The American Beagler Forum

how warm should a box be when pups are born i have a 40 watt bulb in the box and it is 3x2x2foot high

Puppies need heat to lay on and absorb through their bellies. I read somewhere that cold is the biggest killer of puppies under 3 weeks of age. Better off with a whelping pad than a light bulb.

bbb, I copied this post I wrote from The Kennel forum under the topic Warm Boxes:

Thought I'd share a tip that was shared with me by another beagler. It saved our fannies up here in cold old Indy. In December I whelped a litter in the house, but as you know, you're ready to move them out at about 3 weeks old (I am anyway). We moved mom and pups into an above-ground kennel and placed a double shop-light directly underneath the box, pointing up and the guards touching the floor of the box on the outside.

We paid $20 at Sears for the light - it has two 250-watt bulbs mounted on an adjustable tripod. When you put your hand on the inside of the box floor it's nice and toasty to keep their bellies warm, but not so hot they would need to move off of it. The two lights side-by-side distribute the heat evenly on all of the floor.

Hope this helps!