The Self Regulating Heat Mat sticks to the outside of a terrarium base or back panel and warms it by conduction, giving a reptile or amphibian a warm patch of floor or wall to move onto. "Self regulating" refers to the PTC carbon fibre element: its resistance rises as it warms, so the mat caps its own maximum temperature instead of climbing until something else stops it, with an automatic fail-safe behind that. It heats what it touches and does very little for air temperature, so a species that needs warm air or a basking spot still needs a lamp above it.
Four sizes matched to enclosure size, 4W to 24W. Add ambient warmth or daylight with a Day Glo, or overnight heat with a Ceramic Heat Emitter. The rest of the range is in our Exo Terra collection.
Features
- PTC carbon fibre element — self-limiting by design, so the mat does not keep climbing the way a plain resistive mat can.
- Even conductive heat — warmth spreads across the whole panel instead of concentrating into hot spots.
- Automatic fail-safe — a second layer of protection behind the self-regulating element.
- IPX6 water resistant — tolerates the spills and misting that come with humid setups.
- Over 95% electrothermal conversion — Exo Terra's efficiency rating; almost all the power drawn becomes heat.
- Self-adhesive backing and rubber spacers — mounts permanently to the glass with an air gap so heat is not trapped against the base.
Specifications
4W (PT2031), 18 x 10cm, rated for 4–19L (1–5 gallon) · 8W (PT2032), 20 x 15cm, 38–76L (10–20 gallon) · 16W (PT2033), 30 x 20cm, 114–151L (30–40 gallon) · 24W (PT2034), 45 x 20cm, 190–227L (50–60 gallon). Shipping weights 250g to 500g. Match the mat to the enclosure it is heating, not to the animal — the mat should cover roughly a third of the floor so there is still a cool end, and a cold room pushes you up a size rather than up a wattage class.
Safety
This is the one product in the range that does not strictly need a thermostat — the PTC element caps its own temperature — but a thermostat is still the only way to set an exact surface temperature, and it is worth having. Mount the mat on the outside of the glass, never loose inside the enclosure or buried under substrate, and leave the supplied spacers in place so the base is not sitting flush on a bench.