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Heat Mats

A

argonaut1664

New member
I am upgrading to a bigger Vivarium and have bought a wooden vivarium. The local store has told me i can just put the heat mat inside the vivarium with substrate on the top and this will be fine. My current vivarium is glass with the heat mat on the outside.
Will the heat mat inside the vivarium burn the snake. Please help as i dont want to move my corn snake until i know the answer to this
 
I vaguely remember something similar to this coming up in a thread I read through not too long ago.

Someone other than me had recommended to someone in your situation that they get two very thin ceramic tiles and sandwich the heat mat between them. That way you can place the mat inside the viv without worrying about your viv or your snake. It sounds like a good idea to me. Hope that helps! :)
 
There is no problem with putting it straight into the viv without tiles or anything. But it is important to fit a thermostat.

I presume you are in the UK where your mat is likely to be Habistat or Ultra-therm both can be used inside the vivariums safely and are designed so the they don't get overly hot and are completely water proof. If it is an 6" by 11" or 11" by 11" it is probably not a problem to use them without a thermostat as they don't get overly hot but I would still be on the safe side. Make sure it is completely stuck down with good quality duck tape which is completely sealed down. It is important the snake can not get stuck to the tape. However using a less sticky tape means that it will not be held in place and you don't want the snake to get underneath it. After the tape is exposed to the heat it becomes completely sealed down .
 
A paper towel will hardly reduce the temperature at all and your heat mat won't get any hotter than you have the themostat set to that is the point of them.
 
The guy at the shop said just put the heat pad inside the vivarium and this would be fine.
Looking on here I see lots more threads with lots of different advice. How about a piece of glass inside the vivarium which covers the heat mat. This should then be too heavy for the snake to lift?
 
my viv has 2mm rubber feet under the viv for air circulation and the heat mat works just fine under the viv
 
I see no reason to put it outside. These heat mats are designed for using inside wooden vivariums and outside glass ones. What is the point of wasting heat energy by making the heat transfer through a wood base when it doesn't have to.
 
I have wooden vivs for my corns...I was instructed to place it accross one side, along the back panel, inside of the viv.

works well for me
 
ok so now im confused.i was told never to put the heat mat inside a viv by alot of people on here
 
this is what i was advised from where i got my two from. I think with wooden vivs, the heat doesnt penetrate through enough to kepp the temps up...if the heat pad is put on the outside of the viv.. Of course I can only advise, im not telling you to do it my way !

I just went by the advice of the guy i went to .
 
no thats cool :)
i ahve my heat mat under my wood viv and my thermostat isnt turned up as high as when it was under my glass one.I have a nice steady temp between 82-85 inside the viv on the hot side
 
If you are worried about the wood not heating through and the heat mat burning the snake if inside the viv, why not place a piece of plexi on the bottom of the tank then place the heat mat on it and then another piece of plexi. If you are not worried about the bottom of the viv then heat mat on top of wood - covered with plexi. But I would take a couple of strips of wood to make a ledge for the plexi glass to set on. That way it can be slightly (very slightly) elevated off the heat mat and it can be sealed down to prevent your little guy/gal from wriggling that glass up as he/she get older and stronger.
 
I use the same method, it was also suggested to me by my local reptile shop.
I have been using the heat mat in the viv for 2 years now with no problems, i put a lot of substrate ontop of it.

I did try it on the outside of the viv at first (mainly because like argonaut, i thought the chap in the shop got ot wrong) but i only use my mats at night and it gets quite cold here, especially in winter. The snakes weren't getting enough heat from it So i moved it to the inside.

hope that helps :)

isobel
 
the only reason i dont have it inside is one of my friends had his inside his viv controlled by a thermostat wich failed resulting in the snake getting a nasty burn.it woks on the outside so as they say if it isnt broke dont fix it
 
Heat mats are NOT water proof contact Habistat if you wish they will tell you, they state on there web site Click here Under no Circumstance should any moisture be allowed to penatrate the terminal block! if inside viv how can you prevent this you could put in a false floor, if using a wooden viv as i do i would heat with a ceramic or reptile radiator both used with a thermostat.
 
MomFor2Gifts said:
If you are worried about the wood not heating through and the heat mat burning the snake if inside the viv, why not place a piece of plexi on the bottom of the tank then place the heat mat on it and then another piece of plexi.
Click to expand...

That's where I was going with the ceramic tile idea I mentioned earlier. Thanks! Maybe your the one who suggested it in the first place, I can't remember. In any case, I think it's the best thing you can do when dealing with a wooden viv. It just sounds like a good idea. The heat will get through and you won't risk injuring the snake. Why not take the extra precaution? :shrugs:
 
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