Heat tape help

[toddnbecka]

Ultratherm heat mats from reptilebasics.com are a much better option than heat tape or the more commonly available zoomed stick-on heat mats. The ultratherms won't get hot enough to cook your snake or start a fire in the event of a thermostat failure. I use them w/out t-stats on some of my sterilite tubs. Just check the actual surface temp inside the tub with a laser thermometer (around $10 on e-bay) to make sure it isn't too warm, and adjust the contact with the surface of the heat mat accordingly. I use large ceramic tiles on top of the mats to distribute the heat, and the top of the tiles are actually a lower temp than the mat itself.