Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey folks I was wondering what brand of under the tank heater you like the best, which is most reliable as far as heat temps reading correctly and any other info on different brands.
Thanks

If you have only 1 tank(10 gallon?) I would find a NON HERP heat pad(for geriatrics at a pharmacy)with a rotary dial temp adjustment. It will likely be easiery to find, cheaper and easier for you to use. Just make sure the tank doesnt leak water onto it, put it under only 1 end of the tank and you should be fine. Jeff

That won't work I have a 55 gal. a 20 long and a 10 gal. they all have zoo med heaters and I am using lots of paper on the warm side to keep it from being too hot. Then I end up having to tape the thicker side down to the cool side paper so I know they can't crawl under the paper.
When I pull all the paper to change it I can't believe how hot the glass is. Of course the snakes aren't in it with the paper out but geez I had no idea how bloomin hot these things get.

The type Jeff is talking about worked just fine with a Boa Constrictor I had in a room a while back, I had the regular generic heating pad that has the low, medium, high setting dial. On the low setting with half of it under tank, it worked just great. Maybe those "Zoo-Med" pads are much hotter.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Doug,
I've noticed that some of the ZooMed pads get really hot, but the smallest size (4x5) works fine for me. I order them really cheap from a place called Pet Mountain and double them up for larger snakes.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.2.0 Pueblans
1.0.0 Pueblan Hypo
1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.1.0 California King Blue-eyed Blond
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
0.0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1.0 Ball, Normal
0.0.1 Sulcata
0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

n/p
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

The ZooMed pads should be used in combination with a thermostat or rheostat.

There are however some nice UTH from the Bean Farm that allegedly do not require regulation for most applications.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

If nothing else, make sure you have a good thermostat to plug it into. I keep mine on low right now, since Eddie's in the smaller tank at the moment. When he had five inches of substrate and a rock-drainage layer between him and the heater, I kept it on medium high.
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Thank you

I use ZooMed heaters pluged into ESU Reptile heat controlers. Keeps the temps in the hot spot right where I want them. Only time that I have ever had any problem with this set up was when the snake had moved the probe and the controller was letting the tank get too hot because it was measuring the temp in the wrong spot. I taped the probe down and have had no more problems. Oh yeah, I use a thick layer of aspen in my cages.

Manda in Seattle

Damien- Black Mexican Kingsnake
Nibbles- Normal Motley Cornsnake
Gratch- Okeetee Cornsnake
Soon to be adding more once I figure out what I want to add

Thank you.. where do you find those?

I can't remember who I bought them from but I found them online. They were kinda pricey but they work good.

Manda in Seattle

Damien- Black Mexican Kingsnake
Nibbles- Normal Motley Cornsnake
Gratch- Okeetee Cornsnake
Soon to add more as soon as I figure out what I want to add

If you have heat rocks or pads....
At home depot they have spray insulation...GREAT STUFF they call it. Its liquid foam, and when dry it can be carved into different shapes and thicknesses. You can cover a heat rock with differring thicknesses of this to dissipate heat variably, and you can spray it in the bottom of a tank and it will form to the shape....but still be able to be removed. Now its not poop-proof, but it is not toxic to animals when dry. Just another idea....

If I'm not mistaken - that's the stuff I saw used to make a very beautiful frog vivarium. They put the water lines (tubes) in place along the back wall of a tall tank, covered the ends, and used some kind of foam to make a back drop. Then they sculpted out places for small tropical plants to grow from the wall, etc. - it turned out very well, and after a year or two of plant growth, it was a vivarium that just couldn't be beat visually.
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I decided my old sig was too big.