Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have read that UTH can cause thermal burns. I have read that the heat building up under a tank can cause a fire. I have read you can't use UTH on plastic, you can't put them directly on water, you can't put them directly in sun light. Personally, I've found all of these to be very wrong.

It is my personal opinion that companies are woefully overestimating the amount of heat these things generate. I've used a 5-10 gallon heater on a 5-10 gallon tank. Put it on the side, the bottom, whatever. I saw NO significant heat increase. I am currently using a THIRTY to FIFTY gallon tank heater on my FIVE GALLON tank!!! And the temperature is PERFECT. Maintains just below 80 at night and just above 80 during the day. And my thermometer is ON the glass surface that the heat pad is on, so the ambient temperature is likely much less. WHAT IS GOING ON!?

It is ludicrous that I need to purchase a heat pad that is a full 6-10 TIMES larger than the recommended one. Am I doing something really wrong? I don't want to hurt my animals but I've found that I need about five of those little 5 gallon heaters to actually heat a 5 gallon glass aquarium with substrate and water. For crying out loud, I live in California. It doesn't even snow here.

Well ive used Under Tank Heaters for the past 6 years on my animals (omit chameleons) and I would recomend them for anyone keeping amphibians. What brand are you useing? also is your tank enclosed? Some brands out there are complete garbage and short circut after use. Also you might wanna consider closeing up your tank to help keep the heat in and not lose it to the rest of your house, with some ventilation of course. Also make sure your substrate is not too thick for the heat to be able to penetrate. The brand I use and recomend is Zoo-Med, and ive had them last for at least 4 years now (under constant use). The problem you might run into with haveing your whole tank under one solid strip is a temperature gradient. Animals need a temperature gradient to regulate their temperature to what is comfterable for them. Also consider that when the animal is cold he will migrate over to the side with the heat pad, so the ambient temperature does not need to be a constant everywhere. One thing you will want to watch is your substrate not drying out, as the heat pads help evaporate water and raise humidity.
What are you keeping btw, as with some animals ive had more sucess with useing light bulbs (phylomedusa being one).Hope this helps.

I am keeping a Pacman frog. I thought about the temp gradient, and I figure that towards the front of the tank it is colder than the back side, where the heat pad is. I don't keep it under because I have so much substrate that no heat what so ever got through, and it just over heated the pad because heat built up. I think lights would dry him out right? If the glass tempterature wehre the heater is is almost 90, will this be too hot (considering it's probably colder away from the pad?) My pacman just digs into the substrate, I figure that frogs in the wild dig to avoid heat. Does this make sense? Thanks!

any heat will encourage evaporation and dry out the bedding, not just lights. you just have to mist enough to keep it moist enough (i use wet paper towels or shallow water alone and dont have to spray at all).

what do you do when it needs to get out of the water? =

they dont, they dont need to when it is low like in wet paper towels. i have never had one die from anything on wet paper towels, including redleg or bloat or anything that too much water could cause.

I am impressed, you must do daily water changes in order to fight against all the bacterial and poor water conditions that arise from that method of keeping a pac-man frog. I dont think that is a good idea to recomend to people on a forum who are just getting into the hobby, and over time will probably not do as frequent water changes. Back to the heating idea though, frogs dont always dig to avoid heat, he is probably just getting settled into his new environment and as far as I remember Pac-mans love to dig (probably for predatorial advantage in the wild). I would recomend useing an actual substrate so that when he does poop, you can scoop it out and not have it be dispersed thoughout a layer of water. I do prefer to keep the heat pad on the bottom of the tank (more evaporation means a very humid environment given its an 80% sealed enclosure). But have had no problems keeping it attached to the side. For more heat you might just try to eliminate some of the substrate and sub in some clean spagnum moss, this should help let the heat come up through the substrate.

what exactly is your problem with paper towels? it wasnt clear to me. in my opinion and experience it is the cleanest substrate since it is so easy to see when the frog has soiled it. i dont do daily water changes at all, depending on the individual pacman frog and its food intake it averages twice a week. it should be done whenever they have pooped or there is any discoloration to the water or paper towels. this ends up being about twice a week and is very quick. it is much cleaner than "actual substrates" and they can still burrow into it. as i have said before i have never lost a sinlge pacman that was on wet paper towels. thats about 12-18 frogs that have thrived on it, and 0 having any problems.

I have no problems with paper towel, its when you stated that you use shallow water as a substrate, this must turn into a swampy mess, and if it doesnt get cleaned regularly then you will run into problems. Now maybe you personaly dont run into problems but to give that as advice isnt such a great idea.

okay, i wasnt specific enough. i only use water only when they stop using the paper towels to burrow in, usually around 3-4". water only is only usable with pacmans over 2" snout to vent length. below that and they soak it up too fast and it can actually kill them. when it is used it needs to be about as deep as their mouth and needs to be cleaned at the slightest discoloration and definitely when it is pooped in. with the feeding i do they dont poop as often, but when they do it is bigger. it ends up being about twice a week and is very quick and easy. this has been the best method for me and works repeatedly. i have read about wet paper towels and even water only in books, so im not the only or the original user of this successful method.

This is a joke isn't it? If it is not a joke, then sooner or later you will probably burn one or more of your herps, burn something else. Yes heat pads can and do overheat. They can cause burns on snakes. They can melt plastic, they can even burn wood if they get hot enough. I have seen it all happen. It is less than prudent to disbelieve those who have experience with such and then put your own animals at risk.

are you going by the air temperature in the enclosure? have you tried measuring the temp directly on the ground where the pad is?

in my experience these things get WAY too hot for anything but certain desert lizards. I use a zoo-med pad for my rainbow boa, with a rheostat, and even on the lowest setting I can't get temps any lower than 90f. The pad was purchased to warm the substrate slightly, but because it produced too much heat I had to use it as the main basking area. Without the rheostat it reached a surface temp. of 130f!!! UTH's do not seem to warm the air in the enclosure at all as claimed on the packaging. I would never buy another one and I don't understand why they are so often recommended, unless mine is just disfunctional! Bulbs are much better for warming the air.