Thermostat on both heat sources?

Hey everyone, new member here and soon to be new BP owner. I'm a research junkie, so when I decided to finally take the plunge and get my own BP I started reading, and reading, and reading some more. The only problem with that is the conflicting information you get from all of the various sources out there. I think I am making some headway, but there is one question I could use some advise on, which is stated in the title on this thread. I'm planning on a professional enclosure from Animal Plastics eventually, but since I am adopting my first snake from a friend, I will be temporarily be using a 30 gallon aquarium. For heat sources I will be using a heat emitter and an UTH. I've always read that a stat and UTH should be used together, but what about the heat emitter? I have a dimmer switch for it, but to me that still does not seem ideal. I plan on purchasing a decent thermostat, but since the probe for the thermostat would not be able to be placed to work for both, I though maybe I should get a stat like the herpstat 2 or VE-300X2 with two separate probes. Is this overkill? Can I get away with just one stat on the UTH and still be relatively safe with the heat emitter on the dimmer switch? What is the opinion of you professionals out there? Thanks for any and all input!

Personally I would use the heat emmitter only and put that on a stat. The UTH isn't mandatory, but for some reason people seem to think it is. An appropriate wattage CHE on a thermostat can provide a good basking spot and thermal gradient on its own

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Thanks for your reply! The snake has been living with a heat emitter as it's only source of heat for the last 4 years and has been doing just fine, i'm not sure why I had in my head that I needed one. I guess it was the frequent mention of the UTH that got me thinking... I'll likely save some $$$ and buy a single probe stat and roll with the heat emitter for now and see how things go.

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Originally Posted by CryHavoc17

Personally I would use the heat emmitter only and put that on a stat. The UTH isn't mandatory, but for some reason people seem to think it is.

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You are 100% correct - a UTH is not mandatory. As you also stated, a way to provide a properly regulated thermal gradient for your snake is. One of the ways to do this, and the way you have found to work best for you, is by using heat emitter. For many keepers, a UTH works best to provide such a gradiant. My own personal reason to use and recommend UTH is because 1) they are not associated with the humidity loss that heat emitters can create, and 2) in a rack system, UTH is more practical. I feel that these two reasons, in addition to the cost effectiveness of not needing to purchase a dome and bulbs (which require replacing as needed), are why they tend to get recommended the most often. Please, try not to alienate the large number of users on this site who use and recommend UTH as a heat source(s) when providing advice of your own.

OP,
The most important thing for you and your snake is the end result. As long as you have complete control of the temperatures in your enclosure and monitor them frequently, there's no reason to change your heating solution. They way you do this is through use of a reliable thermostat, as you are already aware of. A proper thermal gradient is 80 F on the "cool side" and 90 F on the "warm side" (with no access to temperatures over 95 F at any location within the enclosure). If you can maintain this, you're golden. As I briefly mentioned above, the other thing to keep in mind is humidity. The goal is to provide enough humidity to have perfect, full body sheds, but not high enough to create health concerns. This tends to be 50-60% most of the time, and raising it to 60-70% while they're in shed. If there's anything else we can help with, don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks for the response Eric! I'm pretty much set up the way it was with the previous owner and seems to be working great, numbers are where they should be. I'll add a thermostat next weekend and I should be good to go till I can buy the better enclosure, then I will make the switch to the RHP and carry my stat over. This snake has rarely had any shed issues in the past, so I am hoping to keep that trend going forward. This site has been the best source of info I have been able to find, you will likely see my name associated with many more questions in the future. Thanks again!