heat mat

is a 8" x 12" heat mat ok for a 20 long cus right now i have 2 6" x 8" for my 20 an its not working out so i need to bump it up a lil

It's perfect for 20 long if you have a 30x12x12 tank. 6x8 is too small for a 20 long.

ya i no but i got two on there an im thinking about buying a 8" x 12"

Yup 8x12 will be great for a 20 long

thank u mardy i mean ive been keeping the right temps with 2 6x8its just i get cold spots

cold spots are fine as long as the hide they are in is at the right temp.

A larger mat will likely also be a higher wattage and if you're having troubles maintaining the proper temps of 90-96*F then a larger, higher wattage mat would be in order. Sometimes you can find similarly sized mats with different wattages. Perfect example is the cobra heat mat manufacturered by ultratherm and t-rex. The t-rex cobra 6x11 is a 7 watt heat mat whereas the ultratherm cobra 6x11 is an 11 or 12 watts (can't recall exactly off hand, I have it bookmarked on my pc and I'm using my smartphone for now ). Pay attention to the wattage as well as the size. A 7 watt or lower heat mat will have difficulty heating thru half an inch of solid substrait, you'll want to bump up to an 11-15 watt mat. Particle substrait is usually deeper than a half inch and harder to heat because the nature of prticle substrait is v ery porous so not only do you have to heat the substrait of each particle but also the air between the particles. It will not hold heat as well as a solid surface substrait which is likely why leos, being thigmatherms, live in rocky craigs and crevaces, for more consistant belly heat which is how they regulate their core temperature. Hope that helps