I may just be a little paranoid but undertank heaters frighten me as far as safety concerns. Its that they get so warm and are left on at all times. The heaters I have came with the adhesive tank lifters that go on the bottom of the tank to let the cord slide through, but they don't seem to work very well and the shelve the tank sits on gets extremely warm underneath. Has anyone ever had any problems.
Justin
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Undertank heaters
justinmatthew
Jun 30, 2003 11:37 PM
Replies (2)
wkdrake
Jul 01, 2003 03:19 AM
No problems here. I always attach mine to the outside of the bottom of the tank, and then put a good couple of inches of substrate in the tank. The pad only occupies one end of the tank, right under a hollow log that Monty likes to curl up under. There is another hiding place on the opposite end of the tank, where he can still be someplace dark and sheltered, but without the heat under him. In the middle of his tank is his pool, where he can cool off even more in the water. An incandescent light is on top of the tank, to provide heat and light, and kept on a 12 hour on-off schedule with a timer. He's had this setup for several years now with no problems, and he's a fat and happy growing python! 
Wendy
serpentcity
Jul 01, 2003 11:00 PM
...in practice I've seen the burns more times than I could count. The bottom line is to not GUESS what the temps are and to use a rheostat(dimmer) or thermostat. Undertank heaters are the way to go but NOT w/o the proper precautions!!
Scott J. Michaels DVM
