The Heat Wave Rock is an electronic heat stone: a resin rock with the heating element fully encased so the surface warms evenly, plus an automatic cut-out that switches it off once the surface reaches a set temperature. Heat rocks earned a poor reputation for good reason — older designs with unevenly placed elements caused low-temperature contact burns on animals that stayed on them too long — and even heat distribution plus that cut-out is Exo Terra's answer to it. Treat it as a supplementary belly-heat source for a species that naturally uses warm ground, not as the heat source for the enclosure: it warms what touches it and does very little for air temperature.
Three sizes — Small 5W, Medium 10W and Large 15W. It should be one warm option among several, so keep a genuine cool end and add ambient warmth with a Day Glo or a Ceramic Heat Emitter above it. More in our Exo Terra collection.
Features
- Fully encased element — the heater is sealed inside the body, which is what removes the concentrated hot spots older heat rocks were known for.
- Automatic cut-out — shuts off once the surface reaches a set temperature, so it cannot climb indefinitely.
- Waterproof, non-toxic resin — thermally conductive, wipes clean and copes with humid or dry setups.
- Natural appearance — reads as rockwork rather than equipment, so it does not need hiding.
- Thermostat compatible — works with Exo Terra thermostats if you want to set the surface temperature yourself.
Specifications
Small 5W (PT2000), 15.5 x 10 x 3cm · Medium 10W (PT2002), 15.6 x 10 x 3cm · Large 15W (PT2004), 31 x 18 x 3cm. Shipping weights 0.955kg, 1.54kg and 3.415kg. Small and Medium share almost the same footprint — the difference between them is output, not surface area — so choose Medium for a cooler room and Small for a warm one; Large is the only size that meaningfully increases the warm area.
Safety
Run it through a thermostat and check the surface with a thermometer over the first day rather than assuming the cut-out is set to your species' preference. Always leave cool areas the animal can move to. It is not appropriate for an animal that cannot reliably move off it — very young, ill or gravid animals — or as the only heat source in a cold room, and it should not be buried under deep substrate.