Reptile Basic's heat tape or ultratherm heat pads?

I have one of their UTH pads, but now that I'm setting up another cage I'm wondering if heat tape would be better or the same? I know a lot of people on here use the flexwatt heat tape, what makes it different from the ready to go heat pads? Thanks :)

There is no difference in flexwatt or THG (what RBI sells). These two have the advantage of being able to be cut to size. Ultratherm is already assembled and heat pads like zoo med are something you can walk into a pet store to get. Outside from that, any of these on a thermostat are going to provide the same heat.
If you feel you need heat tape due to the need for a custom size, have the vendor assemble it for you to your size specification. If you don't need a custom size then just use utlratherm. If you just want to walk in somewhere and pick something up, grab one from zoo med.

Every single one of these has to be regulated by a thermostat even if you read that they are fine without one, don't use them without a thermostat.

In addition to what SDA said, ultratherm is generally considered to be of higher quality. The heat pads are designed to have a lower maximum temperature, so in the case of a thermostat or electrical malfunction, the heat tape does not get extremely hot. In my experience, running one unregulated gives you about around 100 F. However, I have read reports on some people saying they go higher. I run mine with herpstats so I haven't tested them much.

I recently set up an Exo Terra 12x18x24 habitat with a 6x23 Ultratherm UTH for our first BP. I had been told that I could run the UTH without a thermostat and yet everything I had read was contrary to what I had been told by the shop that was selling all of the equipment to me.

When I measured the temperature on the bottom of the habitat, the Ultratherm UTH read a consistent 110 degrees. Needless to say, we added a Herpstat 1 before we added our BP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by larryd23

I recently set up an Exo Terra 12x18x24 habitat with a 6x23 Ultratherm UTH for our first BP. I had been told that I could run the UTH without a thermostat and yet everything I had read was contrary to what I had been told by the shop that was selling all of the equipment to me.

When I measured the temperature on the bottom of the habitat, the Ultratherm UTH read a consistent 110 degrees. Needless to say, we added a Herpstat 1 before we added our BP.

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thats one reason I dislike pet stores. Unless the store has an actual snake keeper they treat them like lizards. I'm lucky that my local family owned pet store has a keeper that put me on the right path. That being said this forum is the best info source i've found

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