# Advice on heat mats placement



## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

From what i gathered its best to have 2 heat mats with tree frogs? If so wheres the best place to put them? I guessing 1 goes under the tank and the other either goes on the back or side? And whats the best way to stick it there? I have an exo terra 24"x18"24". I've also read somewhere that if you put a heat mat down on the bottom, you should only put 1cm of substate down, is this true?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

bash_on_recce said:


> From what i gathered its best to have 2 heat mats with tree frogs? If so wheres the best place to put them? I guessing 1 goes under the tank and the other either goes on the back or side? And whats the best way to stick it there? I have an exo terra 24"x18"24". I've also read somewhere that if you put a heat mat down on the bottom, you should only put 1cm of substate down, is this true?


 What treefrogs are we talking about? For a lot, one mat would be fine. There is a lot of debate about the underneath/side thing, I put mine underneath, but some people report cracked glass- usually 'cos the substrate is too deep. I haven't found it a problem in my golden treefrog tank, which probably has the deepest, maybe because I have a permanantly wet leca drainage section under the substrate- I'm guessing the water distributes the heat more evenly. I use shallower substrate in the tanks without a drainage section, but I do have to watch out that they don't dry out too much. if you want to put a mat on the side, ordinary black electrical tape works well, I'd recommend a sheet of polystyrene taped over that, to save losing heat into the room.


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

Its for Whites tree Frogs, just setting up my viv at the moment. Having trouble finding out how because there seems so much conflicting advice XD Im planning on having drainage level with the hydro balls, forgot to take that into account when i read that about the 1cm. My substate will be eco-earth if that makes any difference.


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## Bonjour (Aug 11, 2011)

Apparently you can put some poly underneath to distribute the weight and stop the glass from cracking


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Bonjour said:


> Apparently you can put some poly underneath to distribute the weight and stop the glass from cracking


 Maybe that's it- I always put poly under my tanks, with the mat sandwiched between.


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

Well i have set my tank up with a drainage layer of hydro balls and some eco earth on top, still dont understand heat mats enough to know what im doing with them. Im thinking (after advice on here and elsewhere) of putting one heat mat underneath and one on the side (i have a polystrene exo terra back ground on my exo terrra Viv so dont think i could put a heat mat on the back, thoughts?) One underneath should help with humidity while the one on the side should provide the WTF's with some more heat. Both will be linked up to thermostats (set at 26 ok in the day with a 2-3 drop at night?) Am i missing something, Is there any way to set it to drop at night automatically or do i have to do it by hand every night? Also what does the wattage mean on heat mats, what do i need to look out for?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

My suggestion would be to set it up without the mats first, and see what temps you get just from the lighting first off.

I only JUST put a heat mat back on mine, and it was running at 29 degrees Celsius at the top of the viv for most of the summer. I have their heat matt on the side, this actually helps to create a heat gradient across the width of their viv, which allow them to control their temperatures better by moving up, down or left, right, moving to a cooler or warmer area of their viv.

I HAVE used the 2 mat method in the past, with 1 on the bottom. However I found that if keeping the humidity at around the 50-60% mark is a problem it's more effective to just cover part of the screen tops with a piece of twinwall polycarbonate.

I was tipped off by Manda on here, and used a Lucky Reptile heat mat this time. They are self adhesive, so stick on really easily, and have a good wattage to size ratio. I just buy them of a size to fit on the viv I want them for. I am using a Lucky Reptile Thermo Control II Pro on their viv now, set to 30 degrees Celsius daytime, 26 degrees Celsius night time, with the probe right on the glass at the top of the heat mat side, so it's sensing the temps right by the heat mat, again helping to create a good gradient across the vivarium. I used to use a Habistat mat stat, good solid stats but the probe and probe cable are HUGE on them. lol

Ade


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

I have a T-rex themostat that came free with the Vivarium i got, thats probably the thing im missing, you cant set two different tempertures with it! Will have to save up for a lucky reptile one, will just try with heat mat on side.


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

For Whites, it seems to be a recommended gradient of between 26c and 29c but im a little unsure where you measure the temp from in your viv. Should the whole area in there be no less then 26c then? Or is that the hottest point, probably near the lights or heat mat on the side?


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