Zoo Med U.T.H heaters burning snakes?

[colubridman88]

Anybody heard of this? I am concerned about this. I use thier uths on alot of my stuff. ANY feedback would be nice.Thanks.
Jesse Smith
Colorado Colubrids

[Adam Block]

BE SAFE!! I always say double up for safty, latex breaks!! That may have little to do with this you're thinking right? WRONG!!

Use a GOOD thermostat, use two of them if you can. Go to my site, www.impactreptiles.com and click on supplies, then click on the Ranco info. Buy one from Grainger and save a TON of money. They are the best you can find and will keep your animals safe.

I use two just for backup, one is set to keep my herp room at 83, so if it falls under it of course turns on the heat. The other is set to cut power to everything if the room goes over 87 just as a back. They should cost you about $62 and while one is more then good two is just an extra precaution if you have high dollar animals.

If you need help wiring call me and I'd be happy to walk you through it although it's fairly easy.

Remember, it's not the heating source that's the issue, it's only as good as what you have controling it. DON'T RISK using a dimmer, not worth it!

[Texas Atrox]

A good thermostat is a must. I have heard horror stories of critters getting cooked by different heat sources, including UTHs. I wouldn't chance it.

Dave

[BrianB]

I've got several of the zoo med UTHs, and they get HOT. Definately hot enough to kill some snakes. If you use them, you need a thermostat. And you need to TEST the thermostat before putting an animal in there.

The Cobra heat mats and regular human heat pads don't tend to get as hot, but you should still use some form of thermostat with those.

[Tom Chambers]

YES! I use Zoo Meds and even with THEIR rheostat at the LOWEST possible setting I was getting UTH surface temps of 125 plus!

MUST use a thermostat with these...Helix or Big Apple work great.

Good luck and don't bake a snake!

TC

[mykee]

Hey Adam, if you're gonna spend that much, why not just get a Helix, I swear by the ones I use, and they're FAR MORE accurate that probably anything out there.

[Adam Block]

Mike, I couldn't tell you, I've never used a helix... My friend Jim Kane was using the Ranco's way back in the day. Most would agree he was the most anal reptile breeder ever and so I assumed he knew something I didn't.

They're used by labs for $1,000,000 projects, I guess I just thought that made them the cats butt however I could be wrong.

Anybody know more about this?

[Clay Davenport]

I'have both Helix and the Big Apple proportional thermostats in use right now. Both are fine units, and perform well. The only edge I would give would be the big apple model comes with a built in night drop feature that requires no extra equipment. With the helix, you have to get a couple of ad ons.

I've never used the Ranco, but let's be realistic. Helix professes a +/- 0.5° accuracy. There just isn't a cage setup that requires that close of a range. If the other two even approach that the argument is pointless.
Anything that will hold a given temperature with less than a 5° variance is completely adequate for any cage.
Given the prices of the three, I'd be inclined to try the Ranco next myself, it's nearly $40 cheaper.

As for the UTH burning a snake. Many people make the unfortunate assumption that since these pads are made by ZooMed and sold for use with reptiles that they are designed to reach a temperature suitable for that purpose and no more. Everyone with any experience with them knows this isn't true at all.
While I haven't seen it personally I have heard of instances of these heaters reaching temperatures high enough to crack the glass in the bottom of the tank they were used on.
No matter what the heat source used, a thermostat is a requirement. Even if it's the ZooMed Repti Temp 500R on/off type.
Personally I see the UTH and other commercial heaters to be a waste of money. Flexwatt does a great job, and costs a fraction of what the manufacturered heaters do. I don't use anything else for substrate heating.

[gmherps]

Ranco is the only temp device I've ever used, and probably will be the only I'll ever use. They work like a champ!

[Adam Block]

I know I've said this but I've been really happy with Ranco.

I think I like the fact that they work anything you wanna use them on. I'm sure they can break but I've never heard a story about them causing any trouble.

People use them a lot with their saltwater tank chillers too.

Can you use the Big Apple or Helix with hot or cold?

I don't know if either are on/off but that's a big plus to me as you can use them on just about any item. I keep my herps in a big closet now. I have it hooked up to a space heater with NO TROUBLES at all!

Clay, try one, I would like to know how you compair them as I've only had the one.