brand of uth

[lindy]

I cant decide what kind of uth I need to get.
I am thinking of the exo terra heat wave 8x8 or the T rex cobra heat mat thats 7 watts. Anyone have these types and if so can you tell me how they are working for you. I have zoo med but it doesnt get really hot enough for my likeing. Anyways any feedback would be great. I currently have a red light on two tanks so im switching to uth and just wanted to know what you guys think

 

[acpart]

I use the zoo-med and don't have trouble with it. I'm not familiar with the others, however, I'm leery of using the heat mats that just look like a piece of pre-wired flexwatt because I have heard too many stories about hot spots in flexwatt that melted stuff or started fires.

Aliza

 

[2bacop]

I use zoo-med to and I have never had any problems

 

[lindy]

thanks for the replies

I was staying away from zoo med because it doesnt heat up too much the room that my geckos are in is 60-65 degrees and the zoomed brings the temp to 80-85 degrees. just wondering if anyone had any other brand

 

[ReptileMan27]

I find zoo med to be the best because they dont generally get to hot. Some other ones will get so hot that can be a danger to your reptile.

 

[sammer021486]

I cant decide what kind of uth I need to get.
I am thinking of the exo terra heat wave 8x8 or the T rex cobra heat mat thats 7 watts. Anyone have these types and if so can you tell me how they are working for you. I have zoo med but it doesnt get really hot enough for my likeing. Anyways any feedback would be great. I currently have a red light on two tanks so im switching to uth and just wanted to know what you guys think

I have never used the cobra heat mat (it is highly recommended by one of the retailers that I buy from), but have used the exo-terra and my little 4x5 desert heat from exo-terra can put out 115F unregulated. I use exo-terra's in all of my tanks and none of them have developed a hot spot yet.

I have used only one zoomed uth and it actually developed hot spots along with not getting to the proper temps.

One thing that I have to point out is that if you use them inside of the tank and water or urates gets on the mat. The mat can short and cause burns, I have seen pictures of a boa's mat that got soaked with urates and it fried the mat.

 

[lindy]

ill be using the uth for a bookshelf enclosure, the mats will be under a tile

 

[Frognut]

ill be using the uth for a bookshelf enclosure, the mats will be under a tile

I have an Exo-Terra (medium size - I think) directly under the glass of the tank with only paper towels for substrate and I use a Rheostat to regulate the temperature - because it was too hot. What kind of tile are you using?

There does need to be some air flow to the UTH, are you placing the UTH directly between the cabinet and the tile? Or is there a gap for air flow?

 

[justindh1]

I also find the exo terras heat good too. Thats what i usually get because i have a discount card the pet store i go to and thats the kind they carry. I have tried others and had no problem but exo seems to be smaller and better built but thats just me.

 

[lindy]

I havent thought about the air part, i have been using lights so im changing to uth. how would i get air flow without the gecko getting underneath it?

 

[Frognut]

I havent thought about the air part, i have been using lights so im changing to uth. how would i get air flow without the gecko getting underneath it?

I'm just working on a plan to make an enclosure out of one of my kitchen cabinets and was coming up on this same problem. I don't know if my solution will help you or not -- but here is... (actually not sure if is going to work yet either -- I'm testing some things first!)

I'm going to cut a hole out of the bottom of the cabinet, the size of the UTH and when I put the floor in (slate tiles) I'm going to stick the UTH to the actual tile. These are not sticky tiles, but pieces of slate tile. The tiles on this side will be secured so they are won't come up. The cabinet will sit up on small feet, just enough to allow air flow underneath -- just like my glass tank does now.

I will probably have to either grout in between the tiles or place a layer of paper towels on this side so I don't have to worry about Gretchen going potty in between the pieces of tile or anything dropping down in the cracks.

The UTH would never heat through the wood and the tile, so I'm removing the wood in that area - and just heating the tile.

I hope that makes sense - and if anyone has other ideas or reasons why this is a bad idea.... PLEASE chime in!:main_yes:

 

[lindy]

well i cant "glue" the tiles down beause it would make the bookshelf to heavy to move. I have one uth in one of the enclosurse and the heat does go thru the wood shelf a bit. and absobs thru the tile. I dont think there will be any problem with just laying the uth on top of the wooden shelf then placing the tile on top. the tile doesnt cover the uth all of the way there is a 1/4 inch or so space. If any one has better ideas i would love to hear them

 

[sammer021486]

well i cant "glue" the tiles down beause it would make the bookshelf to heavy to move. I have one uth in one of the enclosurse and the heat does go thru the wood shelf a bit. and absobs thru the tile. I dont think there will be any problem with just laying the uth on top of the wooden shelf then placing the tile on top. the tile doesnt cover the uth all of the way there is a 1/4 inch or so space. If any one has better ideas i would love to hear them

I have my heat mat inside of a melamine enclosure, with slate tiles on top. I have been running this setup for 4 years now and have had no bubbling of the melamine, nor heat spots or burns showing up on the heat mat.

 

[Frognut]

I have my heat mat inside of a melamine enclosure, with slate tiles on top. I have been running this setup for 4 years now and have had no bubbling of the melamine, nor heat spots or burns showing up on the heat mat.

Well if it works for you, that's great (seriously, no sarcasm). But those UTH can generate some serious heat, and I wouldn't trust or recommend placing something like that between wood and slate - the risk is still there. (Or any two materials for that matter -- but it's just my opinion).

Before I got my first UTH, I used an older style heating pad, and placed it directly on the table under the glass tank (without providing air flow under the tank), the plastic on the heating pad melted and left little bubbly marks on the table. I'm not comfortable with that idea myself.

Again, that's my opinion.

 

[sammer021486]

I was cautious about the heat mat, but since I am running it for leopard geckos at 90F and regulated with a thermostat I am alright with the close contact of the two materials. It is basically like having a person sit on a sheet of melamine, no ill effect is going to happen, but there can be instances that do cause the mat to over heat and cause a problem.

I have seen many glass bottom enclosures on a non regulated heat mat shatter, but have never seen a melamine enclosure have any problems with a regulated heat mat. Melamine enclosures are what a lot of UK herpers keep their reptiles in and are the people whom I gathered the advice from over the years, before finding this site.