Can anyone recommend a good rheostat?

I have a zoo-med rheostat with two outlets and 2 flex-watt heat tape set ups plugged in. When dialed in to the lowest temperature setting one strip of tape reads at 90°F, while the other reads at almost 100°F. I'm looking for a good rheostat that has several outlets (at least 4) with fairly accurate or sensitive temperature dialing especially since I'll be attempting to breed a couple of my BPs later this year and I know you have to dial the temperature down a few degrees to simulate a cold season.

Also is it safe and would it work if you plugged a surge protector into one rheostat? That could save me the outlet space.


-Chris

I highly suggest getting a thermostat. Rheostats aren't reliable.
If you're on a budget, get a Hydrofarm off amazon for $30 with free shipping. You can plug a powerstrip to the thermostat and plug multiple flexwatt to the strip. If you can afford it, I would get a herpstat, which starts off at $99.

It will save you time, energy, and heartbeak of a failing rheostat....

And cooling balls for breeding is not necessary. Some people do it, others don't. Putting a male in with a female is stimulation enough for mating to occur.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

If you're serious about breeding, or keeping your snakes in optimal conditions, ditch the rheostats and purchase thermostats. Thermostats do exactly what you said you wanted in your post.

x2 on not needing a cooling period before breeding BPs.

Id suggest herpstat 1 or ve100 both cost around 100