# Who can guess the final temperature of an unreguulated Habistat heat mat



## catch and release (Jun 1, 2011)

Had a spare 17X11 Habistat heat mat lying around and tried a little experiment i had not done before. Pluged the heat mat in,turned on, attached a digital thermometer to the mat with insulation tape and covered with two sheets of newspaper, then left untill the maximum temperature was reached. Can you guess what it was?. Will post the answer up at 6.00 pm.

Kindest regards

catch and release


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## CPT BJ (Oct 30, 2010)

105c?


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## I am a scarecrow (Nov 18, 2009)

146 f?


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## catch and release (Jun 1, 2011)

*tHE ANSWER IS*

The answer is *116.6F.* It makes you wonder why no one makes a mat that is incapable of going over 95F, that would be some sort of safeguard if your stat failed on.

Regards

Catch and release


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## darkdan99 (Dec 28, 2006)

SO that 46 Celsius then. A mere 7 degrees above body temperature. Nowhere near the maximum temperature of a road, or rock, in the sun. 

In fact I shower at over 50 (i have a LED shower head that changes colour with temp, so that is how I know.) 

If any reptile was on that heat mat, it wouldn't cause damage, burns or anything other than a happy warm rep, that will move away when it has thermoregulated. 

(not that I am advocating unregulated heat sources)


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## SKD (Apr 5, 2011)

darkdan99 said:


> SO that 46 Celsius then. A mere 7 degrees above body temperature. Nowhere near the maximum temperature of a road, or rock, in the sun.
> 
> In fact I shower at over 50 (i have a LED shower head that changes colour with temp, so that is how I know.)
> 
> ...


It would more than likley kill a crested gecko. anything above 28C can stress them badly


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## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

darkdan99 said:


> SO that 46 Celsius then. A mere 7 degrees above body temperature. Nowhere near the maximum temperature of a road, or rock, in the sun.
> 
> In fact I shower at over 50 (i have a LED shower head that changes colour with temp, so that is how I know.)
> 
> ...


I don't see how the temp you have your showers at or human body temp is relevant to what is safe for a reptile... 

46C is hot enough to start causing neuro damage in many species and what you appear to be forgetting is thermal blocking. This mat sounds as if it has had nothing sat on it (apologies to catch and release if I've got this wrong).
Now if we stick a nice heavy bodies royal python on that mat, how hot do you think it will get?
Remember that royals appear to be less aware of heat below them than above them its easy to see how burns occur. 

We had an almost disaster a week back when one of the cats managed to get behind one of my racks and pull the stat probe off the heat cable. Luckily, I spotted that most of the snakes were at the front of the tubs and checked the temps. 
47C!... I nearly had a bloody heart attack! Anyway, problem solved and I've now practically welded the probe down. 

It's no secret that unstated heat sources can get bloody hot, it amazes me how many people who should know better still actively choose not to use them. 

Now when I got my first couple of reps, I didn't have stats. I didn't have internet access, had never heard of a reptile forum and the only book I owned on herps suggested that stats were this new-fangled piece of equipment that was a little gimmicky and only really needed for anything really delicate. 
of course I hate myself for this now and am very lucky that I didn't have many problems or any deaths because of it. 
I did have snakes that went off their food now and again for apparently no reason so the unregulated temps definitely had repercussions. 

Thanks to Catch and Release for performing this little experiment for everyone. 


Kat


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