Suggestions for a good UTH / Thermostat Combo

[Jughead915]

I need suggestions for a good UTH / Thermostat combo. On/Off or Progressive? I'm using a 15 gallon Terra Blue Professional tank. I'm told that an UTH should provide all the heat I need for the tank, but I'm not sure if that's correct or not. Does anyone think I'd need a heat lamp as well? Also, with using an UTH with a glass tank, do you need to use a reptile carpet under the substrate? Not sure if the heater would cause damage to the ball if he decides to burrow near the glass.

Thanks!

[The Serpent Merchant]

You will only need a heat lamp if the air temperature in the from that the cage is in drops below 75 F. UTH's are great for creating the hot spot, but they do very little to nothing for the air temperature inside the cage.

For recommended UTH's any of the zoo-med/exoterra/etc UTH's will work fine as long as they are hooked up to a high quality thermostat. Ultratherm UTH's are considered to be one of the best and there really isn't a big cost difference with them so that is what I will recommend.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads

As for the thermostat you want to get the best one you can afford. proportional thermostats are worlds better than the on/off style units, but they do cost more. Here are 3 good thermostats:

Budget: Hydrofarm, on/off style, cheap this is the bare minimum:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

Mid-Range: A higher quality on/off style thermostat:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermos...stat-prewired/

Best: Herpstat, Proportional, multiple layers of safety features, and extremely accurate. These are the only thermostats I will use with my reptiles:

http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

For a single UTH I would recommend the Herpstat intro + or the Herpstat 1.

Don't use reptile carpet, that stuff is terrible. There is no need to keep the snake of of the bottom of the tank, the job of the thermostat is to keep the UTH in safe temperature ranges.

For UTH's to work properly you need to keep the substrate layer as thin as possible. no thicker than ½".

For more info check out these threads:

Cage Heating: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

Cage setup (step by step): http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...With-Pictures!

BP Care: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet