I have about 3 inches of coconut fiber as the substrate will the heat from the mat rise through that, or shall I stick the mat to the back of the tank i heard that infrared heat bulbs are bad for them please; et me know, Thanks
Never put a heat source under the tank. They burrow down to cool off, not warm up.
Put the mat on the back wall, so the bottom of the mat hits the top of the substrate.
IR bulbs are actually okay, as long as they're only hitting half of the tank. It's UV light that harms them. I still prefer using a mat, though.
Also, coconut fiber is the best substrate, so you're good there. Might wanna put another inch if it's a 10-gallon tank, but it's fine.
I keep mine on a deep earth mix so they can dig burrows. They can then go to different levels of the burrow to get closer or further from the heat mat.
