heat mats

Canfire

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
172
should i strap the heat mat on the side of my emp enclosure or on the bottom?
 

Remi

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
76
i've also been wondering that.
I want to add a heat mat to my emp enclosure but i'd imagine a mat from the side wouldnt really heat the enclosure that well.. and i have a false bottom setup in the tank so the underneath probably wouldnt work well.
 

Canfire

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
172
i need more people to say so my parents dont think im "stupid" for putting it on the side. :/
 

Newports

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
426
The heat passes through the glass or plastic, and so the side with the heat pad is generally warmer.
 

Dean

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Messages
10
Plus, if you put it on the bottom, you'll heat up the substrate, and the scorp won't be able to go anywhere where it's cooler for it.

Side.
 

pandinus

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
3,088
scorpions burrow to escape heat, so putting the mat on the bottom will only confuse them.
 

mikeythefireman

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Messages
224
Putting it on the side works great. It gives a relatively wide heat gradient for the scorp to choose from.
 

Kazz

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
69
In case you still need more people to say it, put it on the side. It's good to have a temperature gradient so they can move to different places to get more or less heat when they need to, and heating up the entire bottom is unnatural.

The scorpions that burrow do it partly to escape the heat on the surface since it's significantly cooler underground. You can see some of the effect in a basement, if people have them where you live. Making it hotter under ground and giving them nowhere to escape it keeps them from regulating their temperatures and that's not good.

So the best ways to get more heat in there (other than heating up your whole room) are a mat on the side or a lamp. If you do ever get a lamp though, remember to turn it off at night.
 

Empwrangler

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 20, 2005
Messages
118
I am not a big fan of putting heatmats on the side of the tank. I can never raise the ambient temp of the tank. However I still dont put them under either.

Red bulb has always worked best for me.

Can anyone honestly say that they have cooked a scorp by putting the heatmat under the tank. I just find that hard to believe.

I understand the logic behind it but I still have my doubts.
 

GanjaTaz

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
117
I've tried the Heat mat on the side route and an Exo Terra Heat Glo Infra Red bulb route.

My results have been somewhat different with both set ups.

First of all.

The Infra Red bulb, heats the tank up great, however it eats the air humidity for fun. So while I have a higher ambient "Air temperature" I am constantly fighting to keep the humidity level and acceptable. & this is with 3/4's of the tank top covered with Cling film to help keep in as much humidity as possible.
Great for watching my Emps at night with, but not so great having to contantly mist 3 or 4 times a day to replace the humidity it is burning through.

The Heat mat on the side option.

While it may seem this does not produce as much heat or increase the ambient air temperature as well as bulbs, it is not really meant to. It heats the furnishings or top layer of substrate gently that is within it's range with it's ultra long infra red heat. While it may only seem to heat just a few inches from the place it is situated it will in fact be reaching much further. It also does not eat through your precious humidity anywhere near as much as the Infra red bulbs.

I have now retired my Heat Glo set up and have bought a new Heat Mat to replace it with for heating the tank. Though it is being kept in place for night time observation of my Emps.

What you do is down to you, but I still think the Heat mat on the side/back of the tank is the best set up. I personally always place it on the side, and always the side where the sun comes through the window to provide a bit of a lightbreak from it.

 
Top