Heat mats are used to maintain a constant temperature throughout your vivarium.
Vivarium heat mat setup.
So using a thermostat to regulate the mat s activities is very important.
The terrarium in the accompanying photos is a creative habitat 5rt glass cage and the pad being installed is a zoo med mini reptitherm heat pad.
Heat mats are a popular way to provide this warmth because they heat the vivarium from underneath to maintain a constant source of heat.
Install two heat sources.
I will also use a heat mat in such a small setup.
Ever wondered how to install a heat mat if you use a vivarium.
While these are a safe low cost and generally effective way of providing artificial heat they re not without their weaknesses.
Heating is an essential part of vivarium setup as cold blooded reptiles need heat to stay happy and healthy.
It s the only real option available for such.
The vivarium should have two heat sources.
They re a good way to provide gentle warmth and they heat the floor of your vivarium much like the sun would heat the ground in your reptile s natural environment.
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But for a heat mat any mat stat will be sufficient.
Choosing the heat mat size to use.
Most invertebrate keepers and even many snake owners use low wattage heat mats to warm their vivariums.
Helpful if you own reptiles.
The main problem being that they only produce a gentle warmth.
I used a lucky reptile mat on the underside of the box for her hot basking area.
The heat mat alone has the potential of overheating the vivarium to above 80 degrees.
Once the size and type of pad have been selected the terrarium can be prepared.
A basking spot heat lamp that provides the vivarium s general heat along with the hot spot to bask in plus a low level heater to provide heat at the cool end or at night in places where the ambient temperature drops below 75 f 23 9 c.
It is typically much easier to effectively install a heating pad on an empty terrarium.
The vivarium setup for my young corn snake.
The problem with heat mats.
This also means that during the fall and spring when the seasons are changing the heat mat will only run when it is needed.
While she was still in her exo terra plastic box as a young corn snake i used the following setup.
Then at around seven to nine months old feeding well settled in and less skittish into a vivarium they go.