I have read on here that heating from underneath is bad. I am not saying that it is not, but I kind of question the reasoning and/or don't understand why.
Why do many people say to place a flat rock under a heat lamp if heating from below is bad? The rock gets heated and the tort lays out on it. They are still being heated from the light on top of their shell, but they are also being warmed up from beneath. Those rocks can get pretty hot, much hotter than any heat mat would get. I have seen tons of wild turtles with no shell deformities laying on rocks to bask.
How hot does a heat mat really get...if the air temp is 70, placing a thin layer of substrate over the heat pad warms the substrate to about 80...why is that so bad?
I believe Sulcatta Stations is a reputable webpage with good info. They encourage the use of heating pads for their torts. All their torts seem healthy and undeformed.
Please no flames in this thread. Any arguments and/or facts that I'm missing are welcomed.
Why do many people say to place a flat rock under a heat lamp if heating from below is bad? The rock gets heated and the tort lays out on it. They are still being heated from the light on top of their shell, but they are also being warmed up from beneath. Those rocks can get pretty hot, much hotter than any heat mat would get. I have seen tons of wild turtles with no shell deformities laying on rocks to bask.
How hot does a heat mat really get...if the air temp is 70, placing a thin layer of substrate over the heat pad warms the substrate to about 80...why is that so bad?
I believe Sulcatta Stations is a reputable webpage with good info. They encourage the use of heating pads for their torts. All their torts seem healthy and undeformed.
Please no flames in this thread. Any arguments and/or facts that I'm missing are welcomed.