Are Human heat pads any good???

I've been reading around because I plan on getting a Ball soon and many people say that regular human heat pads are just as good as the ones at the pet store and are cheaper. But i've heard of horror stories from both sides some say that their petstore pad over heats to around 100degrees and so do the Human pads what do you guys suggest.

dont chance it just go with a uth

(edit) its probably chaeper than a human heating pad anyway

If you want cheap along with safe reliability, get a foot of flexwatt and wire it to a rheostat (lamp dimmer). Matt (justcage) can wire you up one if you don't want to do it yourself.

also I've looked at the size of the UTH for my 30gal tank and it seems it would heat the whole tank. Now would that be safe if I'm also using a heat lamp or would the warm side get extremly hot but i guess thats what thermostats are for

shelby didnt you just post that exact phrase somwhere else lol

Hey patt I just read your other post and saw you had a bp named Osiris thats exactly what I was going to name mine when I got him thats if I can get the people in my family to realize I'm not bringing home The same kind of python that they saw on Sci-Fi killing everyone(LOL)

yah my cousing fell in love with him so i gave him to her......well back to her she gave it to me cuase she didnt want it then changed her mind

I've used both a zoomed uth and a sunbeam human pad. I had the zoomed to begin with, it came with the snake but i quickly found it was getting over 120F without a t-stat. Also it had a couple "hot spots" which led me to buy the sunbeam and couldnt be happier with it. On it's lowest setting the temp is around 87-90 and next setting is 90-95. It has been very consistent so far, while the UTH actually varied ALOT more. Could just have been its time to start going out.

Oh and the HHP cost me a whopping 10 bucks and was 1.5x's bigger than the zoo med. If you do get one, make sure it doesnt have auto-shutoff and they come with a cover that i found unneccessary.

However I am going to be getting a rack built and will be getting flexwatt to replace the HHP. Definatlly the best choice in my opinion.

HTH
Jeremy

Well I confess I've been using human heat pads for a year and a half or so with no ill tales to share. Not to say I don't plan on eventually wiring up something less makeshift - but I don't think HHP's should be decried as the mortal enemy.

i used human heat pads for about 6 months and really they worked fine as long as i used a thermostat. the thermostat i had at the time was a cheap esu one and i had more issues with that then with the heating pad itself. now i use flexwatt and herpstats for my bps and that is just a dream.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by patthesnakeman

shelby didnt you just post that exact phrase somwhere else lol

---

Yeah I probably did. People ask the same question, I give them the same answer.

I also believe HHPs aren't the mortal enemy. lol I use one currently. I also don't plan on continuing that indefinitely, but it does it's job.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dystopia

Oh and the HHP cost me a whopping 10 bucks and was 1.5x's bigger than the zoo med. If you do get one, make sure it doesnt have auto-shutoff and they come with a cover that i found unneccessary.

---

The reason for the auto shut off is because 24/7 use will usually make the pad overheat. But hey I use flexwatt to cook dinner..lol

Thanx everyone.....I'll probably go with the Sunbeam pad from Wal-Mart Its about 15-20 bucks (being I'm low on cash right now) and has a low to high switch so I can control the temp variations. But eventually I'll end up getting the UTH and a Thermostat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mlededee

now i use flexwatt and herpstats for my bps and that is just a dream.

---

Ok.. what's flexwatt and herpstats?

Flexwatt is heat tape that you can cut (by the foot) and wire to a cord and thermostat to make heating pads. http://www.mgreptiles.com/flexwatt.html

Herpstat is a brand of thermostat used to control the flexwatt (or whatever other source of heat)