Under Tank Heaters

Do you have any brands specifically that you like? Also with rheostats. I've read some reviews on petsmart and petco and so far it seems like zoo med's UTH's are good and inexpensive, but I was wondering which brands you guys were using?

I use T-Rex brand cobra heat mat, 6x11 inch 7 watt on a 20 long viv. Cobra also is put out by ultratherm which for the same size mat is a 12 watt. Cobra uses all copper band filament that operates at a consistant 100*f and is manufactured in scotland (for ultratherm) it is waterproof and non adhesive so easily moveable or useable in a wooden viv. I paid about $16 for the 6x1 and about $26 for the approx 16x29 that's in our ball pythons 90 gallon viv. I ordered both from places online and had them within 5 days. I have no complaints, love the performance and they last forever. Can't go wrong with cobra.

I would prefer having non-peel and stick UTH's, but thats why Zoo Med mats are so cheap; their one shots. Once you apply it, it'll near stick to anything else again.

Zoo med is good, but non-peel and stick brands will "go further" in a sense.

I'm using Zoo Med's Reptitherm on my 12 tanks, no problems so far. T-rex cobra heating pads are also good. Only brand I've heard bad things about are the Zilla ones. I keep reading about people saying their Zilla pads died out or shorted out, or it stopped sticking, etc..

I wouldn't get a rheostat, it's a dimmer and does not regulate the UTH temperature. If you are going to spend money on a rheostat, you can spend just a lil bit more and get a thermostat. A thermostat will actually shut the UTH off if it goes above a certain threshold. As for brand, there's one from Amazon that has a digital display at a price range where you won't find digital display with other brands. Great reviews, should work fine for what you are looking to do.