Setup for a heat pad

I will get a corn snake soon, and read all about and seems that everybody agrees about heat pad.
I bought a :
ZOO Repti Temp 500R Thermostat

UNDER TANK HEATERS (10-20 gallon RH-4)

1 - Could some one show me a picture that how to set a heat pad, I am afraid of the fire danger, the aquarium where I'll keep my corn is on top of a small wood shelf. 29 Gal. aquarium

2 - What should I put under the pad between the shelf and the bottom of the aquarium?

3 - What about between the aquarium and the pad?

4 - Can I keep that on all times?

The best way to go with a stick on type heat pad, is to stick the heat pad itself to a plate of glass (cheap from the hardware store), or some sort of stone or ceramic tile. I like the tile better since it distributes the heat better and it keeps temps more stable. This is then placed directly underneath your aquarium with the heat mat side down (so the heat mat should not be between the tile/plate of glass and your aquarium). The tile/plate of glass should also be elevated off the surface on which it sits slightly, to allow sufficient dissipation of heat to prevent overloading (this is what causes fire). You may want to put 1 or two layers of glass or tile on the other end of the aquarium as well to balance things out. There's a million things you can use to elevate the plate off the surface, you can use soda bottle caps hot glued to the bottom of the plate, pencils, small pieces of bass wood, anything you can find pretty much.

If you're using a thermostat, I would set everything up first and tweak the thermostat to give you the temps you want, and then never touch the thing after that (leave it on 24/7, it'll do it's job).

Here's a picture of the setup:


-Lemur 6

I can't see the picture nm!

nm

Just a litle problem I can not see the picture....

Hmm... i wonder why that is. Here try the link I saved it to:

http://www.geocities.com/the_stuy_6/UTH_setup.jpg

-Lemur 6

Thank you, but i can not see the picture, could you send to me in my e-mail. I try to find pics but no luck...!

Hmm... try right clicking on the image and click show picture. I guess geocities is being slow lately. Gimme your email address and I'll try to upload it to you.

-Lemur 6

Thank you!

my e-mail is [email protected]

His link works, just copy and paste it in a different window.

Why do you need to put tile in-between the UTH and the bottom of the tank?

The tile helps spread the heat and regulate it (so temps change more slowly and less of a sudden change in case the UTH temp spikes or something of the like). This dissipation of heat also prevents the UTH from overloading. If you were to put the UTH between the tank and tile, it could overload and cause a fire. You want one side of the UTH to be exposed to air so it can dissipate any extra heat (and there's alot of that).

I know, the UTH makers say insulate the exposed side with foam or something to "reflect heat toward the tank", but that's too much heat IMHO. And if your snake decides to sit directly on top of the insulated UTH, bad things can happen.

-Lemur 6

I can see the picture...

Good post...

If you're using a thermostat, I would set everything up first and tweak the thermostat to give you the temps you want, and then never touch the thing after that (leave it on 24/7, it'll do it's job).

Click to expand...

That is a Good and safe way to set those uth's up.
With a thermostat, it makes for a very nice safe setup with minimal energy consumption compared to say using a human style heating pad.


New members...
Welcome to CORNSNAKES.COM Forum

Corn Snake Care sheets links...

http://www.erac.org.uk/Caresheets/Hatchlings.htm

http://www.cornsnake.net/new/care.php3

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareInfo/CareCorn.html

http://coloherp.org/careshts/snakes/cornsnake.php

http://www.kingsnake.com/rockymount...MHnewpage11.htm

http://vetcity.com/Infocenter/Snakes.html

http://centralpets.com/pages/critte...s/SNK2775.shtml

There are minor variances in the advice of the Corn Snake Care Sheets linked here.
Let Common Sense dictate.
imho.

Let me get this straight, you leave a inch between the UTH and the tile? Is it O.K to put the bottom side on a towl or will the towl catch fire?
Sorry to bombard you with questions.

"Elevated U.T.H. Tile Platform"

quote:"You want one side of the UTH to be exposed to air so it can dissipate any extra heat (and there's alot of that)."

The other side will be attached to the tile (many/ most popular Under Tank Heater brands have a "peel and stick type of adhesive).

quote:"This is then placed directly underneath your aquarium with the heat mat side down (so the heat mat should not be between the tile/plate of glass and your aquarium)."

quote:"The tile/plate of glass should also be elevated off the surface on which it sits slightly, to allow sufficient dissipation of heat to prevent overloading (this is what causes fire)."

Overloading equals excessive heat buildup.
Do not use a towel. Take that out of the equation.
A tile wont burn, a towel will.
Use a stone like (ceramic) tile, not a square of meltable plastic...vinyl linoleum.
This setup should be very safe for table top use as described.

quote:"You may want to put 1 or two layers of glass or tile on the other end of the aquarium as well to balance things out.
There's a million things you can use to elevate the plate off the surface,

you can use soda bottle caps,
hot glued to the bottom of the plate..."

The important thing is to elevate that tile with the UTH attached to the bottom of it as for it to "bleed off" some of the would be/ wants to be excessive heat...your tank sets directly on the tile.
The tank can be raised slightly over the tile, using a spacer, to further dissapate the radiating bottom heat, if required to further "tweak it in". (summer vs. winter)
With a thermostat, raising the tank to further tweak/ cool things off wouldn't be required.

( Go ahead and use 2 liter soda caps on the four corners of the tile, those work well and are easy to find. Do the same on the other, (without UTH) and you'll have a level tank )

I guess this would be considered an elevated tile platform.