Heat tape vs heat pad

Can you use a heat pad on a tub with a thermostat like heat tape

Yeah you can, I just wouldn’t stick the adhesive part of the pad to the plastic. . Keep an eye on it with a temp gun till you’re sure it’s working, plastic has a better thermal efficiency than glass. Use a quality t stat too. My friend own a reptile store and he’s had a couple customers report melted mats from using them with cheap hydroponic on/off units like the hydrofarm one that’s fairly popular.

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I have used a setup like this for almost all of my reptiles for a few years with no issues. Make sure you have a thermostat otherwise it could melt the tub.

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What thermostat do you recommend

I have used quite a few different brands. My absolute favorite so far is a herpstat by spyder robotics. They have some that go up to 6 if you have a bunch of tubs

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Thanks so much

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Of course! I’m always happy to help whenever I can. :grinning:

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The only thermostat I’m 100% trusting of is my herpstats with their upgrade probes. That said if you’re on top of it a VE100 should be fine. The little reptitemp units work pretty good too for controlling a single mat but I’m gun shy about any sub $100 unit.

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I have hydrofarm, two to be exact. They have had zero issues and work perfectly and have for nearly four years. The mass majority of reviews for hydrofarm are also positive, so I think those guys got unlucky, or used even cheaper $20 units and not hydrofarm. If you are just doing a few set ups hydrofarm is fine. Especially if you don’t have the privilege of being able to afford more expensive thermostats. I also have the adhesive stuck to the tubs, with the probe sandwiched between the UTH and the tub. Haven’t had or heard of any issues regarding that.

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