Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just purchased a piece of grapewood vine from a pet store online and I'd like to know if it's safe to put in there or if I need to do anything to it, like soak or or bake it beforehand like I did when I kept fish.

Thanks,
John

My under-tank heating pad doesn't really seem to be effective. It's an Exo Terra Heat Wave Desert 16 watt heat pad, I've placed it under one side of my 30g terrarium (converted aquarium), it's been on for about 3 hours now and the ground temperature is barely 75F, only about 3F warmer than the unheated side. Is there something wrong with my heater or does it just take a while to heat up?

When I touch it from the bottom it is somewhat warm, but far from the burn hazard I've heard about them being.

Give the heating pad about a day to heat up fully. They tend to take a long time to warm up, and since your tank is an aquarium it will take a bit longer than normal (because it has thicker glass than an terrarium). As for the wood, I would think as long as it is not used it should be fine to put directly in the tank, since you don't have to worry about it leaching tannins into a dry environment or anything. Of course, if you do want to sterilize it by baking it for a few hours, that wouldn't hurt either.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0 Banded California King
1.0 Mexican Black King
1.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.1 San Ignacio Rosy Boa
0.1 Ortiz Rosy Boa
2.3 Kenyan Sand Boas
0.1 Saharan Sand Boa
1.2 Rubber Boas
0.1 Pickering's Gartersnake

Thanks.

I'm getting temps of about 82F on the warm side when I push the probe into the repti-bark a little (not buried, flat on the substrate) and 88F when I test the temp in the warm-side hide. I think that's adequate for the corn snake I'm getting in a few days.