Heat Mat in Wooden Enclosure?

[Python-Lover4lyf]

Hey guys i've built a wooden enclosure for my gorgeous little baby i'll be picking up this weekend (Thanks jinjajoe ) and i was wondering if a heat mat was safe for a wooden enclosure. I was worried there was a possibilty of fires but i've always preferred heatmats and hadn't had to worry because the previous enclosures were made of glass. So bottom line is a heat mat safe to ue as a heatsource in a wooden enclosure and if not what is a good suppliment (lol can't spell)? thanks for any input

 

[Shotta]

well im not sure myself but there is a risk of the heatmat burbing/ damaging your enclosure. you could get a heat lamp or ceramic heat emitter
hope this helps, also how big is the enclosure is it for a hatchy?

 

[Lizzy90]

As long as the heat mat doesn't overheat and it has air flow (as some mats require it) it should be fine in a wooden enclosure. I cant see a heat mat ever being the cause of a fire. Also it depends on how big the enclosure is. If its a bigger enclosure it might need extra heating from a heat lamp to keep the temperature constant and at a nice temperature for the reptile.

 

[Python-Lover4lyf]

it is for a bredli hatchling. The enclosure is 60cm long 40cm width and 40cm height
and it did thanks

 

[Lizzy90]

Yeh at that length you are going to need extra heating from a heat lamp, specially since winter is coming up and its going to be harder to keep the heat constant. Also since its a hatchling you might want to look into building a click clack for it to stay in before its big enough for the wooden enclosure. Not to sure on bredli's so this size might be ok for it though.

 

[Shotta]

As long as the heat mat doesn't overheat and it has air flow (as some mats require it) it should be fine in a wooden enclosure. I cant see a heat mat ever being the cause of a fire. Also it depends on how big the enclosure is. If its a bigger enclosure it might need extra heating from a heat lamp to keep the temperature constant and at a nice temperature for the reptile.

in that case if i were to put a heatmat in a wooden/melamine enclosure would i put it inside the enclosure and cover with substrate or something? or outside underneath it??

 

[raycam01_au]

heat matt in custom hide, covered in glass, snakies love it

The Enclosures.

heat mats work well

 

[Shotta]

lol sorry how does that work?
do you put the heatmat in first and then glass?
by the way awesome avatar lol

 

[raycam01_au]

make the box first, the heat mat is one perforated peg board so allows heat to flow down into the hide, and then a glass sheet over the top, with probe on end as seen in pic works a treat, thermostat enclosed under

Avatar is sexy hey love DBZ

 

[Python-Lover4lyf]

Umm bredli hatchling is probably 30 to maybe 45 cm and yeah was already planning on providing extra heat in the form of a heatlamp due to winter coming up thanks for all the comments it helped heaps

 

[CaptainRatbag]

There are different types of heatmats/cords. The ones that are plastic and have wires in them that you can see (like a window demister only really thick) are for under glass tanks. As you have a timber enclosure, you can use a URS Ultimate Heat Mat, which has a pale green cover over the elements. These are designed for inside an enclosure, they are humidity proof, but not water proof. Other than that, you can always use a heat cord

 

[Lizzy90]

Yeh heat mat would have to be inside the enclosure.You can have glass on top like shown above or even a tile used for bathrooms/flooring. You can use the substrate on top as long as the substrate isn't too thick though =P

 

[Python-Lover4lyf]

Thanks to both of you

 

[Defective]

just be careful the hatchy doesn't manage to crawl between the glass and heat mat and get burnt...my stimmie did and the heat mat was immediately removed from the enclosure so she didn't get burnt....scared me to death.

 

[Python-Lover4lyf]

so anyways wat is the best heat option for a wooden tank? like overall what would be safer while still applying enough heat for the hot end to be around 32 degrees?

 

[JAS101]

i use a tiled heat pad [ a heat matt with a tile glued ontop of the heat matt] , deppending on the size of the snake deppends on the size of the pad needed . i have no trouble geting my 12watt tiled pad upto 35c for my womas . i dont use any other heat source when using the pads .
i use heat matts with inbuilt thermostats

 

[Lizzy90]

The heat pat should also only cover 1/3 of the enclosures bottom aswell. This way the snake can get away from the heat if it needs. If a heat mat is strong enough to keep the whole enclosure warm then that's all you need. But I'm a little reluctant that it will be able to be at the temperature that is needed. Best way to find out if you need another heating source is to test it out the heat mat in the enclosure

 

[Shotta]

lol depends you can go a heat lamp/ ceramic heat emitter but you will have to replace bulbs at some point, or you can have the heatmat which wouldnt need replacin but im guessing you'd have to drill a hole or something for the cord if you dont want it hanging out but thats just my thoughts its entirely up to you what you choose i have a wooden enclosure similiar size to yours and i use a heatlamp also a digital thermometer with probe would be handy

 

[Whp71]

My wooden BHP cage has a large heat mat sandwiched between tiles, the bottom tile has small rubber feet on it to create air flow between the tiles while the heat mat is taped to the underside of the top tile.

 

[Python-Lover4lyf]

I found on plenty of sites that the heatmat was meant to cover half of the floor ? .... just what i read.