Heating and thermostats

The gradient

Reptiles regulate temperature by moving. A care sheet that says 24–32°C means a cool end and a warm end, not a box held at one number. Measure both ends at animal level. The dial on a heat mat is not a measurement.

Thermostats

Put a heat mat, ceramic heater, or deep heat projector on a thermostat. A lamp that is the only source of day heat still needs a way to stop it cooking the enclosure if the room warms up. Probe placement matters: a probe buried under substrate will let the surface run hotter than the number you see.

Burns

Heat mats go outside the tub or under a protected floor, not inside where a snake can coil on the bare surface. Guards belong on bulbs. Glass and thick plastic block UVB and can trap heat.

Night

Many species can cool a few degrees at night. Desert days and tropical nights are not the same schedule. Read the species sheet before you turn every lamp off or leave a basking bulb on at midnight.

Failure

Keep a spare probe and know what the enclosure does if the power fails in winter. An animal that is suddenly cold and limp needs a slow return to the right temperature and, if it does not recover, a vet.