Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 1:21 pm
Some of the glass heaters (Ebo-Jagers, for one) are made out of a thicker-than-normal tempered glass that's much less fragile than regular glass. I've used both glass heaters and "unbreakable" heaters made out of other materials and haven't yet had a problem with the glass ones.
That said, keep the heater away from rocks and other objects (you'd want to do this with any heater, though, so that the water circulates freely around it). Follow the instructions that came with the heater. And with any heater, let it sit in the tank water for 15 minutes before turning it to let it get adjusted to the water temp; likewise when you unplug the heater (to do a cleaning, for example) let the heater stay in the water for 15 minutes before you remove it from the tank. If you're really concerned about breakage, you could get a heater guard (Tronic makes good ones that fit a number of different other heaters, just make sure the lengths are the same); it's also safer for your turt if s/he likes to play/lay on it.
What brand of heater did you buy?
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-