Zoo Med Repti-Therm UTH 8W

by **Tsuhei** Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:49 am

Zoo Med Repti-Therm UTH
Item# RH-4
120VAC 60Hz 8W
Dimesions: 6''x8'' (15x20 cm)

This item is essential to any leopard gecko owner. The 8 Watt Zoo Med Repti-Therm Under Tank Heater is what I use for my gecko’s ten gallon tank for proper belly warmth to aid in digestion.

Zoo Med Repti-Therm UTH 8W $%28KGrHqJ,%21hYE6eU%28oJM7BOsEMiII5g%7E%7E60_1

I purchased this item from my local Petco on sale for just under $20 (USD). One side of the UTH is completely adhesive for easy stick-and-go application for the bottom of my leopard gecko’s glass tank. This item also, conveniently, came with four little “feet” (also with adhesive on one side) to place on the corners of my tank to make a gap between the stand and the UTH to prevent the wire from getting smashed by the weight of my tank. What the feet also do is prevent a potential fire from starting because it gives just enough space between the stand and the bottom of the tank to allow residual heat to escape without warping the wood or metal of your stand.

This is definitely a powerful under tank heater. Unplugged from a rheostat, this little thing can crank up to over 100ºF. That being said, it’s obvious that I don’t recommend using this from socket to tank without using some sort of equipment to control the heat. I personally use the ReptiTemp Rheostat RT10 to control this miniature beast of a heat pad to maintain the perfect 90-95ºF range on the hot side of my tank. However, as strong as it can be, I can’t seem to get it hot enough to heat through approximately ¼’’ of slate tile. On full blast, my UTH was only able to heat the slate to only 86ºF. As disappointing as the attempt was, I have since switched to unglazed ceramic tile. Needless to say, my leopard gecko is enjoying digesting his latest meal at a comfortable 91.6ºF.

As for reliability, it has not failed me at any time for the past three months to properly heat my leopard gecko’s tank. This UTH has never turned off, had major temperature fluctuations, or basic UTH malfunctions such as short circuiting or, in more terrifying cases, catch fire.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to have any built-in safety features. The only way I was able to create a few of my own safety features is to plug it into a rheostat, and then plug the rheostat into a surge protector. Also, this UTH is only big enough for a ten gallon tank. I would not recommend placing this on any smaller or larger tanks, as it would not be able to heat it properly, even with a rheostat.

Overall, this item is fantastic. I would recommend this UTH to anyone that owns a reptile that requires belly heat.

Overall score: 9 out of 10

By Tsuhei

by **kathstew** Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:16 pm

Great review! Smile

I use this heater on my 10 gallon leo growout tank. Works great! Very Happy

Zoo Med Repti-Therm UTH 8W

Zoo Med Repti-Therm UTH 8W

Re: Zoo Med Repti-Therm UTH 8W