# heat mat advice



## 1972jlt (Apr 9, 2010)

hi,have just picked up my vivarium and it came with a 4inch by 5inch heat mat the vivarium is 25inches by 15inches is this heat mat big enough for a leopard gecko,thanks


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## Biffy Pyro (Feb 8, 2010)

should be big enough, i personally would have gone for the size up from that. what material is the viv made of? oh and congrats on the leo! :welcome:


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## 1972jlt (Apr 9, 2010)

the viv is made from wood,i will get the next size up if i need to its just that the mat came with the viv,thanks


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## Biffy Pyro (Feb 8, 2010)

i'd get one a little bigger, it should cover 1/3 to 1/2 of the viv. if its wood remember to put the heat mat *in *the viv, but cover it with something like kitchen paper


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

Biffy Pyro said:


> i'd get one a little bigger, it should cover 1/3 to 1/2 of the viv. if its wood remember to put the heat mat *in *the viv, but cover it with something like kitchen paper


Depending on size of tank, 1/3 of size for a smaller tank and 1/2 for larger due to there is more space available on the cooler end when larger. : victory:


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## 1972jlt (Apr 9, 2010)

ok,thanks for help


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## Biffy Pyro (Feb 8, 2010)

nae bother! : victory:


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## firebellycon (Apr 7, 2010)

1972jlt said:


> hi,have just picked up my vivarium and it came with a 4inch by 5inch heat mat the vivarium is 25inches by 15inches is this heat mat big enough for a leopard gecko,thanks


when setting up my vivarium it didnt get hot enough just with a heat mat i had to have the heat lamp too. due to wear we live can be quite cold, so just be aware they can be unreliable, but then i had the heat mat underneath so that was probably the problem.
hope it all works out, i would probably opt for the next size up though


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## Biffy Pyro (Feb 8, 2010)

echothegecko said:


> when setting up my vivarium it didnt get hot enough just with a heat mat i had to have the heat lamp too. due to wear we live can be quite cold, so just be aware they can be unreliable, but then i had the heat mat underneath so that was probably the problem.
> hope it all works out, i would probably opt for the next size up though


u live in brighton :gasp:! i live in glasgow and my temps are fine! how crap is the insulation in your house :lol2:


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

echothegecko said:


> when setting up my vivarium it didnt get hot enough just with a heat mat i had to have the heat lamp too. due to wear we live can be quite cold, so just be aware they can be unreliable, but then i had the heat mat underneath so that was probably the problem.
> hope it all works out, i would probably opt for the next size up though


Common problem with heat mat alone, and the usual problem is because the enclosure is on a conducting surface, if thats the case then not all the heat is transferred to the enclosure, to negate this you need to use an insulating material underneath the heat mat to make sure all heat is transferred to tank. :2thumb:


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## Biffy Pyro (Feb 8, 2010)

Rich H said:


> Common problem with heat mat alone, and the usual problem is because the enclosure is on a conducting surface, if thats the case then not all the heat is transferred to the enclosure, to negate this you need to use an insulating material underneath the heat mat to make sure all heat is transferred to tank. :2thumb:


this would probably explain it :lol2:


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

So echo, if your heat mat and tank is on for example a wooden stand or drawers etc, thats the problem make sure your using an insulating material below to reflect the heat to the tank 100%... :2thumb:


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## firebellycon (Apr 7, 2010)

Rich H said:


> So echo, if your heat mat and tank is on for example a wooden stand or drawers etc, thats the problem make sure your using an insulating material below to reflect the heat to the tank 100%... :2thumb:


hey rich . i did that i use polystyrene tiles, helped raise it 1c no more than that still needed a heat lamp.


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

echothegecko said:


> hey rich . i did that i use polystyrene tiles, helped raise it 1c no more than that still needed a heat lamp.


Unusual... i had this problem too i had to change a lot to get it to work, i think its because English heat mats are such a low wattage compared to American versions... with the modern english heat mat its literally almost impossible to burn your reptile even without a mat stat... In other words the heat produced from these mats is simply too little.


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## firebellycon (Apr 7, 2010)

Rich H said:


> Unusual... i had this problem too i had to change a lot to get it to work, i think its because English heat mats are such a low wattage compared to American versions... with the modern english heat mat its literally almost impossible to burn your reptile even without a mat stat... In other words the heat produced from these mats is simply too little.


 
i know it was really frustrating because i had to wait until the temps were up before i could pick my gecko up!: victory:


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

echothegecko said:


> i know it was really frustrating because i had to wait until the temps were up before i could pick my gecko up!: victory:


Lol, you say you havent had the gecko long? is it your first reptile or gecko ? and how old is it? : victory:


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## firebellycon (Apr 7, 2010)

*hi*

have only had him about 5 days, he is 5 months old (leopard gecko)


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

echothegecko said:


> have only had him about 5 days, he is 5 months old (leopard gecko)


Nice, keep me updated, ive had Geckos for a while, but got mine as hatchling haha, now starting to venture into the snakes and got my first yesterday a baby corn snake. So thats something im new to. :2thumb:


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## firebellycon (Apr 7, 2010)

*hi again*

ive added you to my contacts so will do. the corn snakes look really sweet, im not so keen on snakes, but they are beautiful! 
are your geckos tame now?


