Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it better to have a heat pad on the side or bottom of a glass tank?? If it was on the bottom, wouldn't the frog be able to burrow down and burn itself on the glass? But if it was on the side, how could the heating pad warm up the substrate?

I've never used a heating pad on the side of an aquarium and question its value. It's more for heating the air, rather than the substrate. I've used under the tank heaters for snakes, as well as my pacman. Since snakes, and pacs burrow, I tape down layers of cardboard over the heat pad. Then I take the temp of the cardboard directly and adjust the number of layers so that it gets to the target temp. Then i cover a little substrate over the cardboard. That way the top of the subsrate is just under the target temp, and if the animal burrows down it only comes into contact with the cardboard which should be at the target temp. Also, the surrounding substrate will be heated a little too which gives your substrate a bit of a temp gradient. I've never had any problems using them this way. Good-luck!

I use Zoo Med MINI heat pads with my horned frogs. These are designed to put out much less heat than the larger sized ones. If a frog burrows down and comes into contact with the glass it won't be hot enough to do anything.

thanks!

What type of plant is that in your tank? Do you need a UV light for it? I'm looking for houseplants to put in my tank. Thanks! :]

i wouldnt use heat mats at all. i use heat lamps and this works perfectly!

Hawaian Pothos. Read they are safe for pacs. Also, they are cheap and grow fast. I have a few potted plants with pothos as the cover, so I just trim those plants back and put the trimmings in the tank. They have roots all over so they do pretty well. You probably when need a light, though plants don't require uv rays.