best cover for heat mat

[Albert420]

Hi peeps

For my new enclosures i ordered i would like to place something over my heat mat and then seal it off so pee and water cant get to it and leave it soaking wet and drenched in pee.

I thought i could use a tile of the same size as the heat mat and seal it off around the edges so that its almost like under floor heating lol.

Unfortunately i cannot place the heat mat underneath the enclosure as it is a viv with wooden bottom , the thermostat probe will be placed on top of heat mat but underneath the tile and i will measure surface temps with heat gun so the thermostat will read a little higher then what the belly heat would be obviously.

Please let me know your ideas and thoughts and if a ceramic tile would maybe work best ?

[gunkle]

You can't completely seal of a heat mat it needs air circulation That's why they typically come with the little tabs to elevate them off the ground. Have you considered switching to RHP

[Albert420]

This what our heat mats look like not the ones you are thinking of they are heat cable covered with foil mat top and bottom I will elevate this with like 8beer caps underneath and then the tile, this will leave some air space for the and then I will drill holes in the side so that it has cool air ventilation as well this will create a step of some sort but my printless paper will make this a breeze to slither onto the step and the surface will be big enough for a proper hide to fit on. Craig and I spoke about this some time back but I got into moving houses etc anyway I'm ready and thought I'd get more ideas if there were any.

Also I'd like to ad we have home radient heat panels but they are expensive on electricity specially where I'm from.

Dont get me wrong if this was a must then I would but I'm sure the general idea could work 2

Thanks in advanced

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[gunkle]

Also they're is no way to guarantee that whatever you use to seal won't wear out over time and let moisture in. It's too chancy with to high of a risk of catastrophic failure. I strongly recommend against it.

[Zincubus]

I’ve said it before elsewhere but heat mats in wooden vivs are fairly common over here in the uk .. must be regulated by a thermostat EVERY time of course.

They are professionally sealed but I still add a thick layer of hot glue all around the joint where the wire connects to the mat - just for piece of mind .
Never had a single incident in all the years of using them .. I had around 25 snakes for many years as well .


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[gunkle]

If your talking about using a heat mat then your ambient temps must be fine as they don't do much to hear up an enclosure and your only looking for a hot spot on the ground so an RHP wouldn't be using a ton of power.

[gunkle]

I’ve said it before elsewhere but heat mats in wooden vivs are fairly common over here in the uk .. must be regulated by a thermostat EVERY time of course.

They are professionally sealed but I still add a thick layer of hot glue all around the joint where the wire connects to the mat - just for piece of mind .
Never had a single incident in all the years of using them .. I had around 25 snakes for many years as well .


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I admittedly have little experience with heat mats. I admit I may be wrong.

[Zincubus]

I admittedly have little experience with heat mats. I admit I may be wrong.

No ... I don’t think you’re wrong at all ..
I have heard of incidents happening but I think the mats were must have been old / worn / damaged if they had shorted with water seeping on them ..

It’s probably just another of those cultural differences like LIVE feeding and Thawed Frozen thing


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[Albert420]

I agree with this , your heat source is not as important as your thermostat, a top of the line thermostat then over overheating would not be a problem , but ease of mind as said holes will be drilled it will be elevated and it will be on a constant thermostat as it already is and it will be a heavy duty marine silicone so it will take a long time to wear out we usually used that stuff on the shark boats to seal our rubber boots when the eventually tore. I will obviously let it dry out and air out for 5 days or so

[Albert420]

" Originally Posted by gunkleI admittedly have little experience with heat mats. I admit I may be wrong.

You are not wrong you are concerned about my animals burning or even worse my whole house while i sleep.
I truly appreciate your input