Zoo Med 18" hood on an Exo Terra 18" terrarium?

[Nathan Tetzlaff]

I have a bit of a dilemma - I prefer Exo Terra's 18x18x12 enclosure, but Zoo Med's hood seems to be slighty better ( and cheaper ) than the equivalent Exo Terra hood. Does anyone here use a Zoo Med hood with an Exo Terra tank? Does it fit correctly, or are there issues? I'm assuming the hoods have tabs where they're suppose to snap into place, but I'm uncertain, so figured it would be best to post here and see if anyone has experience with my situation.

[Mentat]

I've done same mix on a 12" x 12" and the hood fit with a little gap in front where screen was visible. Best thing to do is go to store that have both and check the fit in there before you buy them. The ZooMed hoods are way better than ExoTerra models because can handle higher wattage (60) and the 18" and larger have two switches. Good luck !

[Nathan Tetzlaff]

I've done same mix on a 12" x 12" and the hood fit with a little gap in front where screen was visible...

I took my exo to the store with me to try out the fit and see what it was like - the hood fits, but because the exo terra lid is slightly raised from the surrounding lip of the terrarium, the hood slides around slightly. It's not a huge deal as the "hooks" on the zoo med hood still grab the edges of the exo terra lid, but I'm considering building another lid using a screen window kit from home depot to solve the problem. For those curious, here's a picture of how the zoo med hood rests on top of an exo terra lid. This may help users in the future as I was only able to find two reviews from users trying this combination out - one said the hood "wouldn't fit", but I find it to be adequate.

[Mentat]

Looks fine to me. As long as the hood does not accidentally slip of the screen top frame, it should work .