Leopard Gecko: Heat Mat

[athdaraxen]

Well that's a response I didn't expect. It makes sense though. With sand/carpet it can freely escape, the tiles absorb and hold it which would as they said keep the heat on the mat. If not controlled by a thermostat (rheostat would not help in this case due to it not readings temps) then yeah, melted heat pad. Huh....

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[Riverside Reptiles]

Hey, they offered to replace the product and they gave you a valid explanation for the failure. What more can you ask for? If you really want a quality under the tank heating set up, buy flex watt heat tape. It's what most professional herpers use. It's much higher quality than those cheap pre-made pet store UTHs.

 

[XoVictoryXo]

Im more upset that slate tiles aren't actually showing to be the best substrate option.
ZooMed responding so quickly and replacing the UTH actually is great customer service so I am not complaining about that..., although I have already replaced it with a Zilla already it will be a back up.
The thermostat is in the mail on its way to me...
What is still so strange=- My female has had her same Zilla mat for over 2 years now, no issues at all! and their setups are identical. That is very strange!
If I have one more issue with these heat mats- Ill try out the heat tape. Im not a professional, lol I would actually like to hire one of those professional herper to build me the perfect set up!

I asked her about paper towels as a substrate and she gave this answer -

If you’re going to use paper towels in the tank put the heater on the side of the tank, paper towels can have the same effect with the heater as slate. I will get the new heater in the mail for you today.

athdaraxen: there was recently another poster (Cupquake) who stated her ZooMed heat mat was being regulated by a thermostat and still melted. - I just read thru her posts and her ZooMed UTH malfunctioned after switching to slate tiles.

 

[athdaraxen]

I just read that actually lol. I didn't see if anybody asked about if there was sand between the tiles and the glass so I'm gonna go ask but I do wonder if its just the slate on glass that has the higher risk of blowing up.

I wonder if have some sand between them helps stuff like this from not happening. If not then the slate just gained a pretty big issue if this happens on a thermostat or not. Which really makes me worry for those who don't have thermostats as km sure the risk is even higher.

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[Speckles]

I have been reading this thread out of curiosity, and now I am wondering: do you think having a thermostat will keep this from happening, even under tile?

 

[athdaraxen]

I have been reading this thread out of curiosity, and now I am wondering: do you think having a thermostat will keep this from happening, even under tile?

No, I think it will still happen just less of a chance so.

This isn't a problem of high heat but I problem of the slate trapping the heat which makes the mat overheat. With sand or a loose substrate it goes straight through instead of being trapped by the slate. Make sense?

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[Speckles]

No, I think it will still happen just less of a chance so.

This isn't a problem of high heat but I problem of the slate trapping the heat which makes the mat overheat. With sand or a loose substrate it goes straight through instead of being trapped by the slate. Make sense?

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It totally makes sense, but it stresses me out. We JUST switched from carpet to tile on Saturday, feeling like we were doing the best thing, and this whole overheating, heat trapping thing is causing me to obsess over the substrate again. It feels like it's a lose/lose situation.

 

[athdaraxen]

It totally makes sense, but it stresses me out. We JUST switched from carpet to tile on Saturday, feeling like we were doing the best thing, and this whole overheating, heat trapping thing is causing me to obsess over the substrate again. It feels like it's a lose/lose situation.

It kinda is buy this does seem to be somewhat uncommon I haven't been here long so maybe some others can chime in but in my stalking I've only seen two.

I imagine as long as you keep an eye on things it will be OK.

Also, I checked on the other thread, they had sand in between the glass and tile so that isn't good. If this is going to be a continuing trend with heat mats then I guess maybe finding a new substrate is at hand.

My first though is stick on linolium, while I know the adhesive is bad for geckos, doesn't it come in a non stick form?

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[Riverside Reptiles]

You can still use your slate. Simply heat it from above using a CHE. A CHE in a dome fixture will heat the slate which will them provide belly heat for the gecko. Put the CHE on a thermostat. Put the probe on the slate.

 

[athdaraxen]

You can still use your slate. Simply heat it from above using a CHE. A CHE in a dome fixture will heat the slate which will them provide belly heat for the gecko. Put the CHE on a thermostat. Put the probe on the slate.

So I was right in thinking it can work like that! (I've thought about it but never really poked at it)

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[Riverside Reptiles]

So I was right in thinking it can work like that! (I've thought about it but never really poked at it)

Yep, it works great. The slate absorbs the heat from above well. And since the CHE puts out no light, it can be used 24 hours a day.