Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend made a cage, and he heard that using normal heat pads that people use are a good idea to warm up the cage, but it doesn't seem to be getting warm enough. He has a probe thermometer, and lays it on the ground to measure temps, and so far it only gets to be 77. Our concern is that this is a little low, and in winter it will drop even more. Is there something better we can use? He's thinking of getting an electric blanket and wrapping that around the cage. Any suggestions?
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~Shana~

I use heat tape under the tubs in my racks in conjunction with a Johnson Controls thermostat. There are lots of different options for heating. Heat tape, heat cord, heat emitters, light bulbs, reptile heat pads etc. I have only used heat tape with a thermostat and find that it works well. I would only use under tank/tub heating devices and not anything that can come in direct contact with the snake. Many snakes (and other reptiles) can be severely burned if they come in contact with the heating device. You can use a dimmer switch to control heat devices instead of a thermostat but it is not as accurate at keeping a stable temp. I'm not sure what the reptile heat pads use to control the temp. They may just have a max temp that runs constantly. Heat tape can get too hot if not controlled by thermostat or dimmer. What is the cage made of?
Look here for various heating supplies.

It's made out of plexiglass, and it can't have a lightbulb anything because it's a slanted top. We'll look into heat tape. Thanks!
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~Shana~

your local pet shop should have some fairly inexpensive heating lamps. They will also probably carry the undertank heating pads made to heat reptile tanks. i have found that this heats up the ground a little much (105 F). If you just get a heat lamp (with one of those red bulbs so it wont desturb them at night) they should be fine.

also, you should keep an eye on the humidity. balls can get dehydrated if you let the humidity drop too much. should be around 60-70%