FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - What do you use for housing your reptiles & why?

04-04-2004, 03:47 AM

I just wanted to interject a word about the use of human heat pads to heat reptiles.
I know there are at least more than a few people that use them, so there is apparently some types that are acceptable to use, not all of them are.
Some brands have a built in safety feature that shuts the pad off automatically after a certain time, something like 2-3 hours. I have one like this myself, for my use not the herps.
The reason for this feature is these heat pads are not designed to operate 24 hours a day indefinately.
While I have used a human pad for emergency overnight heating on occasion, I personally wold not use them as a permanent heat source. I don't trust them for that use, nor do I consider them a truly adequate heat source.

As for the price, you can wire a 1 foot length of 11" flexwatt for a grand total of about $4.50
I just don't see where the savings are in using human heat pads.

Concerning the thermometer strips, you're better off taking that dollar and buying a Pepsi and a pack of crackers. They are made to read fish aquarium temps (and not particularly well), not air temperature, and they are completely incapable of monitoring basking temperature on the surface of the substrate or other basking site.
The same goes for those dial type thermometers from ZooMed.
You can buy little mini temp guns now for $25-30 and instantly check the temperature anywhere in the cage accurately.

04-04-2004, 03:47 AM	#19
Clay Davenport	Human heating pads I just wanted to interject a word about the use of human heat pads to heat reptiles. I know there are at least more than a few people that use them, so there is apparently some types that are acceptable to use, not all of them are. Some brands have a built in safety feature that shuts the pad off automatically after a certain time, something like 2-3 hours. I have one like this myself, for my use not the herps. The reason for this feature is these heat pads are not designed to operate 24 hours a day indefinately. While I have used a human pad for emergency overnight heating on occasion, I personally wold not use them as a permanent heat source. I don't trust them for that use, nor do I consider them a truly adequate heat source. As for the price, you can wire a 1 foot length of 11" flexwatt for a grand total of about $4.50 I just don't see where the savings are in using human heat pads. Concerning the thermometer strips, you're better off taking that dollar and buying a Pepsi and a pack of crackers. They are made to read fish aquarium temps (and not particularly well), not air temperature, and they are completely incapable of monitoring basking temperature on the surface of the substrate or other basking site. The same goes for those dial type thermometers from ZooMed. You can buy little mini temp guns now for $25-30 and instantly check the temperature anywhere in the cage accurately.