Heat pad and thermostat?

[Houdini-The-Bluey]

Hi guys
After a bit of a disaster day Monday due to a freak tank fire, one of my babies tanks has become completely unusable as has everything that was in it.
Luckily my brother was home to save the lizard and everything else and we were also able to get ahold of another tank for her. Not so lucky is that she has been left without any heating. I'll be going into the petshop tomorrow to pick up a heat pad as this tank has no way of using normal lights and i cant go out and grab a long light just yet, but i have a few questions first.
Firstly, does the wattage on a heat pad really mean anything, like, how do i know what wattage is needed in relation to how much heat i need it to produce? And is there any recommended brands?
Also, I've heard a thermo is a good idea with them and honestly it would make me feel a little safer after that ordeal if it made using a heat pad safer, any recommendations for those?
I've got a max of $150 i can use to get them both right now so keep that in mind please c:
Thanks in advance!

 

[Bl69aze]

Hi guys
After a bit of a disaster day Monday due to a freak tank fire, one of my babies tanks has become completely unusable as has everything that was in it.
Luckily my brother was home to save the lizard and everything else and we were also able to get ahold of another tank for her. Not so lucky is that she has been left without any heating. I'll be going into the petshop tomorrow to pick up a heat pad as this tank has no way of using normal lights and i cant go out and grab a long light just yet, but i have a few questions first.
Firstly, does the wattage on a heat pad really mean anything, like, how do i know what wattage is needed in relation to how much heat i need it to produce? And is there any recommended brands?
Also, I've heard a thermo is a good idea with them and honestly it would make me feel a little safer after that ordeal if it made using a heat pad safer, any recommendations for those?
I've got a max of $150 i can use to get them both right now so keep that in mind please c:
Thanks in advance!

5-7w can get to around 30-40 on a normal day, anything above that 150% needs a thermostat otherwise u will be smelling some crispy lizard.
As for brands = quality, the price u pay doesn’t mean anything. I believe the one people use are iSTAT plus, but can’t be sure, I use one from petmart and it seems to be doing fine

Did you have the heat mat on the inside of the enclosure? I’m pretty sure all heats are designed for the outside of glass enclosures only, to allow airflow underneath them

 

[Houdini-The-Bluey]

Thank you for that answer on the wattage!
Me and my brother have been looking all over the place to find out how much temp each wattage gives off, its surprisingly hard to find out :T
I'll definitely pick up a thermostat if there is no 5-7 watt pads, although there most likely should be some at the store.

I've actually never used a heat pad before, the fire was caused by a ceramic heat bulb. Some how it had managed to drop despite me thinking it was as secure as it can get, unfortunately for me my big ginger cat had just recently started sleeping on top of the enclosure so we think he made the support fall out. Worst part was, the light cages i had ordered turned up 3 hours later, those cages being there would have stopped the fire from happening all together.

 

[Bl69aze]

Thank you for that answer on the wattage!
Me and my brother have been looking all over the place to find out how much temp each wattage gives off, its surprisingly hard to find out :T
I'll definitely pick up a thermostat if there is no 5-7 watt pads, although there most likely should be some at the store.

I've actually never used a heat pad before, the fire was caused by a ceramic heat bulb. Some how it had managed to drop despite me thinking it was as secure as it can get, unfortunately for me my big ginger cat had just recently started sleeping on top of the enclosure so we think he made the support fall out. Worst part was, the light cages i had ordered turned up 3 hours later, those cages being there would have stopped the fire from happening all together.

Tbh, I’d get a thermostat anyway, just for ease of mind, however u can get a good mat with a built in controller but I don’t think they make them
Anymore

 

[Houdini-The-Bluey]

I'll definitely see if i can find one with it built in, but yeah, a thermostat would definitely be helpful if for nothing but ease of mind

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Any heat source that has the potential to raise temps by more than 10 deg above the temps you are trying to achieve should be used in conjunction with a thermostat IMO.
(I personally dislike heat mats, prefer cords/good old basic light globes).
People often go with overkill on the heat source and use things far more powerful than is actually needed. Problem here is that if the thermostat fails and the heat source has no control you potentially cook your animal.
Whatever heat source is if it has the potential to burn your animal it must be protected.....as you are now aware. There is also the problem here of missadventure, ever had a python the likes to use electric cables as a place to hang out? They can damage things if they can get to them.

With a lizard I would ask why not use a heat globe? Select a wattage that gives you the required temperature as a hot spot and control it with an on/off timer? (You say this isn't an option but I don't understand why. A length of cable, drill a hole, a sparky to connect it. Job done)
I use this method in large enclosures where my animals have plenty of ability to get away from the heat if they wish. (Small enclosures where air temps at the cool end can be impacted by running hotter than required at the basking site should always have a thermostat)

As with everything in the world these days there are percieved 'cheap' options, globes, heat mats, thermostats, CHE everything in our hobby has a 'copy' from China or somewhere similar that is often rubbish at best & dangerous at worst.
I would be interested in the brand of CHE you had that caused the initial problem, what was its wattage, how old was it, was it the CHE that failed or was the wiring old/dodgy.
I always suggest using known reputable brands, talk to lots of experienced people and ask them what the reccomend. I personally will only use Microclimate or Habistat thermostats for example. iStat is the in thing at the moment and I don't use them so its not fair of me to comment. What I would say is research everything you plan to use. Using a cheap heat mat makes no sense to me as it poses a risk not only to the animal but potentially burning the house down.

 

[Houdini-The-Bluey]

The main reason why i wont use a bulb right now is because the replacement tank i got doesnt have a lid so there is no where to secure the light. I know i should have had light cages, i had actually order some months ago but the person dodged me over and they never came so i ordered new ones, which ironically came 3 hours after the fire...
Its not that the light itself was dodgy or anything, its that unfortunately for me our very large cat had started using the to of the enclosure as a bed and in turn, must have been slowly making the clips unstable.
I have been getting my stuff off of reptile direct lately and although i dont have the box for the exact CHE globe, the other one i do have that i bought off of them is a URS brand globe, so their stop is certainly good stuff, it just happened to be involved in a freak accident. As for the wattage, it was a 100 watt globe, i had actually been hoping to get a 75watt as i only had 50s and 100s but didnt get the chance to.
I have gone out to get a heat mat and thermostat which are both URS branded and neither were particularly cheap(i actually went over my money limit) so that is hopefully good until we can get her new tank her which will be fitted with bulbs AND the light cages.