Questions/Concerns about Under-tank heating

[Sal]

So I've decided to try integrating under-the-tank heating into King's setup, but before I do that, I wanted to express some concerns and see what experiences people have had with this method.

Way back when, and I can't even remember what I HAD in this tank, I tried an under-the-tank heating "pad". It was many many years ago, and as I recall, was just a big transparent sticker that was webbed with wire. It was adhesive covered on one side, so you just slapped it on the bottom of the tank and turned it on. No temperature controls or anything like that.

Well the glass cracked. The tank wasn't cold or anything like that when I put it on, and it wasn't really a big disaster or anything, considering it was a small tank, but I'm not about to try something on my 60 gallon tank that's going to crack the bottom. I don't know if the thing malfunctioned and went haywire and just heated too much, but it definitely cracked the living daylights out of that glass.

The pads I'm considering now aren't quite just a glorified heated sticker, they're these:


Which seems somehow less cheap and crappy, but I'm still wary. Wanted to know if anyone has had good experiences with them.

My second and much more urgent concern is burns to King. I can't exactly count on aspen shavings to come between him and the super-heated glass when he's such a burrow-butt, and the last thing I want to think about is him settling down onto the super hot glass and scorching himself. Should I put a towel between the pad and the glass, or fix some reptile carpet to the inside-floor of the tank above the pad?

Any info would be appreciated, and my apologies if this was asked or covered elsewhere! I gave it a bit of searching, but nothing immediately came up. D:

[Linnea]

putting the towel under the tank - what if it starts to burn?

if it does work (let the others answer that), make sure to pick a towel that can take high temps and is not easy to melt or burn.

[Sal]

About towels, the yreally burrow in anything - even towels.

and if you meant putting the towel under the tank - what if it starts to burn?

If they were inside the tank, I would be sure to find a way to fix them to the glass. NOT SURE HOW, but I definitely wouldn't expect King to just conveniently not go under them, haha.

As for it being between the pad and the tank, I guess it really depends on just how hot it gets. Unless it malfunctions, I wouldn't think it'd get hot enough to scorch a towel? Heating pads that are made for human use (at least the ones I use) can be wrapped safely in towels for exactly the same reasons... that being to avoid direct contact with the heat source. I dunno. That's pretty much why I'm asking first: I don't actually know.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

I have several of those. The get to temperatures over one hundred (I think it was like 117 and will occasionally overheat(Which burned my gecko once)) They are perfectly fine though if you regulate the temperature with a thermostat/rheostat.

[StaceyLeigh]

I use these on all 3 tanks I have, but I use a thermostat/rheostat to regulate the temp. The thermostat/rheostat is hooked up to the heat lamp, and the under tank heater so they work in combination to reach the desired temp (mine is set at 96 F). This also gives me back up if my heat bulb burns out, which it has. This is a bigger concern during the winter. I may completely turn off the under tank heaters this summer, as I don't think there will be much need.

[Alioop]

I used them for years- one on my bts tank and two on my corn snake tank. Never had an issue, though overheating is always a possibility. Also, I always put "feet" on the tanks that have these under them, if you read the label on the heat pad, they say that air being able to move underneath is key to preventing overheating and other issues. On the corn snake tank I used four plastic bottle caps in each of the four corners, on the bts tank it was 4 little squares of wood, just make sure that the feet don't touch the heating pad. DO NOT put a towel underneath, the towel is going to keep the heat IN and IMO you'd have a much more likely chance of overheating.

OR, you could save yourself the worry that comes with using heat pads and go with flexwatt heat tape instead, needs to be used with a dimmer or thermostat though.

[Richard.C]

also with heat pads ect,use thermostat or rheostat to set your temp,just make the glass surface the temp you want,with the aspen over the top,if u take temp readings from top of aspen,the glass surface will be to hot

[sarah]

I recomend flexwatt heat tape,its what I use for all my herps and I find it works great!

[Richard.C]

heat cord is pretty good to,but comes in long lengths,so may be over kill for one enclosure

[Sal]

Thank you guys! It's a comfort to know they're regularly used by many of you. Unfortunately, you can never count on a product's packaging to honestly inform you of its safety (lol heat rocks) so it's always good to hear it straight from someone who knows.

Flexwatt tape sounds nice.

[Susann]

I have given up on these kinds of pads for my molded-plastic tanks. Have spent a ton of money and most have failed sooner than later.
On my glass tanks I've had no problem whatso ever, but I've made sure to raise the tanks with the provided "bumpers". The pads stick well and work well.
On the plastic, the glue tends to not stick, and if you try to fashion something to hold them in place, they WILL malfunction--all of mine have, but thank goodness I've caught them as they've started over-heating!
This fall when it starts to get cold I'm replacing them with heat cable, for now just using lamps.

[Fatal_S]

I'm a huge fan of heat cable for it's warmth and safety. I'm too afraid of fires to use heat tape. I would love to use radiant heat panels for heating though, but the cost is a bit much for me at the moment.

[amcurls]

I use these on some of my tanks (ones not in heated room with my torts). One trick I do is apply aluminum foil to sticky side so I can easily remove from under tank. I also use a thermastat with them and a piece of slate over the area they are in. I also purchase for area to heat (square inches) instead tank size.

[critterguy]

It seems that different brands of heat cable heat differently. I've heard anecdotes of some getting burning hot. One I borrowed from a friend actually had a bit of trouble getting warm enough-wish I could find another of the same.

Currently I use an Ultratherm heat mat-which is the same technology that is put into flexwatt heat cable.These are fine for bluey use without a thermostat, watch them closely but they are designed to run at about 20 degrees over ambient temperature due to low wattage density. I also for the first 2 years of reptile keeping used a human heating pad that came with a rheostat-but pretty much all of them made now come with an automatic shutoff so will not work for reptile use.