Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard that heating rocks are dangerous, but I haven't heard why. I have two ohf these for my custom melamine cage that I just built. I was about to cut holes in the back for the plugs when I read on another site that someone thought they were dangerous. Does anyone know why? If I don't use a heat rock then what should I use. The bottom is made of 5/8" particle board and sides are melamine. Any advice ya'll have would be greatly appreciated.

What species is this for? How big is the new enclosure? How warm will it be in the room holding the cage?

Hard to say what is the ideal way to heat the cage is if we don't have that info.

But hot rocks really are not all that useful. They are dangerous for most species if not controlled with a rheostat, and even then they are not very good.

Heat rocks CAN be dangerous. They have been known to badly burn some reptiles. They have been used by many without problem for certain types of herps, but it is my understanding that there is always the possibility of harm due to the fact that some heat rocks can develop dangerous "hot spots" .......It would really be best to come up with some other heat source, depending on the animal you are housing. Good luck. Duffy

I am keeping pituophis catenifer affinis(Sonoran gopher). The cage dimensions are 32" by 16" by 18". The room that they will be kept in is usually between 74 and 78 degrees. They also have a light fixture on the warm side with no bulb yet, so any suggestions on bulb size/type would be helpful. Also, any suggestions on an alternative heat source would be appreciated. Thaks again Chris and Duffy.

If there's an incandescent light fixture you should have no trouble heating the cage. You may have a problem if you have excessive ventilation on or near the top of the cage.

I suppose start with a 75 watt bulb and see if it gets warm enough. If you end up using too large of a bulb you can always attach a dimmer to adjust for daily flucuations in ambient temp. A dimmer is a good idea anways.

A couple of companies make wire guards to cover light bulbs in case you're worried about your snake getting burned if it comes in contact with the light. If you want one of those you'll need to post a separate thread with "bulb guard" in the title. Someone will see it and know who makes them.

One other idea is one that I've been mentioning a lot recently, although I've not tried it myself.

I believe you said the floor of your cage was MDF or particle board? If so, the floor will need to be sealed.

The suggestion I've been making to people is to cut a square out of the floor slightly larger than an Ultratherm Under Tank heater.

Then cover the entire floor with a piece of expanded PVC, a popular material for cage contruction. Expanded PVC will make for a durable and easy to clean floor, and one that will conduct heat nicely due to the closed cell nature of the expanded interior.

The under tank heater will then fit underneath the cage in this cutout area.

But if your floor is already sealed I'm sure you can save money and heat the cage sufficiently with a light bulb.