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

echothegecko said:


> ive added you to my contacts so will do. the corn snakes look really sweet, im not so keen on snakes, but they are beautiful!
> are your geckos tame now?


Yeah pretty much to the point where they can trust me enough to sleep on me, but bear in mind that i had mine for a while before that did that. And yeah getting a snake in the house was a challenge because my parents think of them as being 30 foot 2000 pounder killers.:lol2:

I wasent too sure about snakes either... it was either a corn snake or a couple of bearded dragons but after handling the lavender corn snake in the shop it made me make up my mind. : victory:


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## firebellycon (Apr 7, 2010)

Rich H said:


> Yeah pretty much to the point where they can trust me enough to sleep on me, but bear in mind that i had mine for a while before that did that. And yeah getting a snake in the house was a challenge because my parents think of them as being 30 foot 2000 pounder killers.:lol2:
> 
> I wasent too sure about snakes either... it was either a corn snake or a couple of bearded dragons but after handling the lavender corn snake in the shop it made me make up my mind. : victory:


 
well thats parents for you! always think the worst :lol2:
hope it all works out for you, you have to let me know how you get on too


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

echothegecko said:


> well thats parents for you! always think the worst :lol2:
> hope it all works out for you, you have to let me know how you get on too


Sure thing, and just remember if you need to know anything about your Leo just let me know and ill get back to you asap. :no1:


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## firebellycon (Apr 7, 2010)

thankyou dont worry i will do its a big difference from keeping a cat or dog or tropical fish lol :2thumb:


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

echothegecko said:


> thankyou dont worry i will do its a big difference from keeping a cat or dog or tropical fish lol :2thumb:


Lol tell me about it, mind you my oscar chiclid fish is like 2 feet long and its like a small dog lol seriously i play fetch with it with a ping pong ball just like my labrador with a stick and it turns over on its back on the surface of the water when i put my hand in to tickle its belly... its vicious with anyone else though attacks the tank if someone else comes in the room... go figure...:lol2: 

Im sure all these animals that people dont say have personalities must do... :whistling2:


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Right- OP: The heat mat you have is too small. In that size viv I would use a 11 x 11 heatmat. I would get a good make like Habistat. This would be attached to a thermostat. This should give quite sufficient heat for a Leo. The mat would be placed inside a wooden viv. The substrate (tiles, slate, lino, paper) goes on top. The stat probe and thermometer probe should be placed on the floor above the heatmat.


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## loonymoony (Oct 22, 2009)

We have just got our first Leopard Gecko too and found getting the temps right the tricky bit. :blush:
We put a layer of foil (just the normal kitchen stuff!) then a thin layer of polystyrene (which you can buy on a roll for like £3 in B&Q) then put the mat on top of this, set in place, attach to the stat (using habistat for both mat and stat!) we placed ours inside the viv for max temp output (the foil will reflect the heat back up and the polystyrene will insulate and keep that heat from being lost!). :2thumb:
Next we added a thin layer of sand so we could bed in our tiles (this is also a great heat conductor), got terracotta and sandstone ones (max 1cm thick!), which looks great and hold the heat well, we filled in the cracks with sand and put the stat probe and thermometer probes in the gap between tiles to wedge then in place. Once all this was done (and we have a much cooler home too, old stone built cottage at the top of our very own Mount Everest in Yorkshire ha!)
We had no probs getting the temps up.: victory: 
I totally agree with Jools you need the 11x11 for that size viv or most of it will be just too cold and they just won't use it at all, so it's like giving them a viv of half the size, not good!Wish you lots of luck with your new guy, best wishes Lunar.


