Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey boa fans,
I've gotten so many mixed reviews on heat rocks. I have tons of heat rocks sitting around that would save our rescue a lot of money on the dark light bulbs that we use for heat at night (bright lights are set on timers only for the day hours). But I'm afraid to use the heat rocks with all the stories going around about heat rocks burning so many different types of reptiles. One thing I do know is that my rescue has seen the results of heatrocks used with the wrong reptiles...heat/burn damage on the reptiles.

As far as red tail boas are concerned, I'm wondering what kind of experience you all have had with heat rocks. Are heat rocks safe for red tail boas or might they lead to boa burns?

Thanks for your imput!
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

Heat rocks are very dangerous. As snakes do not have the ability to sence the burning sensation untill it is to late. A snake may be on a heat rock getting roasted, and not realise it is hurting him untill he has 3rd degree burns. heat rocks are great for lizards, but i would NEVER use them for snakes.

Thanks for the imput. I've heard the inverse is true though, that heat rocks are bad for lizards and okay for snakes (I've heard about every side of the debate, I'm just trying to figure out if there's ANY reptile out there I can trust a heat for with.

Are there any snakes heat rocks are good for? I've heard they're bad for bigger snakes because they may not realize soon enough they're getting burned. But what about smaller snakes?

Not to change the subject, but since it was brought up, what lizards would you reccomend heat rocks for? Everything I've ready about beardies says they only sense heat on their backs and heat rocks will scorch their bellies before they even know what's going on.

Every time I get on a heat rock discussion I hear more about how dangerous they are. Which makes me wonder why they're sold in such high numbers.
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

Honestly I would not recomend heat rocks AS heat rocks for ANY animal. However they make great decorations. I simlply cut the cords off of my old ones and put the rocs in as decor. In the past I have used them for both chinese water dragons and bearded dragons though. The thing is, using heat tape, or even a heating pad UNDER the substrate works so much better, and is so much less dangerous i've turned to only using them.

also the thing you need to keep in mind is a reptiles urine is very acidic(spelling?) and through time will break the seals down in the heat rock so water can get through to the electrical parts and cause it to short out. Ive heard of heat rocks shorting wihtin a week of being taken out of the package and others lasting a long time. The way they are mass produced I really doubt they test/check the seals on every one prior to boxing it and sending it out the door. I do the same as the other guys was saying cut the cord and make them a decoration IMO they are worth nothing more then that.
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Jason & Danica
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There are a few reptiles that heat rocks could be used with. But NOT red tails! I personally wouldn't recomend anyone ever use one for any reptile.

I would use flexwatt on proportional thermostats, or heat penels on good thermostats for your concern of energy costs, the flexwatt uses much less power than lights and is better.

I haven't heard of flexwatt...is it a heat tape or pad?

I'd like to give my reptiles a non-light heat so i can stop buying dark light bulbs for the night hours. Right now I have a couple on under-the-tank pads and a couple with dark bulbs for nights.

And I've been leaning toward the position of never using heat rocks for any reptile because of the risk that they pose. But what do I do with the dozen or so heat rocks that have been donated to my rescue (which I have yet to use even once)? I'm thinking about cutting off the cords and using them as display rocks. I don't think I could sell them in good conscience because so many reptile owners misuse them and their reptiles end up paying for it.
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

I have a heat rock i put inside of a plastic tupperware container. made a hole near the lid for the cord to come out, and sealed it shut around the cord with electrical tape, and put it in the tank lid-down. This even makes it so if for whatever reason you need to clean it out, you can fairly easily. I dont know how well this would work with snakes since they can probably squeeze the container broken, but i put the tupperware heat rock in with my water dragon.
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

I like the idea of enclosing heat rocks in tupperware or some type of container. This could turn them into heat emitting devices with "safe guards" in place to keep the reptiles from getting burned by direct contact to the heat rock.

I may try this since we have about a dozen of these stupid heat rocks that have been donated to the rescue with other reptile supplies, and I've had no idea what to do with them because I don't want to burn the reptiles. Thanks for the idea.
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

i wouldnt try with snakes unless you have some really slid containers, since they can wrap around it pretty tight. It seems to work great with lizards, i first tried it since i had gotten a HUGE heat rock that it just seemed such a shame to waste. probably set someone back almost 50 bucks.
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

Jesse,

I would NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER use a heat rock for heating snakes. The only use I've gotten from them was when I buried them in sand for some Russian tortoises. All the rest I get into rescue I either discard, or cut off the cords to use as lid weights or decorations.

Use the large heat tape, reptile heating pads, or infrared heat emitters/panels. The heat tape is expensive to start with, but will save you $$ in the long run in electricity costs. Same with heat panels. Heat emitters, however, use whatever wattage they are, constantly, so it's like having a bulb that same wattage on, just doesn't give off light.

As for feeling badly that you're discarding something that someone paid for - isn't that what people do who bring their reptiles to you - discarding them?? People discard expensive stuff all the time, doesn't mean it was worth the money. Just because someone was dumb enough to buy it doesn't mean you have to use it. As a rescue, it's your job to not only provide the best care you can, within your means, but also to be a good role model for people who come to see your setups.
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Bonnie Keller
VA Reptile Rescue
www.vareptilerescue.org

Good advice on heat rocks Bonnie.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't used one yet, and wasn't going to start just to save on my power bill. It's just that with a couple of them piled in the shed I didn't have to worry about them...now that it's more like a dozen of them I want to figure out what to do with these "reptile burners" as someone else recently called them.

I ran a couple polls in other forums on whether people would consider using them for snakes, for some reptiles but not snakes, or NEVER not at all not for any reptile. And I've had like 15 NEVERS so far and one MAYBE for some reptiles but not snakes.

And you bring up a good point that junk is junk regardless of how much someone paid for it. Maybe I'll just leave one plugged in by my bed at nights. That way if an intruder ever gets into the house, I can swing the freakin thing by the cord and knock him out with it, and give him a burn mark at the same time. There, I've invented a good use for all these useless heat rocks.
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org