I'm pretty sure he was asking about ceramic heating elements that are used over head outside of the cage? These days, those are way more common than hot rocks.Originally Posted by Mendel's Balls
As for good or bad, it depends. They can be used to elevate cage temps and come in different sizes (wattages). By choosing the right size, you should be able to get your temps where they need to be without a thermostat. The problem is that as your household temps change from season to season, you'll constantly need to change the size of your ceramic heater.
Many many moons ago, when I went through my ceramic heating element phase, I'd just buy the largest one I could get (250 watt I think) and then use either a thermostat or rheostat to adjust it's power output to get the right temps.
My personal preference that they are poo poo (I've learned the error of my ways)... They dry out the air and I've been physically burned by them moving them for cage cleaning and feeding.
For a fish tank set up to house reptiles, some flexwatt, a thermostat, and some contact paper should be all you need to get a nice even heat at the correct temps without killing yourself trying to keep humidity up.
Just my $.02
-adam
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