Several husbandry questions!

1. I'm on a budget and would like to get a thermostat. Is it possible to hook up several devices to one thermostat? If so, how?
2. I use heat lamps in addition to small heat pads. How do you know what wattage to use? Is it based on cage size? I know I have to check what my lamps can handle ^^
3. Does anyone use mist systems? What do you think of them? I generally only provide humidity over 50% when they shed..
4. When providing a water dish for a snake, what do you look for? I like those which are large enough for my snakes to soak in, but it's difficult finding any big enough for a snake over 4ft without hitting $30-$50..
Did I miss anything? Any extra tips would be awesome!

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1. You can use one thermostat for multiple tanks. (I think that is what you are asking) ONLY if they are all the same type of heating device with the same wattage and if they are all in the same room with roughly the same ambient temp in that room. You can also use rheostats but you need a somewhat constant temp in the room for them and a heat gun to monitor them. I actually prefer a rheostat over a cheap thermostat. I never had luck with cheap thermostats.

2. I do not like heat lamps and do not recommend them.

3. Never have used them. I run with racks but back in the day when I had tanks I would just manually mist.

4. These are the bowls I use. http://www.reptilebasics.com/water-bowls Again I use racks though so I don't care if they are fancy or not. Someone else might be able to help you with nicer looking bowls.

1. You can buy a Hydrofarm thermostat on Ebay for around $35. They work well, but are a ON/OFF style, no dimming, so they can be annoying for a heat light, I use them with a heat emitter.
2. I like to use 100 watt heat emitters, a high wattage and let the thermostat control the temp. If the wattage is too small, it might struggle to do it's job and could be running constantly.
3. I don't use mist systems, I only spray when they are going to shed.
4. I like to use stone dishes, they don't tip over. Again, Ebay...they are pretty cheap, look under stone dog food dishes or something like that.

Hope this helps, it's just how I like to do things.

Also, how far will 3.4 Oz of F10 get me?

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As far as the water dish, hop over to oreileys, pick up an oil drain pan for 3 bucks ( they can fit like 6 quarts in the 3 dollar ones) if you don't like it being solid black, pick up some 100% silicone(non toxic and much cheaper than aquarium silicone), cover the outside of the drain pain with silicone and apply gravel/reptile bark and some fake moss. This is what I use on large snakes that like to soak. Just clean it real good and use plain for 3 bucks or make it custom for under 20. As for heat lamps I use a 60 watt red bulb 24/7 alone with no other heating accessories. It keeps loki's 15 gallon at 77 to 79 cool side and 86 to 91 on hott, with variations on cold days, so I up to my 75 watt those times. But it's pretty hard to actually recommend a overhead system without actual experience in your geographic area, enclosure size, substrate Amount, etc. It's really just trial and error, constantly monitoring temps and humidity til you find what works. Only to be doing the shuffle all over again come winter time lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by magicmed

As far as the water dish, hop over to oreileys, pick up an oil drain pan for 3 bucks ( they can fit like 6 quarts in the 3 dollar ones) if you don't like it being solid black, pick up some 100% silicone(non toxic and much cheaper than aquarium silicone), cover the outside of the drain pain with silicone and apply gravel/reptile bark and some fake moss. This is what I use on large snakes that like to soak. Just clean it real good and use plain for 3 bucks or make it custom for under 20. As for heat lamps I use a 60 watt red bulb 24/7 alone with no other heating accessories. It keeps loki's 15 gallon at 77 to 79 cool side and 86 to 91 on hott, with variations on cold days, so I up to my 75 watt those times. But it's pretty hard to actually recommend a overhead system without actual experience in your geographic area, enclosure size, substrate Amount, etc. It's really just trial and error, constantly monitoring temps and humidity til you find what works. Only to be doing the shuffle all over again come winter time lol.

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What a great idea for a water bowl. Well done on that one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SCWood

Also, how far will 3.4 Oz of F10 get me?

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For everyday disinfecting it's mixed 1:250. So one oz of product will yield 250 oz (about 2 gallons) of solution.
You don't want to mix this much at once though since it has a shelf life once mixed, usually I do 4 ml in a 1 liter water bottle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

For everyday disinfecting it's mixed 1:250. So one oz of product will yield 250 oz (about 2 gallons) of solution.
You don't want to mix this much at once though since it has a shelf life once mixed, usually I do 4 ml in a 1 liter water bottle.

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O.o sounds complicated

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by magicmed

As far as the water dish, hop over to oreileys, pick up an oil drain pan for 3 bucks ( they can fit like 6 quarts in the 3 dollar ones) if you don't like it being solid black, pick up some 100% silicone(non toxic and much cheaper than aquarium silicone), cover the outside of the drain pain with silicone and apply gravel/reptile bark and some fake moss. This is what I use on large snakes that like to soak. Just clean it real good and use plain for 3 bucks or make it custom for under 20. As for heat lamps I use a 60 watt red bulb 24/7 alone with no other heating accessories. It keeps loki's 15 gallon at 77 to 79 cool side and 86 to 91 on hott, with variations on cold days, so I up to my 75 watt those times. But it's pretty hard to actually recommend a overhead system without actual experience in your geographic area, enclosure size, substrate Amount, etc. It's really just trial and error, constantly monitoring temps and humidity til you find what works. Only to be doing the shuffle all over again come winter time lol.

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Great idea! Thanks ^^

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When using a small heat pad as back or side heat, do you need to use a thermostat?

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0.1 Albino corn