UTH Size? Between sizes

[The Night King]

Hi gang-

I'm reading the sticky for setting up my tank and I'll be using the Exo Terra 24 inch long terrarium. I know the recommendations for UTH say to get something about a third width of the tank. I'm looking at the ultratherm UTH. I think they have 6x11" and 11x11" neither is really 1/3. One is 1/4 and the other is just under a half. Room temp where the BP will be is about 72 degrees. Should I get one size over the other?

We we will be using a thermostat as recommended in the setup.

First BP for me and my 6yr old daughter

[nrbosley]

I'd suggest that you get the larger heat mat to allow you better control of the heat in your enclosure. Too small may not be enough, but a little too large can be dialed back. Just remember to allow a gradient across the enclosure, allowing a cooler side for the snake to escape to when it needs to.

[ckuhn003]

Hi gang-

I'm reading the sticky for setting up my tank and I'll be using the Exo Terra 24 inch long terrarium. I know the recommendations for UTH say to get something about a third width of the tank. I'm looking at the ultratherm UTH. I think they have 6x11" and 11x11" neither is really 1/3. One is 1/4 and the other is just under a half. Room temp where the BP will be is about 72 degrees. Should I get one size over the other?

We we will be using a thermostat as recommended in the setup.

First BP for me and my 6yr old daughter

I would opt for the larger size (guessing the price difference isn't huge) because I think it's better to have the ability to get your heat where you need it and throttle it back with your thermostat. Just for reference, I have to keep my room at 77 to achieve an ambient at 80 degrees but I don't have a bulb heating the enclosure.

[hollowlaughter]

Go with the larger one IMHO, you adult will need an upgrade to a 20G L eventually and that allows you to move the UTH to the new enclosure. Look around for guides on how to affix a UTH without using the included intended-to-be-permanent adhesive.

UTH don't change ambients much so if the room is set at 72F you may need to consider a CHE and/or as well. 75F is as low as they can safely go. 78-79F is more ideal.

[The Night King]

Great thanks much

[Craiga 01453]

I would go with the larger one as well. A little less than half of the enclosure is better then just a quarter.

One thing to keep in mind, the UTH is there to create a hot spot and NOT there for ambient temps. So room temp won't play a factor in which UTH you buy. With ambient room temps below 82-84 you will need an additional heat source.