# Heating pads...



## bluebo (Sep 17, 2012)

People keep mentioning heating pads (I have a hairless rat).... do you mean the reptile ones that stick to the bottom or is it something else entirely? Can you stick them to the bottom of a plastic cage bottom? Any info would be helpful!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Typically with heating pads it is the reptile ones. Yes you can put it under a plastic base. Since rats are warm blooded though they adjust their body heat with calories, so they eat more. Providing foods like nuts and seeds and yogurt on a regular basis will make them happy. Especially if they have furred friends and hammocks to snuggle with. Even hairless can easily over heat just like other rats. I only recommend heating pads for sick rats.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Just stay away from hot rocks that run an electric chord through the cage. And keep in mind that reptile pads are meant to attach to glass and run at about 100 degrees with the bottom of the aquarium exposed to air flow. 

Human heating pads come in different quality levels. Some old ones were actually thermostatic and maintained a specific temp. others just regulate the current and can get very hot over time. I got a new heating pad some years ago, and got a nasty burn sleeping on it. My old pad was thermostatic and never got too hot.

A super cheap space heater can be made by locating an old incandescent light bulb near the cage... black light bulbs get really hot. Cheap incandescent bulbs actually give off more heat than light. An old lamp and an in line dimmer outside the cage and next to the rat's house might do to give your ratties a snuggly place to sleep. Again, no matter how creative you are, don't run electrical wires through or into the cage.


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