Heating pad and bark

[cody2004]

On one of my tanks, i dont think it getting enought heating inside, its a 55 gal glass, with a 8x11 under the tank type heater, and a ceramic lamp on top of the cage. im using coconut bark, and i was wondering if i could put the under the tank heater inside the tank under the bark. its not really heating her spot as it sits under the tank. its the type that actually sticks to the tank. do you think it will be safe with that sub. o should i switch it to sumtin else like newspaper till the cold is gone.
Thanks in advance.

[Mr. Constrictor]

NO! under tank heaters are meant for under the tank! try putting a little less substrate over the heating pad.

[NickP]

How long have you had it on? Everytime I replace my coco husk, it takes 2-3 days until the UTH properly heats up the warmer side to 90-94, but it still does it. My substrate layer is also rather thick for humidity purposes.

[FL0OD]

if you are using one of those flat kind of zoo med under the tank heaters here is what i did in one of my tanks. i had the same problem as you. now keep in mind you dont want to cook your animals so if you do this you need to know whether you animals is a burrower or not and you really need to keep and eye on them at first. i use similar bedding to what you use. what i did was move the heat pad to the inside of the tank and placed a piece of astro turf on top of it. then i put a very thin layer of bedding on the top of it. they love it and i could definitely tell a difference in there body heat when i pulled them out afterward. if the tank is 55 gallons they have plenty of room to go to the cool side if need be. i have had this set up for several years in this tank and have recently replicated it in another tank for my new little ones and they seem to enjoy it also. just a thought.

[cody2004]

thanks for the tip, now i need to find some AT. ill let ya know how it goes. thanks.

[FL0OD]

if you have a home depot near you try that. thats where i picked mine up at.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

if you are using one of those flat kind of zoo med under the tank heaters here is what i did in one of my tanks. i had the same problem as you. now keep in mind you dont want to cook your animals so if you do this you need to know whether you animals is a burrower or not and you really need to keep and eye on them at first. i use similar bedding to what you use. what i did was move the heat pad to the inside of the tank and placed a piece of astro turf on top of it. then i put a very thin layer of bedding on the top of it. they love it and i could definitely tell a difference in there body heat when i pulled them out afterward. if the tank is 55 gallons they have plenty of room to go to the cool side if need be. i have had this set up for several years in this tank and have recently replicated it in another tank for my new little ones and they seem to enjoy it also. just a thought.

I am sorry but I think this is just wrong. If you read the warnings that come with the UTH it specificly says it is not supposed to get wet. Even with turf on top of it, it is still going to get wet. That would be like a human urinating on an iron that is plugged in and on! NOT a good idea. You said you have been doing it for years with no trouble... If my friend told me he was urinating on an iron that was plugged in and on for years without a shock, it is safe to say that i still would NOT be interested in trying it myself!

Another thought is that sometimes snakes get under the astroturf. If you put a zoo med heater outside the tank like your supposed to, the glass on the inside directly over the heater will still get up to 125 degrees! therefore you must use something that regulates the heat... I use a $6 lamp dimmer so the hottest it will get is 95 degrees. If your snake does get under the turf, he could potentialy end up sitting on 125 degree glass! ( the same as a heat rock)

You say you are using a 55 gallon tank. what are the dimensions of this tank? I have a 36" by 18" 30 gallon tank, and my UTH is 11'' x 17''. Assuming your tank is even longer and fatter than mine, you will have more luck with a bigger, more correctly sized UTH.

just my 2 cents

MIKE

[FL0OD]

I agree with you. If you have animals that burrow, which mine do not, this is not a good idea and I mentioned that in my post. Not all ball pythons burrow down into their substrate. Also my animals do not slosh around in there water nor is it anywhere near this pad. The whole peeing on an iron reference to make me sound dumb is a little much but I always take what everyone has to say with a grain of salt. What works for me is good for me and what works for you is good for you. It was a suggestion. He came here and posted his thread for that reason. I am by no way saying my way is right but it has worked for me so I thought I would share. Just as you have.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

flood, I am glad you did not take offence.. I was not trying to insult your intelligence, it was just my poor attempt at humor. I wasn't talking about sloshing around in the water bowl. I was talking about urination! snake pees on the astro turf, astroturf gets wet, seeps through, heat mat gets wet... thats why i reffered to peeing on the iron. get it? LOL. sorry dude, I will stick to my day job.

[FatBoy]

Bottom line...DO NOT put the UTH inside the tank with the snake. Go to any replicable ball python breeders websites and you will read somewhere to not do this. It goes in the same direction of using heat rocks. This heat source inside the enclosure will be too great of a threat to do harm to your snake. Use it as directed, UNDER the tank. Give it time, it will do it's job. How big is your ball python, 55 gal tank seems pretty big for a ball anyway. Most balls never outgrow a 20gal long.