UTH Brands

I cant seem to find a thread that recommends brands. I need a second and soon thrid uth and was wondering who has problems and what problems you had? i have been using a zoo-med for my 30 gal glass and it's working great with my light dimmer thing. i am setting up 2 more 30 gal glass and will need 2 mote uth. i found online deals for exo-terra and zoo-med. i also found a brand called t-rex. so, what's your beef?

I like the t-rex and the ultratherm http://www.reptilebasics.com/Ultrath...p-1-c-273.html

zoo-med has never failed on me

My opinion is that Ultratherm makes the best and they don't have that pesky sticky side either so it is easy to reuse them on other enclosures. But opinions are much like those other things,as far as "everybody has one".

Yeah, opinions are like those other things for sure. I like zoo-med. i don't mind the sticky side. i cover that with alumnium tape anyways so that i can resue them. So we are 1 to 1 to 0. anybody else?

ultra therm is the best/most reliable/safest - hands down.

I have ZooMed pads on nearly every single enclosure here (16) and they work beautifully! You MUST have a thermostat to use them, but the same goes for any other heat source. :)

After that, I do like the Ultratherm pad. But don't have an Ultratherm on the same t-stat as ZooMeds, because it'll run higher. :) Learned that one the hard way.

Had a Zoo Med, and found without a T-stat it would be 120, needless to say a t-stat is necessary with any UTH (IMHO - yes I have one too). When we "upgraded" our BPs enclosure we got a t-rex at Amazon. The reason was that we were shown that the ones they were using registered at 95-100, which I felt was safer in case of t-stat failure.

When we eventually get an RBI enclosure with RHP and UTH, we will worry no more. I currently read temps via gun and probes twice a day.

I use the zoomed ones only because i have tons of them. I cover the sticky side with aluminum tape to make them reusable. But i also put 3 or 4 sheets of Newspaper between the uth and the tank because they run too hot. I've got all my tanks and tubs set up now with Zero Temp controll. Depends on the size of the uth but on mine 3 sheets of newspaper insulates it perfectly.

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Originally Posted by dsirkle

My opinion is that Ultratherm makes the best and they don't have that pesky sticky side either so it is easy to reuse them on other enclosures. But opinions are much like those other things,as far as "everybody has one".

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Can you give a new-guy some proper advice/methods of installing an Ultratherm to glass, please?! Thanks!

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Originally Posted by JeRMz

Can you give a new-guy some proper advice/methods of installing an Ultratherm to glass, please?! Thanks!

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Get yourself some aluminum foil tape and tape the Ultratherm to the glass.

flexwatt :gj:

Ultratherm (T-rex I thought were ultratherms? Both made in Scotland how many UTH are made there? The look the same with the same specs my best guess is they same product) Intellitemp, Kane and exoterra rainforest all are lower temp UTH. I like ultratherm (T-rex?) the best although I have not tried the intellitemp so I can't comment on this. Zoo meds get too hot IMO there is no need for a uth to get to 160º same for the exoterra deserts and Zilla. Unless you need temps of over 100º I would not use them.

Chiming in Utratherm. I have some from Beanfarm (striped element) and Reptile Basics (solid element) and I recommend Reptile Basics. I am of the opinion that probe placement and readings are more accurate with the solid element sold by Reptile Basics.

Oh hey, I might be able to help, having used several brands myself :)

ZooMed is my favorite on a smaller scale, as they're easy to use, easy to attach, and durable as hell. When you leave them on the original tank, they'll last for YEARS - I got my first ZooMed heat pad when I was a lil kid, with my first snake, and that pad only gave out a couple years ago after I'd moved out... After about 16 or 17 years of use! I have 5 more pads I use at home with other tanks and have not had to replace any, and on top of that in the stores we use ZooMed heat pads on all of our Vision cages...so each store runs about 40 to 50 pads each. In the store I run, we've replaced two pads in the last two years, both times because we slid a cage over them funny and ruined them ourselves.

I also use Fluker's heat pads at home, and they're what I recommend for most folks if you expect to have to move the pad or upgrade cages etc. They can be attached with electrical tape or aluminum tape and work just as well as the stick on pads, but they do run hotter than the ZooMed pads do. A thermostat helps immensely when you're not trying to achieve those kinds of high temperatures.

I've also used the T-Rex and Exoterra brands, and just didn't like them as much personally. They work, I just like the ZooMed and Fluker's better. The T-Rex pad used to be kind of fluffy, almost, all poofy - it sometimes made my tanks lean funny. The ExoTerra pads are shaped like the fluker's, but adhesive, so there's a little gap between the heating elements that I don't like. If I'm gonna stick the pad on, I want the whole pad to be warm.

Hope that helped! Let me know if you have any more questions. I have access to hundreds of the things :)

-Jen