Questions about setting up dubia colony

[lori2plus1]

Loki had his first dubias today and he nommed them very happily, so I'm going to try to get a colony going now.

I have a Rubbermaid tub that I believe is a 14-gallon that I'm planning to use. What size heating mat would I use to get the right temps? I'm planning to use a tip I saw in this forum of sandwiching the heat mat between two cooling racks and put it under one end. Can I put it on the carpet or should I find a firm base to stand it on? I don't want to melt my carpet or my roaches. I will buy a thermostat if necessary, I found the right one on Amazon. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Taterbug]

I don't use a plastic tote - but most heat mats require air circulation to function properly. With out enough airflow they can overheat or be a fire hazard. As long as you can ensure airflow it should be ok.

 

[lori2plus1]

I'm looking at this one:
Zoo Med Under Tank Heater
which actually says it has one adhesive side to "stick" to the bottom of a terrarium, but I'm not sure how hot it gets at the surface? Could it be stuck to the bottom of the tote or would it get too hot, with or without a thermostat?

 

[Taterbug]

I'm looking at this one:
Zoo Med Under Tank Heater
which actually says it has one adhesive side to "stick" to the bottom of a terrarium, but I'm not sure how hot it gets at the surface? Could it be stuck to the bottom of the tote or would it get too hot, with or without a thermostat?

I use those for my snakes (on stats) and my roach bin - but all are on glass. I can't say for sure they are ok for plastic. On glass they can get up over 130F (and crack glass) in a normal room, it also depends on the ambient temps somewhat. The roach tank seems to hover around 90-100 at the mat and they don't mind it, it's in the basement where it's about 65F year round. I don't use a stat on the roaches as they regulate just fine, but I'm also not worried about melting the tank.

A stat is always a good safety device, regardless. I use the hygrofarm ones.

 

[Sauzo]

I use plastic bins and those heat pads. I put them between the bin and a cooling rack so I have air circulation under it. I run them with lamp dimmers and adjust as needed via the dimmer and a temp gun on the hottest spot on the bottom of the bin.

 

[DarkwingDork]

I was given an 8" Zoo Med UTH and I'm glad I didn't pay for it. It'll get the floor temp (directly above the pad) to 90-91 before it cycles off and drops down to 84-85 before it kicks on again. I know it's a bit small for my bin, but I've got the darn thing wrapped in a massive blanket with foil glued to the inside of the lid in 74 degree room! Is that normal, or is mine just special? Not that it matters...my flex watt will be here Monday.

As far as the stat goes, check this thing out: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00F0...11035872&sr=8-13#immersive-view_1411040027051
$12 bucks (shipped) is cheap enough to worry me a little BUT you can set min/max temp thresholds, it's accurate to within a degree, AND you can offset it's temperature reading if a more trusted thermometer says it's wrong! I going to get one and update everyone on the results.

 

[Sauzo]

My Zoo Med UTH doesn't cycle. If I let it run full power, it would probably cook my roaches. Like I said I use a lamp dimmer you can buy from Home Depot to control it. I usually leave it about halfway in a 75 degree room and it's used in a 50 gallon tub for my roaches. You don't need to heat the whole bin, just one spot like in a reptile enclosure. You want to let the roaches thermoregulate as needed. I just heat 1/4 of the egg crate side and leave the food side room temp and they breed like roaches

 

[PMPerformance]

I got a 29gallon bin last night and a 10-20 gallon UTH and doesnt seem to be heating it enough. I let it sit all night and only saw about 75* this morning with a laser thermo right on the plastic where its stuck.
I ordered a larger one today for a 30-40gal tank to see if that does any better

 

[Sauzo]

Well I used to have that problem too when I used Sterilite totes. It seems their bottoms are a lot thicker so the heat wasn't getting through. I now use Rubbermaid roughneck bins as their bottoms are thinner and a UTH heats them easily. Also for the 50 gallon tote, I'm using a 30-40 gallon UTH on a lamp dimmer set just over halfway since its getting cooler up here in Washington state and it works great. The downside to the Rubbermaids though is little roaches can climb the sides as they are rough so if you use one, you will need to run a strip of packing tape around the top to keep them from climbing past it.

 

[Scribble]

would heat warmers work as well for heat? or is it just heating pads?
Just curious owo