The American Beagler Forum

Gonna have a couple litters a couple weeks apart end of March and first week in April. It is still usually pretty cool at night here then, 30-40's, some 20's.

You think with a Senecca Whelping box, with covered door(plastic flaps), and a 75watt bulb heat lamp, do they need a heated whelping mat?

I ordered one(heated), but I also ordered a whelping mat built to hold moisture away from them and cover the box floor.

Just asking, always looking to help in saving pups and have the best environment for them and mother.

Thanks for any input!!

I just bought the heated whelping nest by Lovett and its the only way to go. I personally do not like using light bulbs just because I have to believe that the brightness has to be harder on their eyes. It has gotten down to around 0 temp and wind chill -20 and my female had 8 pups and has raised them all on this nest.

Where did you purchase the "nest?" Thanks. Bobby

im also hopefully having pups the first week of april.. i built a whelp area under my basement steps a few years ago and have kept several litters down there until they are old enough that they start to be a pain. i have a heater that i set the thermostat to 80 on for the first week then lower it
and a curtain across the opening for the whelp are. its easier for me to let a female out of the house than constantly be checking on pups. plus an IR baby monitor helps. mine has a thermometer built into it. to answer your question i have used a light bulb and it really gives off heat and does a good job but i always worry its getting to warm.. good luck hope all turns out well

sam

I have a litter now. 100 watt bulb and they were fine. We had 4 days in minus temps with the lowest being -11 before wind chill. Keep them dry and the wind off of them. FYI. I also put bales of straw against the outside of the doghouse.

Punk Hollow Country Kennel, LLC
punkhollowkennel.com
This is where i got my nest but other people have them also

Last year about this time, I ordered the Lectro Kennel heated kennel mat for a litter. It works great! Keeps the body temp at exactly what it should be and only heats when the pups or dog is on the pad. If they are not it kicks off until they are. Awesome product! Tough, water proof, and comes with fleece cover. Available from several suppliers, got mine from Jeffers. Highly recommend these to anyone planning a litter in cool weather!

pcable wrote:Last year about this time, I ordered the Lectro Kennel heated kennel mat for a litter. It works great! Keeps the body temp at exactly what it should be and only heats when the pups or dog is on the pad. If they are not it kicks off until they are. Awesome product! Tough, water proof, and comes with fleece cover. Available from several suppliers, got mine from Jeffers. Highly recommend these to anyone planning a litter in cool weather!

I wondered how they would work for pups!

I have these in all 4 of my dog houses. This is second winter and thrilled not to be dealing with wet straw all winter. These seem to keep box real dry. I put little bit of cedar chips in so the dogs smell good!

I have two of them, Lectro kennel brand, but had a female shred the cord her last litter going into labor, she went nuts and tore it up.lol.

Just trying to avoid putting it in on her again.

They do work very well for pups!

Thanks for all the information!!

How much do those pads cost. i have a litter due first week of march. its been rather cold in missouri lately.

I bought the one that is 26x28 with digital control read out for 109, no shipping.

I also bought whelping mats that absorb moisture and keep urine and mess away from pups, they came highly recommended.

Valleyvet.com

ouch..pricey hmmmmm

I used a heated matt for a litter of pups in November. Worked great! I bought a thermostat with it. Mine covered about 2/3's of the floor, so If it's set too high, the pups will just scoot apart or off it. If they're real close, it's too cool. But you really need it to keep they're core body temps up.

Joey I use a heating pad also in one of my boxes that I got at CVS. It cost $40 for the one that you can leave on all the time. Most of them shut off after 2 hours. I mounted it to the bottom of the dog box on an above ground kennel and turned it on 3 out of 5 setting. The floor of the box has stayed warm for one of my other female and her pups during all this cold weather too. I will still say that the nest is the way to go in the long run because it is safe with no exposed wires and the female can keep it clean. It is expensive at $240 each but one pup that you save and maybe sell will pay for it. I have had a bunch of people tell me they would never spend that kind of money and then later tell me about their female having 8 or 10 pups and loosing 2 or 3. Chill is the number one reason for pup mortality within the first 2-3 weeks in my opinion. I have had 3 litters since December and I can almost guarantee without these heated floors I would have lost almost all of them.