Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do glass tanks lose heat easier than those plastic cages(with the sliding glass doors). I guess like a vision cage.

I can't seem to get the ambient temp in my glass 10 gallon up for the life of me. It stays at room temp when the side with the heating pad is 12-15 degrees hotter. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Yes they lose heat much faster but you can get around that by using sheets of styrofoam on the back and one or both sides of the tank or some type insulation .
Just attach black poster board paper,etc to the glass and you wont see the styrofoam,insulation .
I dont know how much it will help you raise the air temp with UTH as I use screen covers since prefer overhead heat but with the insulation I was able to use less watts and still get higher temps . Which was amazing.

Can you please tell me what kind of foam to use and where to get it? Thanks.

I got the styrofoam sheets from frozen mice that I ordered they are used to maintan the cold so they stay frozen during shipping . Someone here gave me the idea and just used that works fantastic.
You could try asking in feeder forum or shipping forum to see where they are purchased.
I imagine if you have a reptile club in your area someone could just give them to you infact maybe even local pet store as they are used in most frozen shipments .
Its just regular styrofoam sheets but a bit denser than the white styrofoam (which will work well also ). Its one of those things that many get that buy frozen mice and throw away so there has to be someone who is about to get frozen mice,etc who will give them to you.
Even shipping on it cant be more than couple dollars

Home Depot, Lowes, etc sell 2'x4' styrene foam insulation. The 1/2" thick stuff you can cut with shears. The thicker stuff you can score and break. For nice smooth edges, get some clear packing tape and cover the cut edges with it.

Actually I'm housing my baby suriname boa in a 20H tank right now, (glass) and I'm having no problems regulating temps. The humidity and temperaturers are perfect all day round. I just use a thermostat to watch the temps for me

If you live in Florida for example, you may never have issues.

If you live in So Cal, in Winter the humidity drops quite a bit, making it difficult to maintain warm air in the cage and humidity without some insulation around the glass. Boas of course do best with reasonable air temps and reasonable humidity.

Keepers of reptiles from warm, humid environs can use glass tanks but must be ready to modify the tanks as needed in response to the ambient conditions of their facility.

Do you have to have installation around all 4 sides of the tank? Will 3 suffice?

I just have it on 2 sides and even that makes a diffeence-The back and one of the tank sides.