I think one of the most misunderstood pieces of reptile husbandry is the undertank heater.
It's often blindly recommended as the best and safest source for heat.
But is does virtually nothing for ambient temps.
In my other posts in this thread I've kinda danced around this but I'll just come out and say it:
If you hook a piece of flexwatt up to a proportional thermostat and set it to 94 degrees in a tank or a tub where the ambient temp is too low, you are running just as big a risk as the poor schlub who stuffs a hot rock in the tank.
In order to maintain it's POTZ, that animal is going to have to spend the majority of it's time on that hot spot. Believe me - a snake is not going to get a thermal burn quickly thermoregulating on a 100 degree hot rock - just like a varanid will not suffer thermal burns basking with a proper flood light setup.
It will get a thermal burn having to park it's butt on a 94 degree UTH because it's forced to thermoregulate inefficiently and is being kept at suboptimal ambient temps.
Again, a 100 degree hot rock can only cause a thermal burn if the animal is forced to stay on it for an extended period of time. An animal is forced to spend dangerous amounts of time on contact heating devices because the keeper is not providing the proper husbandry. Yes the hot rock is a crude tool and is not recommended, but they don't just magicially burn reptiles.
That risk exists with any UTH, heating pad or similar device. That's why it is so darn irresponsible to blindly recommend under-belly heat without taking into consideration the ambient temp of the enclosure or the type of animal. Most diurnal animals benefit much more from a combination of radiant and convection heat. Contrary to popular opinion, BPs do not need belly heat to digest food. They need to maintain a POTZ. In order to do that they need a an ambient temp in the middle of that zone, a hot spot to heat up and a cool area to cool down.
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