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

loonymoony said:


> We have just got our first Leopard Gecko too and found getting the temps right the tricky bit. :blush:
> We put a layer of foil (just the normal kitchen stuff!) then a thin layer of polystyrene (which you can buy on a roll for like £3 in B&Q) then put the mat on top of this, set in place, attach to the stat (using habistat for both mat and stat!) we placed ours inside the viv for max temp output (the foil will reflect the heat back up and the polystyrene will insulate and keep that heat from being lost!). :2thumb:
> Next we added a thin layer of sand so we could bed in our tiles (this is also a great heat conductor), got terracotta and sandstone ones (max 1cm thick!), which looks great and hold the heat well, we filled in the cracks with sand and put the stat probe and thermometer probes in the gap between tiles to wedge then in place. Once all this was done (and we have a much cooler home too, old stone built cottage at the top of our very own Mount Everest in Yorkshire ha!)
> We had no probs getting the temps up.: victory:
> I totally agree with Jools you need the 11x11 for that size viv or most of it will be just too cold and they just won't use it at all, so it's like giving them a viv of half the size, not good!Wish you lots of luck with your new guy, best wishes Lunar.


Right about the foil and polystyrene its a good insulator, tiles make for a good substrate but make sure the surface doesn't get too hot because tiles can, I wouldn't always recommend sand even between the tiles but its not as bad as the whole substrate being sand, though it depends on how old the Gecko is to determine whether sand is such a bad thing. : victory:


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## loonymoony (Oct 22, 2009)

As long as you use a stat to control temp and make sure this is accurate with a digital thermometer (pref with two probes!) the tiles will never get too hot, our leo loves just laying on them, a wonderful large flat surface radiating gentle heat (around 32c) she looks very happy and was eating as soon as she arrived!
Sand wise I am with you, no open sand areas, just gap filling, our leo is a year and a half old (if I had babies I would probably do the whole kitchen roll or lino thing till they were older just to be safe!) If you are using ceramic style tiles like sandstone or terracotta you've got to bed them in or they would be uneven and grate on the mat/viv, it's such a small amount of sand right in the grooves and under the tiles so she is not in full contact with it and def not ingesting it with her food (she is fed on the large flat clean tiles!), which is the possible problem with sand, so it works, as with many things a personal choice I suppose, but working so great I wanted to share.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Rich H said:


> Unusual... i had this problem too i had to change a lot to get it to work, i think its because English heat mats are such a low wattage compared to American versions... with the modern english heat mat its literally almost impossible to burn your reptile even without a mat stat... In other words the heat produced from these mats is simply too little.


I wouldn't call 140 degrees fahrenheit "too little" heat.


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

loonymoony said:


> As long as you use a stat to control temp and make sure this is accurate with a digital thermometer (pref with two probes!) the tiles will never get too hot, our leo loves just laying on them, a wonderful large flat surface radiating gentle heat (around 32c) she looks very happy and was eating as soon as she arrived!
> Sand wise I am with you, no open sand areas, just gap filling, our leo is a year and a half old (if I had babies I would probably do the whole kitchen roll or lino thing till they were older just to be safe!) If you are using ceramic style tiles like sandstone or terracotta you've got to bed them in or they would be uneven and grate on the mat/viv, it's such a small amount of sand right in the grooves and under the tiles so she is not in full contact with it and def not ingesting it with her food (she is fed on the large flat clean tiles!), which is the possible problem with sand, so it works, as with many things a personal choice I suppose, but working so great I wanted to share.


Sounds like its working well. : victory: 
At 1 1/2 years old it shouldn't have problems, this is mostly for the younger leos... and yes as long as temperature is regulated its uncommon for problems, i used to use marble tiles which the gecko seemed to like but was hard to scrub the you know what from it so i now prefer to use paper towels or other safe loose substrates :lol2:


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

Ssthisto said:


> I wouldn't call 140 degrees fahrenheit "too little" heat.


Ive never seen a heat mat reach that, depends what make you use i guess and if you keep the tank in a boiler room or just set up the mat wrong like using the heat mat for the actual substrate? :whistling2:

Im not promoting not using thermostats because i use them as everyone should, but i've never seen heat mats exceed 90f as they are so gentle on the heat output when used right (not using heat mats for substrate).


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## Rich H (Apr 7, 2010)

A thing to take into consideration is the watt output for the heat mat, you can get like 50 watt heat mats, and you can get 6 watt heat mats which don't get to crazy temperatures.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Rich H said:


> Ive never seen a heat mat reach that, depends what make you use i guess and if you keep the tank in a boiler room or just set up the mat wrong like using the heat mat for the actual substrate? :whistling2:
> 
> Im not promoting not using thermostats because i use them as everyone should, but i've never seen heat mats exceed 90f as they are so gentle on the heat output when used right (not using heat mats for substrate).


Reptile Forums - Ssthisto's Album: Think you don't need a thermostat?

This one didn't get to 140 degrees - but it did get to 109, uncontrolled, in just two hours. Note, that's a seven-watt heat mat in a standard house room.

I'm regretting not getting photos of the setup where I measured the 145-degree temperatures ON the mat, and 135 on the bottom of the faunarium that was sitting on top of the mat.


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