WhyDoPetstoresCarryHeatRocks?

[Redneck_Crow]

I use pine.

I've used heat lamps.

And back in the roaring 70s and 80s all my snakies were kept in aquariums.

But many people today tell me that those things are the hallmark of a bad keeper.

Just saying.......

I used aquaria for my snakes way back when. My snakes bred and did fine except for the occasional funky shed. The ones in my rack do fine and shed better, so that is what they are kept in. I think that I could provide very good conditions for a snake in a tank if I tinkered around, but I'm lazy and the rack is so darn much easier. The snakes do great, so all is well in my little corner of the world.

I haven't had a heat rock short out on me and in the late 70s-early 80's I used them. What made me opt for Flexwatt is that a member of the herp society I belonged to brought in a heat rock that had burned up and we got in a few rescue snakes with burns from folks who kept them on heat rocks--sans any temp control, of course. The obligatory messed up green iguana too.

Currently I use Flexwatt for heating. I find that it's easy to use and does the job. My system is on a thermostat and I get good temp control.

I've never used a heat emitter inside of a cage. I can't give you any personal experience. I tried a heat lamp on the screen way back when and it didn't keep the temps where I wanted them. It might have been the old analog stick-on-the-glass thermometer wasn't accurate, but that was what was available. I have a nifty little point and read number now, and boy, don't I love technology.

I do think that most folks who use a heat rock aren't going to have a burnt reptile. I do think that there is a possibility there and that I feel safer and love the degree of control I get with Flexwatt and a thermostat. Years back I used a dimmer switch to control the heat and fiddled around to get it where I wanted it. I didn't have any burnt snakes, but I also think that thermostats are a wonderful thing and I'm glad that I have one now.