Heat Pad for Leopard Gecko's

[Xexus]

Hi
I just got two beautiful leopard geckos and i got an under the tank heater.
Well the under the tank heater says not to use on antique furniture, dressers, or on fabric you shouldn't put it on the bottom because it is a fire hazard. i also use paper towel as substrate and it says "using newspaper, paper towels, or any similarly light product in place of a substrate is not appropriate with this kind of heater, and such use will void blah blah blah." It recommends if not under the tank you can mount on the side. can I mount it on the side and get the same results as if it was on the bottom or is it dangerous?

 

[nrich]

Leopard Geckos really need belly heat to properly digest their food. I would suggest keeping the heater outside of the tank on the bottom , but raise the tank up about a quarter of an inch to provide ventilation beneath the tank. A lot of uth come with little plastic pegs to prop up the corners of the tank, but I use little wooden blocks instead because I can make it a little higher. It might also be a good idea to attach a adjustable thermometer to the heater so if it gets too hot, you can adjust the temp and not burn your geckos. They need it to get about 98-100 degrees, but very much more could be quite harmful. They come pretty cheap form Home Depot and are easy to install. As for using paper towels, I've never experienced any problems using paper towels with the above method. Just so long as the paper towels are not actually touching the heater, I don't see how there could possibly be any risk of combustion.

Which heater are you using? You might want to go exchange it for something else if it has all those precautions. I have three geckos each in separate tanks and I use the ones made by zoo-med (http://www.petco.com/product/6353/Zoo-Med-Repti-Therm-UTH-Under-Tank-Heaters.aspx) and I've never had any problems with them.