heya all
ive recently bought the exo-terra desert heat medium heat mat to go with my exo terra terrarium. The terrarium itself is 18 inches x 18 inches x 18 inches and the substrate is calcium sand. The problem im having is the heat is not coming through properly and i dont know why the substrate is less than an inch deep but the exo-terra thermometer (lcd) is only saying the hot is currently 24 degrees c but the cool end is 22degress c could there be a fault with the thermometer? and how long does it take for the heat mat to get to the right tempreture? all help would be kindly appreciated as i am a begginer to reps etc.
spyro08..

where in the viv do you have the thermometer? mats don't take long to heat up, maybe you just need to adjust your thermostat.

(...and do a search of the forum for 'calci sand' - most people on here will tell you its a bad choice because it clumps together when it's wet, and for this reason can be deadly if its swallowed by your rep )

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Yup def. calci sand really isnt good (like everyone here will tell you), but yeah like eeji said maybe you do just need to adjust your thermostat....? can you think of anything else that could be wrong?

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Thanks for the inputs guys the thermometer is near the heat mat and i dont have a thermostat at the mo today there has been a slight rise in tempreture its now gone up to 25 but also the cold end has risen to 23 but its been on 24 hours. and about the Calci sand i have the really fine stuff so apparently it shouldnt cause impaction. I was told this by several pet stores and also a begginers book to lizards.

were do you have the heat mat if you put some thing underneath the mat like polistireen you will see that it will deflect the heat much better give it a go a polistireen cieling tile will do the job i jut them under my heat strips

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1.1 tiger retic
2.0 jarva retic
1.0 albino retic
0.1 albino burm
1.1 Burmese
0.1 African Rock
1.0 wc selayar tic

thanks for that ill have to give it a try. i never considered it, currently the heatmat is under the glass and that is it. thanks all again.

no probs glad i can help

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1.1 tiger retic
2.0 jarva retic
1.0 albino retic
0.1 albino burm
1.1 Burmese
0.1 African Rock
1.0 wc selayar tic

Pet shops will tell you that calci sand is ok because it is expensive.
They like you to spend as much money as possible in their shops.
Here is a link to a well respect retailer who will not sell calci sand Calci Sand - Not Digestable, Can Be Fatal £0 - Pet Zoo Online Reptile Shop & Exotic Pet Store
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Also not having a thermostat can be quite dangerous to the reptile depending on the size of your heat mat they can reach temps above 115F which could easily burn the reptiles.

I would strongly surgest that you take the calci sand out and buy a thermostat.
What reptile are you keeping?

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thanks faith, yea i already knew about calci sand and impaction but one of the shop keepers said she kept leopard geckos on there without any problems anyway im planing on keeping leopard geckos