Undertank Heater

Hi all!

New BP owner. The breeder we got Leonidas from gave us a heat lamp, a UVB lamp, 20gal glass tank w/plastic bottom, and 2 hides. I love my new snake baby! But I've been reading around and I saw that undertank heaters are better than heat lamps for BP's so I went and ordered one online at Amazon. Then I found out that those undertank heaters don't do well with plastic bottoms. Should I be able to place a piece of glass or ceramic under the tank and attach the pad to that instead?

Also, do BPs really need UVB lamps? The breeder told us that Leonidas will need it to grow!

Thank you in advance!

Your snake does NOT need UV light.

Do not stick the uth to anything. Instead cover the sticky part with aluminum foil and then tape it to the bottom of the tank(outside the tank). This will allow you to easily remove it for cleaning or changing tanks.

Do NOT, I repeat, Do NOT use the uth WITHOUT a thermostat. The results will be a burned snake with a possibility of large vet bills or even death.

A heat lamp can be used alone until you have a proper tstat. Depending on the temps in the room you may find you need both.

I like Herpstats and have four of them. When you buy cheap you get cheap. Do it right the first time and get a quality tstat.

http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

Many people also use these and speak very well of them.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats

Buy the best you can. A good one will last you many many years.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psp2koldrd.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

Your snake does NOT need UV light.

Do not stick the uth to anything. Instead cover the sticky part with aluminum foil and then tape it to the bottom of the tank(outside the tank). This will allow you to easily remove it for cleaning or changing tanks.

Do NOT, I repeat, Do NOT use the uth WITHOUT a thermostat. The results will be a burned snake with a possibility of large vet bills or even death.

A heat lamp can be used alone until you have a proper tstat. Depending on the temps in the room you may find you need both.

I like Herpstats and have four of them. When you buy cheap you get cheap. Do it right the first time and get a quality tstat.

http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

Many people also use these and speak very well of them.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats

Buy the best you can. A good one will last you many many years.

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Thank you so much! I will make sure to get a thermostat before applying the UTH then. So as long as I have aluminum foil between the UTH and the bottom of the plastic of the tank, that will be okay?

Love the picture! Lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gwentennyson

Thank you so much! I will make sure to get a thermostat before applying the UTH then. So as long as I have aluminum foil between the UTH and the bottom of the plastic of the tank, that will be okay?

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If you place the uth on a piece of glass it will still make the plastic just as hot. It will probably even be a couple degrees warmer since it has an extra layer to get the heat to penetrate. If it is good quality plastic you should not have any issues. In most rack there is flexwatt(heat tape) that is used for uth. The tubs are plastic and as long as the uth is controlled by a tstat the plastic will be fine.