heating rubbermaids?

[eatinmachine]

I am using rubbermaids and my dad is always telling me how are you going to heat it it is going to warp. I am like sure but how do all of you heat it without warping it? Do you just put a heat mat on it? I don't use a lot of heat mats though I use rope light they sell it for christmas and after christmas they sell it for like 3 dollars for 18 feet enough for a lot of cages when slose together. but how do you guys heat it? you get the hint I want to stop before I ramble more .

 

[8 leg wonder]

I use heat rope on the bottom 1/2 of my rubbermaids and it heats up to 105f and nothing has melted or warped yet

 

[Thoth]

The heat from most heat pads and the rope lights is not enough to warp the thick plastic of the large rubbermaid containers. If the can stand up to the hot water from a faucet (approx. 170° - 180° F) they cna handle the heat from the lights or pads since they don't get as hot as the water from the faucet.

The melting point of the HDPE (high density polyethylene) which rubbermade and most the plastic containers is about 275° F so to warp it you'd need to get to about at least 250° F for it to warp. If you can touch the rope lights while they're on with your hand and not get burned then they are not hot enough to warp it.

 

[LPacker79]

I just use a regular reptile heat pad, attached to either a thermostat or rheostat (I have both) underneath about 1/3 of the tub. That provides 3 separate heat zones in my tubs. Rubbermaids hold heat really well, and work well for small species or babies. I don't stick the pads on though, that makes it easier to clean the tubs and use the heat mats on other enclosures.

There's no need to worry about a heat pad/heat tape/heat rope/rope light warping the plastic, as anything hot enough to do that will fry the animal within anyways.