heat mats?!

[OsirisRa32]

What are these Kane Heat Mats I just heard about this morning? They have never turned up on any of my internet searches...it looks like lllreptile.com is carrying them (or just started to?)

[xdeus]

I'm not sure what you are asking. Kane heat mats have been around for a long time. They're very durable and well made and they come in a lot of different sizes.

[OsirisRa32]

LOL sorry...the question sounded more obvious in my head...

Just wondering what they are ( versus the flexwatt and "standard" UTHs I am more familiar with)...IE whats the difference between a heat mat and a UTH and if anyone is familiar with them?

[kitedemon]

Kane mats are high grade mats (also massive size differences 18x18 to 27x60) they are PU coated and are and have an active High temp limits of 105ºF they cut off at this temp. Water resistant as well. They claim to be 30% more efficient than regular heat mats. I own one (large one) as an emergency heater (disaster animal rescue team) As it is regulated and will tolerate way more abuse than any other. Sadly as you might expect the cost is much higher as well.

[kitedemon]

Heat mats are exactly that a heating pad or some sort, they are a generic name that would include hot water radiator mats, carbon element and wire elements.

UTH is under tank heater a heater specifically designed to be placed under a aquarium. To my knowledge they are all carbon resistive elements.

Flexwatt is made by calorique it is a carbon resistive panel.

Radiant heat panels (RHP) are (all I believe) a carbon resistive panel in a box designed to be top mounted an over tank heater if you see my point.

Kane pads are made by Kane mfg they are a fibreglass/carbon system they are between a UTH and RHP. A sealed, insulated, carbon element rather than an exposed one.

The max temps of each depend on the wattage, size, type, and density of the element. Ie a piece of 17 inch wide flexwatt is only 12w per sq foot compared to 3 inch which is 40w per sq foot. The surface of the 17 is usually below 88º where the surface in the same room temp (80ºF) is often over 120ºF.

I believe that under normal set up conditions there is no need for any heat source to be over 100ºF. I have a very cool room and all my current heaters will not produce surfaces over 100ºF running maxed out. In the event of a T-stat failure having a pad that produces lower temps means lower risks of serious burns and or fires.

there are a number of UTH that are low density elements (intelliheat, kane, ultratherm, exoterra rainforest (they make a high and low density pads rainforest and desert) there are likely more I just an not aware of them.

[LLLReptile]

Kane heat mats are practically indestructible, and coupled with a kane thermostat, the perfect way to heat large animals. We commonly sell them for large monitors, tortoises, and occasionally for large snake species. They are also sometimes referred to as "pig blankets", although they aren't very blanket-y.

For a ball python, they're kind of major overkill, unless you have an exceptionally large cage that you wish to heat. They're better suited for large reptiles such as adult sulcata tortoises, big monitor lizards (one of my coworkers uses one for her red tegu), and very large snakes, such as adult burmese or reticulated pythons.

Let me know if you have more questions about them! I've used them and helped set them up, they're nice, just definitely best suited for large animals.

-Jen