Unregulated Heat Sources - video demo

I mentioned in a post the other day that I was going to record a video of what temps unregulated heat tape and heat mats can reach as a resource we can share to those who don't believe that it gets that hot.

I only had a few on hand to test, but I tested out an Ultratherm heat mat, Flexwatt 6" heat tape, and what I think is the smallest ZooMed heat mat (5"×4").

I ran them 5 minutes, then read temperatures, and ran another 10 with 1/4" glass over top and measured the ZooMed mat. It could have used more time to heat up, but even on that brief time the small one cleared 100.

Here is the link to the video:
https://youtu.be/NcGJaHVF72w

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Great video thanks for making that. It just goes to show that thermostats are a necessity not a recommendation. The zoomed heated up fast! I have that same temp gun:D

Excellent demonstration, it will be good for referring new owners to. It's scary how fast these heat mats reach dangerous temperatures. I still can't believe reptile heating equipment is sold without bundled thermostats or even a recommendation to use a thermostat.

Also, I use that same temp gun too!

Well done. Definitely will help new reptile owners. Being able to actually see first hand will have a lasting impression.

I expected the lower temperature on the ultratherm, although that is still too hot.

I did NOT expect that tiny, piddly 4W heat mat to hit 133 that fast.

I have their 40 gallon breeder size somewhere, I wonder if that one is as bad. If I find it, I'll test and just post the results here. It's something like 8"×11" I think.

I almost wish I had some of the other pet store brand ones. Like Zilla. But it isn't worth paying for that to test out.

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Fun Fact!

When cooking steak, if you want it rare, you should pull it off the grill when it reaches 130-135 degrees F for a final temperature between 130 and 140.


That's definitely not something I want to think of in relation to one of my snakes. I imagine over a long "cooking" period, you could get an "over rare" snake too. :(

I wonder if any of the admins could maybe sticky this to make it possible to add to the husbandry care sheets so it’s easily referenced. This is a great video! Thank you for sharing!


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Fantastic video!!!!! :gj::gj:

Thanks so much for taking the time to make that video and share!!!

I definitely think this should be a "sticky"

Awesome demo. It's scary, huh? Really wish pet care companies would make these things safer. I remember when I was moving my BP to a new enclosure and I was testing out the heat pad and thermostat. I didn't have the probe close enough to the center of the pad and the temperature INSIDE the tank right above the uth got over 110 really quickly! Thank God I thoroughly tested and fixed everything before moving the snake in.

This definitely needs to be a sticky!

Thank you you for doing this!

Really excellent demo that speaks for itself. (Also, I am yet another chiming in that I have the exact same temp gun. :P) When it comes to husbandry recommendations, some are optimal but not necessarily essential in a "budget" build, but this should absolutely hammer home the point that the thermostat is non-negotiable.

Really is pretty scary that's for sure,
This could probably end up burning your house down in the extreme cases if breakers fail,
Thanks for sharing

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I'm thinking I probably should have emphasized the fire hazard these can be, but I wanted to keep it pretty short and focused on the risk to the animal.

For the zoomed one especially of the 3 I tested there, if you DON'T give it an air gap (the manufacturer recommendation instead of a tstat) AND you don't use a thermostat, it is almost definitely going to cause a fire or at least smoke and singe the table or melt plastic.

The heat it would build up to without air to transmit heat away when on at full power would definitely build up and cause an electrical failure eventually.

I went to college for electrical engineering and while I'm not working in the field, I learned plenty to know exactly how risky this sort of electric-powered heating can become of used improperly, especially without any heat sink or other dissipation method in place. (This same thing is why heat sinks are so important on computer CPUs and why avoiding covering vents and fans on laptops when running intensive programs is so important.)

I love that temp gun. It was about $14 when I bought ita and unlike most reptile branded ones it uses a 1:12 ratio instead of 1:1. For anyone not aware, that means my gun measures a 1" diameter surface centered on the red dot when I am pointing the gun from 12" away.

For many of the ones sold by RBI and at specialty shops they are often 1:1 ratio (and twice the price) and measure that 1" diameter from only 1" away. So for anyone pointing the gun from the top of a tank, they're measuring (on a 20 long, let's say) a 12" diameter circle from 12" away. This may be bigger than the heat pad or even bigger than the cleared glass surface and adding cooler temps of the substrate surface around it and skewing the measurements. Even with a thermostat, if the gun is reading low and you keep kicking the temperature up, it can become dangerous like that as well.

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Saw this one Reddit earlier. Happy ending here, but not always the case and another reason why thermostats are important.

(In case the picture isn't legible) Firefighters were called to a smoking apartment where no one was home and rescued this corn snake. The owners had set up an unregulated UTH, set the cage on carpet where it began smoldering with substrate burning inside as well as the carpet beneath, this set off smoke detectors, and neighbors called it in.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ba215c0f68.jpg

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