- back when there was no such thing as a reptile heat pad or reptile heat tape! I always heard cautions about fires or overheating, but was always careful to make sure that it only covered about 1/4 of the bottom of the cage, and that there was a small airspace between the pad and the cage bottom.



I never saw one (at least back then - haven't bought any in recent years) that had an auto timer. But we also used heat tapes meant for hot water heaters, and they had thermostats built in that only allowed them to turn on just above freezing. So Bill cut that out and wired the tapes to a ceiling fan switch, which worked great. There is probably a way to bypass the timer in a similar way, and then to just put it on a regular timer, so that it goes off for a while every day, but is on most of the time. BTW, most of my 15 year old pads and tapes still work today!



But I have no electrical training, and it could pose some kind of electrical / fire hazard to do what we did. So you should consult with an electrician or somebody who knows about such things. Just because I did it for many years without a problem doesn't mean I encourage anyone else to do it without checking out potential risks for themselves.



Good luck!

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