# Is a 7 watt heat mat enough for a leopard gecko?



## chz.reptile (Mar 12, 2009)

Is a 7 watt heat matt will reach the temperatures that leopard geckos need for a heat spot? if not what is the minimum wattage for a heat matt that is suitable for leopard geckos? thanks for looking.


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## ToxicSiren (Aug 8, 2008)

It goes on the size of the heat mat not the wattage in most cases. As long as your heat mat is 1 third of the viv size it should be ok. Make sure its also conected to a thermostat. x


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## chz.reptile (Mar 12, 2009)

:2thumb:thanks for that


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## ToxicSiren (Aug 8, 2008)

Welcome hun. x


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## amazing_gecko (Sep 3, 2009)

I'm having real issues using a 7 watt heat mat. in a glass viv. It just won't give off the temps my leopard gecko needs. I've tried a larger 12 watt heat mat but no change so I guess the extra wattage is simply to heat the extra element. I'm at my wits end with this. It hovers around the 80 F mark which is no good and has put him off his food. I've tried a smaller RUB thinking that would raise the temps but it hasn't! That's with the heat mat directly inside the RUB and no substrate. It's just warm to the touch. I do intend to get a wooden viv cos I've heard they're the better option.

Please, please, please can someone guide me on how to get the right temps.


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

It may be that the heatmat is not a very good one. Some makes are extremely shall we say "variable".
To help things you need to put the mat underneath a glass or plastic viv. Attach the mat to a thermostat and put the probe inside the viv, directly on the floor above the heatmat. This is where the thermometer goes as well - on the floor. The floor is where a Leo will absorb the heat from. Heatmats will hardly raise the air temperature at all. Instead they heat any solid object that the infra red rays hit. In this case it will be the floor of the viv and the table top underneath. Glass vivs do not hold the heat very well and you may find it helps a lot to put an insulating layer underneath the viv (remember to make a small air gap so that the mat has a few mm for air circulation otherwise it may crack the tank) and around the back and 2 sides. Hope this helps.


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## amazing_gecko (Sep 3, 2009)

What you mentioned is what I have been doing until I started my "unorthodox" methods mentioned above. Thanks for your thoughts though. Good point re. the variability of various brands of heat mats. What brand do you use? :hmm:


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Ultratherm or Pro rep, used to like habistat but don't seem to be able to get them now.


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## amazing_gecko (Sep 3, 2009)

I'm using pro rep but have a spare habistat so may give that a go, thanks jools :2thumb: 

As an aside, do you have yours on 24/7?


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## Heeb (Jul 31, 2010)

with my old glass viv I used to have a tile of polystyrene about an inch thick with the heat mat on top then place the viv on. This will stop heat loss on the underside of the heatmat.


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