Heating Help

[Im-Perfection-xo]

I apologize for the long post in advance. It's easier to lay it all out than to have a bunch questions about my tank setup before I can get some helpful ideas.

---------

Alright. So I live in Canada (not sure where the rest of you are, but I'm assuming mostly south of the border), and I'm having serious troubles trying to find any UTH items at ANY of the pet stores. I've tried the small local stores (one deals only in reptiles, 3 others just seem to have a better selection of reptile goods) as well as the big chains. And when I find the "heating" section of the reptile products, it's nothing but lighting.

I'm currently heating a 20 gal tank with an Exo Terra SunGlo (75W I think) for daytime, and a red heat bulb (I have no idea what it is, it's not marked and came with the setup, which I got on Kijiji) plus an Exo Terra NightGlo (50W).

I used to use a Zoo Med heating pad and thermostat for my mack snow, and that was great. Only, now I can't seem to get my hands on either of those items anywhere. Even online they've become scarce. All I can find is Exo Terra Heat Wave.

Do any of you use Heat Wave in your setups? Do you like it? And where the hell do I find a thermostat that's not gonna cost me $85+?

P.S.: HELP!!!!!!

 

[acpart]

Your best bet is to go online. Even with the shipping cost it will be less than buying at the pet store.

Check out ebay. There are lots of Zoomed UTH and occasionally appropriately priced thermostats.

Check out online reptile supply places: lllreptile, beanfarm, herpsupplies, big apple herp. If you need more suggestions, go to kingsnake.com and check out their list on the home page. Go to several sites, price everything you want and add shipping. Then you can compare the whole package at different sites. You'll save if you get as much as you think you want at a single store

The best thermostat for the money (usually under $35) is probably Alife or ESU, which seem to be the same thing as far as I can tell. The Zoomed reptipro500 is OK too, but doesn't have degrees marked on the dial.

Good luck,

Aliza

 

[Hitch]

I have never used zoomed heat pads, so I never really paid attention to them.

Im not sure where you are located in Canada, but the Big Als in Scarborough carries zoomed and exo terra heat pads. Or you can order zoo med from bigalsonline (they have free shipping for $35+ purchase, which is a bonus):

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...cnt=1&attrib_id_0=2215&attrib_value_0=Zoo Med

I have always used exo terra's heat waves and loved it, and pets and ponds are the cheapest I have seen in my area (GTA):

http://www.petsandponds.com/en/reptile-supplies/c224111/c194945/index.html

As for thermostat, I got mine from Canadian tires a long time ago, I am not sure about now. But you should be able to find like <$50 ones. (Mine was only like $30 when I bought it)

 

[Im-Perfection-xo]

Thanks for the help Hitch. I'm really in need of some more heat for her, since it got kinda cool again. Been playing with the lights to keep it a good temperature. (I went to the Big Al's in Hamilton, and they had like zip to choose from.)

I think I'll go with a Heat Wave, since it's readily available. And I'll check a different Canadian Tire this time for thermostats. The one by my place is tiny and doesn't stock much.

 

[Hitch]

not a prob man.

If you have a walmart or a walmart superstore, they have some also. I just checked the Canadian tire and Walmart superstore yesturday and both have thermostats, cheapest being under $30.

 

[Im-Perfection-xo]

I ended up getting a cheap thermostat from Home Depot, and the Heat Wave. Which I'm extremely unimpressed with, actually. It wasn't cheap either. I'm pretty much in the same situation I was in a week ago. Her tank temp on the warm side is only up by a degree. If that. And if I stick my hand under the tank, the UTH is barely even warm.

 

[Hitch]

what size did you get? and whats the substrate?

I have a 11" by 10.5" on one side of my 20gal long, with repti carpet thing and it brings to a temp of about 95F.

Also, some people have used aluminum foil under the heater to redirect some of the radiation.

 

[Eric1969]

I use a zoo med dessert size medium for my 20 gallon. It sticks to the bottom of the tank, and it keeps my tile at around 90 in the middle of it.... You definitely need to get them belly heat or you can run into digestion problems.. Be there done that.

 

[sammer021486]

What heat wave did you get though, desert or rainforest?

I only use exo-terra desert heat mats and if I leave any of them unregulated I get very high temps.

This is exo-terra's litte 4x5 heat mat unregulated. I use 8"x8" and 11"x17" though, the 4"x5" was one I bought for my corn snake in 2006.

For online Canadian Retailers, the best places that I have found are www.petsandponds.com and www.bigalsonline.ca. I have never ordered from Big Als, but know that they have decent prices. A good American company to order from is www.lllreptile.com. Since I am from Sault Ste Marie, which is what I thought you meant by Steel City, I order from lllreptile and have my products shipped to a UPS drop off in Sault Michigan. Although sometimes by the time I get the exchange and if they charge me duty it is less expensive to buy the products from a Canadian company.

To increase the heat move the tank away from any air current areas, either buy some foil tape or stick foil under the tank to redirect the heat back into the tank, cover half of the lid if it is screen with a towel to help trap heat or get a sheet of styrofoam and place it under the tank, making sure not to pinch the cord, because that can cause fires or melt the cord if it is pinched and slightly vent the styrofoam to allow a small air exchange. The other thing is to try a different thermometer, when I got my first gecko, the thermometer only read 80, but my leo was hanging out at the top of his tank all the time. Turns out the thermometer was defective and the tank was actually at 115F.

I am not sure what you are referring to by you got a thermostat from Home Depot though, many thermostats purchased from hardware stores are meant for 24V power supply from the HVAC systems. Without knowing what type you bought though I can only speculate that it wont work for your purposes.