Is a heat mat required for Winter?

[Ben snail]

This is my first winter with my snails
would i need a heat mat or somethin like that.
cheers ben ;D

[megaernst]

Depends on how warm your house is of course. I keep my tanks in the bedroom during winter because that's the warmest room and that seems to be OK.

[Val]

Yes, everybody's situation is different. These snails are tropical though and don't like to be cold so unless where you live is fairly warm you will need a heat mat. One that covers about half of the back of the tank should be enough, I think it would be best to be prepared then if the weather does turn extremely cold you won't have to worry.

[anjieburdett]

I've got the heatmat on my big tank already - i noticed that they are slowing down a bit now - last winter was a nightmare lol even with the heatmat on i couldn't stop my Tiger from hibernating - every morning i had to wake him up. But he was wild caught - hopefully this year he would have adjusted a little better.

Anjie,x.

[section8angel]

Well I had my heater off last year (REALLY big deal for me lol) and it got really cold on a few nights, but my Fulica seemed to deal with it really well. They never started hibernation or anything.

But this year I have got some heatmats -just incase- it gets really cold again and I don't have my heater on.

So it might be worth finding a cheap one just to keep incase your house isn't warm enough.

[anjieburdett]

Fulica are more tolerant of low temperatures than Margies are. Margies and Tigers especially are really sensitive to the temperature dropping.

Anjie,x.

[section8angel]

It's a good thing I got the heatmats then! Don't want my Freddie going cold lol. Anyone know about Dimidiatas and Iredalei? I don't want to be putting both mats on if there's no need lol

[Val]

I've got dimidiatas & iredalei, I am going to keep their tank fairly warm as well as my baby tigers, better warm than cold I reckon.

Val

[section8angel]

I might put the mat on for Freddie later.. the babies are still wandering round happy as anything, but it's only 22ish in my room at the moment so I'll keep an eye on them.

Does anyone know of a minimum they can be kept at safely? It says on the petsnails site 18 - 30 c.. is that about the normal for all do we think?

I don't know of my room being that cold, but just want to find out incase!!

[Arno]

I think 18 is a good minimum and then a bit warmer for Tigers and Margies.......

[section8angel]

Righty-o. I'll keep an eye on the temp in Freddies tank then. Say 20ish for Tigers and Margies? Or a bit higher.. as it's still only 22 at the moment in here lol.

[deadmansfinger]

I have never used heat mats for my snails as my room is usually quite warm due to the huge vivarium in the corner! but........since I now have my margies in a new tank I might need to think of a way to keep them warm if necessary. Since the tank is made of wood and tiled [about 2" thick all round] I wouldnt expect a heatmat to be any use. has anyone used external bulbs like you would use for a reptile setup with there GALS? I still need to decide on lighting for this setup so I was considering a bulb that would deliver dual functionality ie heat and light [dont worry I know about keeping the bulbs out of contact with the animals] I think a 40-60watt bulb would be more than adequate just to raise the temp in this setup a little bit higher if necessary. [it measures 30"x28"x18"]

any suggestions here would be appreciated.

Regards,
Brian. ;D

[section8angel]

Well I was going to use a light, but I couldn't find a decent priced stand so I went with heatmats lol.
When I was looking round I thought the red bulbs seemed to be the best imo. They don't give too much light off so it shouldn't disturb the snails, but apparently it's still enough light to be able to see them. And it says you can use them in the day too.
www.cornishcrispa.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_50_167&products_id=529

Something like that was what I was thinking. I found the bulbs cheap enough on many sites, just not the flipping stands >=/ I was going to put mine outside of the tank you see, and shine it in. Would be too much hassle trying to set it up in the tank and fixing a cover round it!

*Stops mumbling now* hope I helped a bit lol

Oh, and too my earlier posts; it seems 22 is too cold for margies. I found Freddie estivating.. (sp?) yesterday! So I'm setting the heatmat up later as I can't put my heater on yet.. (need clearing ) Everyone else is still out though! It's only him. So that's good in a way as it's only him I need to worry about.

[deadmansfinger]

I have no problem with making something to contain the bulb [cage usually but prob not good with snails as they could stick an eye through the mesh ] , I have done this for years with reptiles I just wondered if anyone uses this method to heat GALS. I have used red lights in the past [again for reptiles] as apparently reptiles cannot see red light so to them its dark but we can view them. The light off them isnt that bad actually but...................there's always the problem of who will come knocking at the door if you have a red light in your room [bet Nat goes and buys 1 now ]
I think I might put a couple of small bulbs in or above the setup, one for daytime and a red one for night and see how it goes (unless someones tells me not to beforehand). I wont be doing it this weekend anyway so there is plenty time for me to be told off.

[Paul]

Aestivation would suggest it being too dry rather than too cold.

Also, some snails hibernate regardless of heat, probably through habit. This is apparently the case for tigers, margies could well be the same.

My margies are at that temperature and they are ok, in fact they've just laid eggs!!

[Deleted]

my friend says she just fixed the red heatlamps to the ceiling and they dont have a cover but the snails know its too hot and dont go near it

but probly should have a cover, but if it was metal wud it not heat up?

[Arno]

I use a heatmat in combination with one of those blue daylight lamps,just in a clampspot shining on the tank...

[section8angel]

admin said:

Aestivation would suggest it being too dry rather than too cold.

Also, some snails hibernate regardless of heat, probably through habit. This is apparently the case for tigers, margies could well be the same.

My margies are at that temperature and they are ok, in fact they've just laid eggs!!

Ooo there I go getting mixed up again Thanks for putting me straight! I'll try spraying the tank more often and see if that helps before setting the heat mat up.

Freddie is a Margie from Anjie (A Brixton one I think?) So he might be used to hibernating at this temp like you said. I think it probably might be aestivation though, as the film was very thin.

Congrats on the eggs!

[deadmansfinger]

thanks for the replies. I think I will go with some type of heat bulb but I would never use it without a guard. I have saw some horrific injuries relating to animals sittings on or getting too close to these bulbs.

Thanks,
Brian.

[sezzy5889]

you can get wire cages to go round them can't you? just have to make sure the snail doesn't poke it's head through it

[deadmansfinger]

thats what I said earlier, I would be worried about a snail poking its eye through a wire cage. I think if these bulbs are used they would need to be mounted outside the tank so the snails cant get anywhere near them and Mike if a metal reflector was used it would get very hot. The one in my lizard tank is too hot to touch when the bulb is on. I would not trust the opinion that the snails will sense it is hot and simply avoid it, bit of a risk to take I think