Heat mat Questions

[Red-Ink]

Hi Guys,

Quick question for people that use heat mats for Geckos.
My enclosures are 54cm x 26 cm floor space.

How much of that floor space should i cover with the heatmat (hot side vs cool side)
I'm looking into two different sizes of heat mats and wattages
15cm x 25cm @ 10watts the other 20cm x 35cm @ 20watts

Which heat mat size and wattage do you guys recomend for my size enclosure. I will be putting knob-tails in them so i don't know which wattage would provide the best temps for them.

Cheers,

 

[Jay84]

I have a tub very similar in size to yours. my heatmat covers just over 1/3 the floor space. It is 25 Watt mat and reaches temps of over 45 degrees when not run with a thermostat. works great and im obviously doing something right cos they have laid 2 clutches already!

 

[mazzarella]

jay , do you use lights as well?

 

[Jay84]

No lights. No need. Knobbies dont need any lights. Being mainly nocturnal i dont think they would appreciate a big spotlight lol

 

[mazzarella]

lol I spose not, My stimmy has a infra red light for warmth... Can they use the same thing?

 

[Red-Ink]

Found some mats with in built thermo i them already but they are only 7 watts. Do you guys think that would get hot enough to get the substrate to optimum temps? It would save me buying a seperate thermo as well as the heat matts (got twin probe habistat already on order, could always cancel) .

Cheers,

 

[Jay84]

there is no need to heat lamps, even infra red as these guys get their warmth from their bellies on the substrate.

red-ink, living in melbourne myself i dont know if a 7 watt will get hot enough. esp as there will be a substantial layer of sand on top of the heat mat? if the cage is open top then you may not even need a thermostat.

 

[Red-Ink]

there is no need to heat lamps, even infra red as these guys get their warmth from their bellies on the substrate.

red-ink, living in melbourne myself i dont know if a 7 watt will get hot enough. esp as there will be a substantial layer of sand on top of the heat mat? if the cage is open top then you may not even need a thermostat.

Yeah that's what I've been thinking as well 7 watt seems awfully low. It would have been a saving of around $100 with the heatmat and thermo combined but realistically I'd rather have healthy and thriving geckos than being $100 better off anyday. The enclosure is a wood stack enclosure (in the process of converting bookshelfs).

Should i cover about a third of the enclosure with the higher wattage (20cm x 35cm @ 20 watts)?. Do i need to put the mat in between two peices of tiles with sand on top to avoid the gecko having direct contact with them or will they not dig down on the hot side when i provide a hide on the cool side?

What are the best temps for knob-tails?
I really want to get all of this right as i have never kept geckos before.
Don't want to skimp on cost only to have dead or sickly geckoes.

Thanks for all the input mate.

 

[Jay84]

Hmmmm........ Now that you have said it's going to be a wooden box style cage then what I said probably won't apply anymore. I assumed the enclosure was a glass tank or plastic tub, this is how I keep mine. In this case the tub is placed on the heatmat and then a few cm's of sand over that. With this setup the temps are near perfect without a thermostat (altho I am running one now). However in a wooden enclosure the temps will build up more than an open top tub. Also the heatmat is going to be inside the cage. I have never put heatmat inside cages so I'm not the best person to ask. Maybe someone else can halo now? Why don't you keep them in tubs? Alot easier lol

 

[Freeloader]

I have a 7watt in the enclosure with my WA Marmorata. In saying that the enclosure is located in the house. The heat mats are run by a mat - stat. You can run numerous heat mats on this up to a total of 100W.
I have set the temp at 32degC.

 

[Red-Ink]

I have a 7watt in the enclosure with my WA Marmorata. In saying that the enclosure is located in the house. The heat mats are run by a mat - stat. You can run numerous heat mats on this up to a total of 100W.
I have set the temp at 32degC.

Cheers mate, is your enclosure a wooden one as well? Mine will also be inside the house, does it actually get up to the temp you have set with the 7 watt mat? I found a 7 watt mat with an in built thermo on it already. I wanted to find out if this was enough to heat the enclosure to the desired temps of 32 C so i won't have to get the habistat thermo if i don't need to.

Thanks,

 

[Freeloader]

Mine is a glass enclosure. The heat pad is under the hide to provide temp differential between ends of the enclosure. With geckos a localised heat spot is required rather than heat the whole enclosure. The 7watt heat pads must get to 32degC as the mat stat is cycling on and off. Have just put non contact thermometer on the heat pad under the hide and it is 33degC.

 

[Freeloader]

I don't know what temp the 7 watt heat pad will run at without a thermstat.

 

[Freeloader]

The cut out in the heat pad you have found may be over temperature cut out.

 

[Red-Ink]

Mine is a glass enclosure. The heat pad is under the hide to provide temp differential between ends of the enclosure. With geckos a localised heat spot is required rather than heat the whole enclosure. The 7watt heat pads must get to 32degC as the mat stat is cycling on and off. Have just put non contact thermometer on the heat pad under the hide and it is 33degC.

Cheers mate, I need to figure out how well they'll do inside the enclosure under the substrate. It seems like the 7 watt one you have does get the substrate to that temp, how deep is your substrate by the way?

The mats i found are Reptapets mats with in built thermostat on the wiring running off a wire probe the temp range on them says 0 - 45 C (i assume max cut off) which can be set to the desired temps. The size they have should run about half of the floor space of my enclosure. The enclosure is 54 cm long and about 26cm wide and the heat mats 15 cm by 28 cm it should be enough for a nice temp gradient between cool side and hot side.

I just wish someone has used them before so they could tell me how well they run and if they can get up to 32 C.

 

[Red-Ink]

Never mind about the mat with the in built thermo, just got a call from the supplier my twin channel Habistat thermostat has arrived at the shop so I'll just go with that. It'll be more accurate anyways .

Anybody use heat mats inside a wooden enclosure and how to set them up, all help and tips would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Freeloader]

I used to have a wooden enclosure. I sat the heat pad on a piece of fibro cement to stop the heat going into the wood and covered with about 40mm of sand. The depth of sand wont matter under the hide as the knobbies dig it out to block the entrance to the hide.

 

[Freeloader]

I just put the thermometer on the heat pad under the knobbies hide and it is 32degC. My knobbies are only young so i have them in tubs with a heat pad under one end.

 

[Red-Ink]

So do i put the heat mat under the hide or do i put the hide on the cool side?