Puppies get cold very quickly and it's insurance if you like. They can and do move of it if too warm. They also radiate towards it if they get chilly.
Aileen

Hi
I appear to be in the minority here, as I  much prefer heatlamps to pads.  With a big enough whelpng box the bitch can easily get away from the heat source if she wants, and the heat pad warms the vet bed and heats the pup from above.
There is also a degree of variation in the heated area not available with a heat pad, as the pups can get snug right under the lamp, or just keep comfortabley warm on the outer edge.  Of course, none of this is much use to the OP.  I think the book must be referring to the very bright type of heatlamp - friends of mine use these, and the light was almost photo light bright - should think it was disturbing for pup and bitch.  I use the dull emitter type for my whelping box lamps, and the infra red type for the kennels.  Neither of these would need to be shielded from the pups.
bye
Gwen

The reason you give for using a heat lamp over a pad is exactly why I chose the lamp iniatlly(sp) , but after reading that paragraph in a book I became concerned that I may cause damage to the pups eyes as they started to open. I have just found a site with a ceramic bulb which gives heat but no light so I may use that.

I have had my heat pad out again and I still have concerns over its effectiveness and it doesn't really look big enough to hold all the pus. I think I may have got  atype which is not really for whelping but more for an individual.

The pups are in the house but as was said in an earlier post it  gets cool at night

Jackie

depends on the individuals home i guess Linda. We dont have a modern centrally heated home.......our 13thC cottage has no heating other than 2 woodburning stoves.....therefore our INDOOR litters always have at least one, some times 2 heatlamps depending on the time of year.

All my dogs live indoors, which is where pups are born.  I turn central heating on 24/7 when a bitch whelps (although I have it on 24/7 at the moment anyway!)  The reason I use under bed heat, is that unless they are suckling from Mum, and getting her body heat, once she moves away, they are very cold to the touch.  I understood that pups can't generate their own body heat for the first 21 days.  As my breed is tiny, 3-4oz at birth, I would worry about hypothermia without my heat pads.  I will admit that I found the overhead heat a hindrance for me, even though it is the type that you don't need a glaring light on, it's adjustable.

I much prefer the heat pad. I have only used the lamp once and thought it was too hot for the bitch. Really didn't like it at all.  Puppies like to cuddle into their dam and it means them always lying out the warmth area.  With the heat pad the bitch can lie off it but the puppies still lying on it are on it nursing. The heat pad also takes care of any chill areas in corners of the whelping box also I find.  My whelping box is about 3 times the size of the heat pad.

Heat from below is the best way to heat a body in general. If you have a sick dog etc a heat pad allows the heat to come up right through the body.

Perhaps which is best comes down to not only personal preference but also how your bitch usually is wihth the pups.  With my pugs the Mums are very rarely in the box anyway (not naurally good Mums) and the pups are always happy under the lamp. With the Spaniels, the girls are usually good Mums, and are happy to lie towards the side of the box a little away from the lamp, with pups snuggled into Mum and enjoying some top up warm from the lamp.  I get to adjust how warm the puppy area is by being able to raise or lower the amp, and they get to lie in the most comfortable spot for them, by lying close to the warm centre, or more on the edge.  I have a heated bed, which is on the same pricipal as a heat pad, and use this during whelping to keep the already delivered pups in whilst Mum is producing another pup.  It serves this purpose well, bu does not keep the pups as warm as the lamp.

The ceramic dull emitter bulbs are great, and so long lasting.  I bought my first heatlamp and dull emitter in early '90 form Diamond Edge, and did not have to change the bulb until this year, for about 15  years use, admittedly not constant, but still a fair few uses!
bye
Gwen

Agree with Gwen about the life of the dull emitters, we bought three lamps and ceramic bulbs in 1991, one bulb was replaced last year.  The other two lamps are hanging in our bothy which houses the tumble dryer, cycles and other bits and pieces, they are on 24/7 from October till April and have been there for the last ten years.  We also have lent the lamps to friends when they've had a litter. They certainly are long lasting. All of our puppies are born and raised in the centrally heated house but we think that they still need either lamp or heatpad especially at first. 

L.

Hi
My last litter, i bought a halogen heat lamp stand, it rotates around the room. It isnt very bright but with all the relective material in it, it does keep my nursery lovely and warm, sometimes the warmest room in the house. Insurance really as it does get cold and i dont want my babies getting hypothermia pnuemonia etc. Also me just sat there watching them 24/7 i get cold, i dont think they make heat pads big enough for by breed id have to buy 10 for the size of the whelping box.

  It was only cheap this stand but its worth its weight in gold, keeps the whole room warm and has adjustable setting, i put it on the outside of the box. Also has a saftey thing, if it gets knocked over it turns itself off.

Louise xx

I use both heat lamps and mats.
For my bitches I use a 27"x27" whelping box, I heat half of it(the rear half) with a heat mat with the usual vetbed fleece on top. But for the early days I also use a heat lamp with a dimmer(plus a ceramic dull emitter) so the ambient air temperature can be adjusted without totally turning it on or off. Being as I have a brachycephalic breed I dont want to over heat mum and make her uncomfortable, but I still want to keep the air around the pups warm(especially when mum gets out).
If anybodys interested in where to get a dimmer heat lamp follow this link...
http://www.888reptiles.co.uk/productdetails.php?productid=7567&productname=DIMMABLE%20CLAMP%20LAMP for the lamp and
http://www.888reptiles.co.uk/productdetails.php?productid=4579&productname=HEAT%20WAVE%20LAMP for the ceramic bulb

We used to use them when we had lizards years ago and now were finding them useful for the pups!
:)

i've just bought a smallish heat pad for under the vet bed for my next litter, im worried about the pups being colder at night, although they will be in my living room as normal, the temp does drop a fair bit during the night! in the past ive done a hot water bottle system of getting up and re-doing it in the wee hours of the morning on cold bursts!

The heat pad we use covers at least half of the whelping box and Mum and puppies have always been cosy.  If you're worried about it being cold at night why not leave the heating on?  Ours is usually on 24 hours a day from November till about April (puppies or not) as it's freezing cold up here. Personally I wouldn't dare to use a hot water bottle unless it was a stone one as I'd be worried in case it leaked, or Mum sat on it and it burst!

I use an oil filled electric heater for night time with a thermostat so that a minimum temperature is maintained in the room, and the heat pad is then quite enough for extra warmth should the bitch leave the whelping box.