# I need a little assistance with finding the right heat mat.



## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

Recently I purchased an Exo terra Rainforest heat mat, this was a huge mistake on my par as it was only compatible with glass Terrariums and they gave me a European plug which isn't good too. Worst of all I have seen some pretty bad stories on this forum of Exo terra's heat mats and without a built-in thermostat I wasn't happy at all.

I'm a newbie when it comes to exotic pets of this calibre and I want to make sure I'm making the right decisions when it comes to housing my new 'pet'. So hopefully Exo Terra will give me my money back since I'm young and I'm on a limited budget.

What I need is a relatively calm thermostat and by that I mean that it only gives off a small amount of heat since I'm going to be keep Giant African Millipedes (Archispirostreptus gigas). These guys (from what I know) only need to be kept from 20oc to 30oc at maximum and my room temperature is already 20oc so essentially I need a heat mat that just keeps the temperature at around 24oc just to make sure their are no sudden drops in temperature (We all know what the wonderful British is capable of). For this reason and for general peace of mind that my house isn't going to turn into a fireball I need one that runs on a thermostat that can be adjusted easily. It also needs to be pretty small as my Terrarium is a "Regular Large Exo Terra Faunarium" (just search that on Amazon and it will come up straight away) and I want nice cool spots so my animal can find a place that it is comfortable in. And of course because my Terrarium is plastic I need one that won't melt it and one that comes with a British plug (cheers Exo Terra for that gem).

Anything that covers the requirements above and is a good brand that won't result in my house being engulfed in flames and is relatively cheap is a win in my mind.

Thanks for your help.


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## Tommy Coopers Ghost (Sep 14, 2014)

Hi 

The Habistat Mat Stat is one of the Cheapest £20-£25...

Probably best Known brand, and covers 18 to 34 Celsius...

The Mats i use are also Habistat... but thats more thats what my local shop sells rather than any technical Choice... seem fine to me...

I would Expect any mat to meet CE Standards if sold in this country, so should be ok.


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## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

I've found it but is that to combine with my heat mat or does it have a heat mat attached to it?


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## Tommy Coopers Ghost (Sep 14, 2014)

MurderousMincePie said:


> I've found it but is that to combine with my heat mat or does it have a heat mat attached to it?


You need to attach a mat to it, but they are relatively cheap... set up instructions will come with the mat and stat...

And Remember mat goes Under your plastic box...

also get a digital thermometer Which will allow you to fine tune the stat temperature...

If you want to do it cheaper, keep your eye on classifieds here, and also your local gumtree and Freecycle... i picked up a 50 quid Dimming stat for a ten Spot Two weeks ago :2thumb:


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## Tommy Coopers Ghost (Sep 14, 2014)

As For size of mat you need for your size faunarium for milipedes, Percentage cover, temp Gradients, etc, if you post on Invert section, Someone who Knows their Requirements will be along shortly.


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## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

Wow your right I found some excellent deals on Gumtree :2thumb:


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## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

Well I have a thermostat now (habistat "living earth"). I have it set to a maximum of 24 degrees Celsius however the heat mat is struggling to raise the temperature of my terrarium. I've left it on for two days and the thing has barely risen the temperature at all (it has risen by around 0.8 degrees Celsius). Have I set the thermostat up wrong or is it just the heat mat playing up I'm honestly confused. Currently my terrarium is 20.1 degrees Celsius I'd be happy at about 22.


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## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

Okay so Exo Terra were really good about my heat mat, I said that the mat simply wasn't cutting it in my set-up and that it wasn't get enough heat in my terrarium so they returned it without any problems and I was refunded fully  .

So then I still need to get a heat mat I currently have around 9cm's thick of coco fibre soil. Do habistat heat mats get very hot and will it be able to heat my terrarium sufficiently regardless of the thickness of the soil?


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## Beardy Boy97 (Dec 13, 2011)

Hi, for a millipede you generally want to put the heat mat on the side of the tank. They will need a deep substrate so that they can bury down and moult, so the amount of substrate means that the heat mat wouldn't heat the tank properly from the bottom. Hope this helps if you need any more help just ask


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## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

Huh, that is an interesting suggestion. There's a lot of conflicting information out their it's very confusing. Some say to not put it on the bottom because they'll burn their legs and some say that mounting it on the side also burns them. I'm not quite sure what to believe but I'm starting to think that side mounting would proberly be a better idea. Wouldn't the heat struggle to reach the opposing end of the tank since it all rises upward? I was always taught it needs to be on the bottom covering half-ish of the tank so that the pede can find it's 'sweet spot'.


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## Beardy Boy97 (Dec 13, 2011)

It's should all be fine, because then the milli can choose if it wants to be near the heat or not. Most of mine don't have any heat at all and are fine, but I do have spare mats I case it gets very cold


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## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

Sounds good to me, I'll defiantly give it a go. But just to finish off the question are there any specific-ish heat mats you can recommend. Are there any that I should avoid, I just need to know if there are any that are widely respected in the invert and reptile world. (I'm aware one of the other posters mentioned habistat which would go well with my thermostat but a second opinion is always good). Thanks


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## Beardy Boy97 (Dec 13, 2011)

I have habistat and microclimate heat mats and I have never had a problem with any of them. I think I might have exo terra ones as well but I wouldn't know exactly without pulling all my tanks out. The only heat mats I tend to avoid is the ones that have one side that is sticky, mainly just because they are a pain to remove once stuck down


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## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

Sorry I keep asking so many questions but would it be suitable to use a habistat 5 x 4 inch heatmat or would it struggle to sufficiently heat my terrarium considering the thickness of the soil millipede require.


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## Beardy Boy97 (Dec 13, 2011)

MurderousMincePie said:


> Sorry I keep asking so many questions but would it be suitable to use a habistat 5 x 4 inch heatmat or would it struggle to sufficiently heat my terrarium considering the thickness of the soil millipede require.


As I say put it on the side then it will heat the tank fine. Don't worry ask as many questions as you like


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## MurderousMincePie (Oct 8, 2014)

Well I finnally got my heatmat delivered to my door and I've got to say I'm pretty damn happy with it. It's a tiny little 4 watt heat mat from Habistat it cost me a fraction of the previous and within about 4 minutes of it being plugged in it was pumping out much larger amounts of heat than the previous heat mat. 

It's created a really nice patch of warmth near it's food bowl which is great since it gives it a nice little area for it to be able to digest it's food properly. It's also healping a lot with the humidty of the terraium I've seen a big rise in humidity since I've started using it which is great for a millipede.

So, yeah if anyone reads this thread in the mystical future on their iPad 3078 and Habistat still exists go for it, even their smaller heat mats pump out plenty of heat. Other than that thanks for the help guys 

Edit: Oh and also if your in the market for a Habistat heat mat and want to save some money eBay currently has them at the cheapest prices, you could have a go with gumtree or other such websites but eBay is defiantly one to check out if your like me and only have 'normal' pet shops near by.


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