Human heating pads

The way my RTB's enclosure is set up, pretty much the only way to effectively heat it is with a light. A UTH won't do any good unless I put it inside, because the floor and different levels are made of fairly thick wood. I'd like to try to heat an individual hide on the warm side (my apartment's pretty cold), but because the light can't penetrate the hide itself, I'd need to use some kind of heat mat.

Would a human heating pad work? I can find threads saying they're dangerous, and I can find threads saying they're completely safe so I don't know what to believe. If I do decide to get one, is there anything in particular I should look for as a safety feature so I don't burn down the house? :shrugs:

You know, the prices for human heat pads vary from a few dollars less that to several dollars more than a reptile intended heat mats. Many of the human heat pads now are made to automatically shut off after 2 hours continuous use. Both the Cobra and the Exo-Terra mats can go inside. Neither is supposed to be allowed to get wet. I have found that the Exo-Terra is more of a gentle heat and the Cobra is a wee bit stronger heat. I use both. Human heat pads have hot spots that can be very hot-too hot. And the heat they provide is not even throughout the entire surface of the pad whereas the heat seems spread better over the entire surface of the reptile intended mats.

Thus, I don't think the human heat pads are the better deal or the better option for the use you intend.

TrpnBils said:

The way my RTB's enclosure is set up, pretty much the only way to effectively heat it is with a light. A UTH won't do any good unless I put it inside, because the floor and different levels are made of fairly thick wood. I'd like to try to heat an individual hide on the warm side (my apartment's pretty cold), but because the light can't penetrate the hide itself, I'd need to use some kind of heat mat.

Would a human heating pad work? I can find threads saying they're dangerous, and I can find threads saying they're completely safe so I don't know what to believe. If I do decide to get one, is there anything in particular I should look for as a safety feature so I don't burn down the house? :shrugs:

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I used/misused designed-for-humans heating pads for years, in the old days. I put heavy tanks directly on them, and I left them turned on 24/7 for many months at a time. I never had any real problems, but one time I noticed what looked like a bit of faint charring on a wooden table that I had a tank on. Another time, the pad itself had what looked like a small burn hole in it. So I think their risk as a fire hazard is real if misused.

I had no problems at all after I started using spacers to keep the weight off them. Now, I only use them when I run out of rack space, and I only use them with tubs that I'm monitoring carefully for temps. I think they're fairly safe if used properly. Hope this is less of a mixed message than your searches provided (but I fear that it isn't). :shrugs:

Human heat pads get hot enough to burn

This is a burn in the linoleum of one of my floors. It was caused by a human heating pad. The pad was pretty much kept on medium. Notice that this is a hot spot and not spread out. Worrisome.

i used them before on my cages and i kept them on for 24 hours on at a time..but those are unpredictable