Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey yesterday i bought a repti heating pad for my beardie do u reccomend these any suggestions on how to use it better than the instructions?
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Beardie lover

I think the instuctions pretty much cover the use of a heating pad. Just make sure its not your only source of heat. Under Tank heaters are really good if your house gets very cold at night. They Provide a warm spot for your dragon to sleep.
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1.0 Bearded Dragons
1.1 Fat tailed geckos

Unless your home gets below 65F at night, there is no need for additional heating in a bearded dragon's cage. The basking light should be able to provide all the heat they need. Also, unless the heating pad is hocked up to or includes a rheostat, they can cause burns on bearded dragons. Bearded dragons are not good at detecting high heat through their bellies and could be badly burned if lying on a heating pad that gets too hot. Their heat sensors are on the top of their head, not their belly.

My suggestion is to return to return the heating pad to the store, or use it for reptiles that require belly heat (ie snakes). Even if your home does get colder than 65F, there are other safer additional heat sources to use for nighttime, such as night time heating bulbs and ceramic heat emmiters.
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PHLdyPayne

i agree with lady PH.....those elements in heating pads are not made to the quality that they should be. sometimes they malfunction and get way to hot.

you know the old story of the frog in a beaker of water that is slowly heated to boiling....the frog cooks...but if you put the frog in boiling water it will jump out.

I've seen some nasty picture of fatal burns.

at night time, beardies are not as sensitive to heat as us humans are. just remember this....the australian desert can drop in the 50's at night time. and beardies have been living there for ever.
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

i havent had good experiences with heating pads. if you get some sandstone or slate to put in the cage, the heat lamp with heat it and that will be a more natural way for your beardie to keep warm and digest.