WhyDoPetstoresCarryHeatRocks?

[ed4281]

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.

I agree 100% couldn't have said it better. Proper ambient temps have to be maintained in order to keep a healthy reptile. People always wonder why their snakes get ri if their hotspots are set at 93. It's because the ambient temp is 70.

[Raptor]

Something I've done is a UTH and a heat lamp all on one side. Snake'll hang out on that side for a bit before wandering over to the middle/cool side.

[Maixx]

Something I've done is a UTH and a heat lamp all on one side. Snake'll hang out on that side for a bit before wandering over to the middle/cool side.

I'm set up the same way. I just use an incandescent bulb.
And its on a timer so I get a slight night drop.

The argument I hear about hot rocks is "if it fails and overheats it can kill your snake"
Well this goes for most heating items. I have a friend in our Herp society that lost a sand boa from a failing UTH, it shorted out, overheated, so bad that it didn't just cook her snake, the bottom of her viv shattered.
Thermostats can fail, dimmers can fail, UTH can fail, lights can shatter.
You just need to watch your setup, check all your equipment every time you do a full cleaning, and understand bad things happen there will be horror stories. Using quality equipment helps but really, everything will wear out, or possibly fail.

[Raptor]

I'm set up the same way. I just use an incandescent bulb.
And its on a timer so I get a slight night drop.

The argument I hear about hot rocks is "if it fails and overheats it can kill your snake"
Well this goes for most heating items. I have a friend in our Herp society that lost a sand boa from a failing UTH, it shorted out, overheated, so bad that it didn't just cook her snake, the bottom of her viv shattered.
Thermostats can fail, dimmers can fail, UTH can fail, lights can shatter.
You just need to watch your setup, check all your equipment overtime you do a full cleaning, and understand bad things happen there will be horror stories. Using quality equipment helps but really, everything will wear out, or possibly fail.

I don't have a regulator or anything on my UTH. It's not attached to the tank (they're both sitting on the floor right now since I haven't gotten the rest of my set up moved over), but the UTH can get up to 118. I've used it for the near two years I've owned the snake without any issues. No burns or anything. On the other hand, it's a 5 gal size UTH on on end of a 30 gal long (even when she was in the 10 gal I didn't have problems). I do need to get the one end of the tank propped up slightly for air flow, though.

[AtlasStrike]

I kept Green Anoles for about 12 years (Not the same colony, obviously, but I really love the little buggers). My first male had to have both his front feet amputated due to burns from a heat rock. He lived another 3 years, but I have never used them since with any of my pets. For a $7 lizard, I spent well over $300 on his surgery and meds, not to mention set up, UV lamps, basking lamps, etc.