Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi!! I have been a lizard owner for about 10 years now, and have really had to learn a lot on my own through trial and error about lizards. I have had a water dragon (who lived to be almost ten) and currently have a 7 year old Beardie.

I see a lot of references to different heating methods - under tank, heat tape, heat pads, etc... but I use a product that I actually bought from my exotics vet. She actually uses the same product to heat her animals safely during long surgical procedures!!

It is called an SI thermal pad and is enclosed in thermoplastic. I am going to be getting a rescued iguana in a few days and went to the website for SI thermal pads (did a search under yahoo.com) and bought one there. They are not cheap - mine was 110.00 - but these items are INCREDIBLE. I have had the one in my Beardie's cage for about 4 years now and it is amazing. It turns itself on and off to regulate itself (you don't have to buy any regulators like with the Kane systems) and will NOT develop hotspots.

This product is SO worth the money and I recommend it to everyone. I think it also has a lifetime warranty!!!

Buy one for your babies. You won't be sorry and will never have to worry about burnt tummies or roasted animals - my Beardie loves his!!!!!

Love,
Melissa
sweetgirl_2121@yahoo.com

Lights in all our enclosures are always dim in comparison to nature.
In Nature all heat is trasnmitted by the sun. I think we should try to imitate this and heat all cages exclusively by the light sources. This means that we have to install lots of light and thus improve brightness. Any other heating equipment is a waste of wattage which is lost for light and in addition to that leads to a highly unnatural temperature gradient distribution in the enclosures.
The only exception may be tanks for streictly norcturnal animals.

Thats my 2 cts

Ingo

It sounds like what you are describing are actually radiant heat panels, which I do indeed like to use for snakes. However, for lizards I have to go with ingo, especially since I'm a big fan of live plants. Lights, lights, lights! I'd much rather take the 100 watts a heat panel would use and instead use a uvb bulb, or a couple lower wattage basking bulbs. No disrespect intended, just my preference.
Paul Kemes

Light bulbs all the way. I use a Powersun in Kane's cage plus a
120 watt halogen. I have three plants in there. I have plants in all my tanks.