Laura Ricketts wrote:
>
> I have had friends, quite a few, that have used heat
> rocks and NEVER had a problem with them (not that I am
> doubting any of you... remember "devil's advocate"
> here!) and swear by them.... they've used them for
> years!
Way back in the beginning of time when I first kept geckos and anoles, I had
heat rocks. UTH's were available in the big towns but hadn't made it to where I
was living. For about 3 years I had happy geckos and anoles basking under lights
and warming their tummies on heat rocks. Never got any viable eggs, just duds.
Some of the critters couldn't walk on glass very well after a while, so I
started looking into the possible reasons. None of the info I found for not
clinging to glass applied to my geckos. Finally, one day I noticed one trying to
climb the front glass, and saw the skin on this feet was grey and even black, as
if it was scorched. When I checked a couple of others, they were the same. It
finally hit me..... they were burning their feet on the rocks. That same day as
luck would have it, I read the first of many articles that mentioned burns from
hot rocks. That same day I removed every heat rock in my tanks and never looked
back. Once UTH's became available, I used them and have had no problems
whatsoever.
Not every heat rock will burn toes, tails, and houses. Then again, not every
Firestone tire fell apart either. It's just better to be safe than sorry.
In case anyone wants to know what to do with 12 heat rocks.... cut the cords
off, silicone them into the most interesting cliffs and rock piles. They hold
heat well enough from basking lights to add a warmer micro climate for cliff
dwelling geckos.
Hilde
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