Heat mat for B. dubia?

[Fingolfin]

So I have started my feeder colony (goodbye crickets!!) but I have to keep them in the garage, in a big Rubbermaid container. Is it safe to put one of those heat mats on the bottom of the Rubbermaid container? Or will it get too hot? I am not using substrate, just the method of cork boards close together vertically....

 

[vvx]

Heat pads are overrated, get a ceramic heat bulb IMO. I have a heat pad on mine and it doesn't really create all that much heat alone, I would say it's safe but potentially not enough heat. What temps does the garage get to?

 

[Flagg]

I use a reptile heat mat on a thermostat. It was already on my tank from when I kept a corn snake in the 10 gal. Without regulation most get far too hot on the glass, like 120 degrees.

You can use one on a rubbermaid as long as it is regulated with a thermostat or rheostat down to 95 or so.

My colony is inside however, with an ambient temp around 70-78. In a garage with no other heat you would probably need something like a ceramic heat emitter, but then youh are looking at much more energy use, around 60-100 watts rather than about 8 watts.

 

[Dom]

One thing that will greatly help in your heating is if you put the rubbermaid in a styrofoam lined cardboard box. That way any heat generated by the heat mat stays in a confined space instead of just dissipating into the surrounding room. I would also put the heat mat on a sheet of glass (or other hard heat resistant material) so that it isn't in direct contact with the cardboard or styrofoam.

 

[REAL]

I'm going to attempt a double heat mat

Cobra heat mat from the bottom
Zoo Med Reptitherm on the back side

Both made for 50-60 gallon
Energy consumption: 40~ watts

I'm still waiting for the zoo meds to arrive. I'm actually counting on it to overheat thats why I placed it on the back side and not under. The temperatures I'm achieving with a glass tank with two cobra heat mats at the bottom is 78-80F. Thats during the time that my room temperature is about 65-70F.

Cobra heat mats = mainly for heating the animal, hence it being at the bottom of the tank so if they wanna get warm they just settle down there. I'm waiting for zoo meds cause from what I remember, they heat the surrounding better.

Is it me or does zoo med ceramics last not nearly as long as they say it would. A few of mines broke down in 1-3 months of constant use.....where they say it'll last for years and years....

Btw the temperature was achieved without anything covering up the tank to protect it from cold so if I was to cover it up it might get warmer.

Basically my present advice until I definately try it out when I get the zoo med is: If you want to heat the whole thing you have to get at least 2 UTH (depends on ur tank size too). I have cobra heat mats covering the whole bottom of my centipede containers and it achieves about 70-85~F no matter how cold or warm my room becomes.

So if it gets cold the animals usually huddle around the parts that they like the most, if they crave for warmth they just get closer to the heated spot. Don't expect UTH and the such to really heat it up unless ur putting it on a staggering ratio, however, it will still work cause the animals just go where they want, either the warm area or the cold.

 

[mikeythefireman]

One thing that will greatly help in your heating is if you put the rubbermaid in a styrofoam lined cardboard box. That way any heat generated by the heat mat stays in a confined space instead of just dissipating into the surrounding room. I would also put the heat mat on a sheet of glass (or other hard heat resistant material) so that it isn't in direct contact with the cardboard or styrofoam.

This is basically what I did. I've got a medium sized rubbermaid in a large rubbermaid. The gaps are filled with insulation. With one large heat mat I maintain a ~75-90 degree range. I just checked it this morning. It's ~45 in the garage and 80 in the enclosure.

Mikey