Under Tank Heaters?????

[ilovemylizard]

I answered the poll yes, but with a condition...I definitely think what kind of UTH used plays a very big part...just as much as a quality thermostat.

I've tried Zoo Med UTH's in the past, and would advise you (or anyone) to avoid them (or similar stick on ones) like the plague...I had four of them, same size/wattage, installed in the exact same way on identical cages, plugged into the same thermostat, and the only one that heated to the proper temp, was the one with the thermostat probe...the others were way off, one going waaaaaay over 100F, the others were under 90F, and one was only in the low 70's, basically the room temp...

I currently use Ultratherm heat mats, from the Beanfarm.com, and I can't say enough good things about these UTH's...

I have the 11" X 23" or 11 X 28" size on all my plastic boa cages, I attach them with foil tape, underneath the cages, and then put a piece of Reflectix insulation over them, to help push the heat up into the cage, and keep it from escaping into the room...(the cage is upside down in these pics...)







Plastic on these cages is 1/4" thick, with 6 to eight layers of newspaper as bedding, and the heat gets through just fine...

And the foil tape is the only thing sticking the mat to the cage...if I ever need to remove or reposition the mat, I can do it safely (not so with the Zoo Med mats, which are ruined and dangerous if you peel them off)

The cage that has the thermostat probe, I just tape the probe in the middle of one side of the mat, has worked great, even with 6 mats on one thermostat the temps of each mat stay where they should be...

I use a Ranco on/off thermostat...was pretty expensive, but these thermostats are quality industrial ones...I feel really safe using them.

Hope this helps...