Do you use multiple thermostats for a RUB setup?

So I am spending a hell of lot of free time lately looking at snakes, everything to do with reptiles, Brian videos, blah blah blah, the stereotypical reptile lover starter pack. But then I got curious; I often see racks that people have set out with all the RUBs and heatmats, but they don't really go into detail about the thermostats.

I know that some people have a room dedicated solely to heating reptiles, but for those who don't, I imagine the heat source has to be monitered at multiple points. How does that work out? Are you supposed to use a single thermostat for each RUB, because I imagine that can get pricey pretty quickly. Or is there some other mysterious way of monitering a larger amount of reptiles on a thermostat that I don't know about?

Without getting into a lot of detail, with the correct thermostat you can run entire racks off a single one. The the total number depends on the total length and size of the heat tape and the rating for that thermostat in question. That said you I always ran a backup thermostat when I was not on ambient.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Without getting into a lot of detail, with the correct thermostat you can run entire racks off a single one. The the total number depends on the total length and size of the heat tape and the rating for that thermostat in question. That said you I always ran a backup thermostat when I was not on ambient.

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What sort of thermostat would that be? Does it have multiple probes or there a certain brand name that breeders with RUBs might use?

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Originally Posted by Marzipan

What sort of thermostat would that be? Does it have multiple probes or there a certain brand name that breeders with RUBs might use?

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I am hesitant to recommend products but here is a link that will show you the possibilities. I used the Vivarium Electonics stuff for my rack and to run individual tubs with no problems. A lot of people like the Helix stuff. As far as how it is set up, run a search on here and you will return lots of info. If you are running heat pads/tape you want one that has a proportional mode.

Depends on the wattage that can be handled most QUALITY thermostat will be able to handle 700 watts which is enough to control your heat source for several tubs so long the heat source is the same for each tubs.

In a rack setup it is and generally the probe is place on the middle shelf of the rack.

You can control several stand alone tubs as well, again depends on the wattage that your T-Stat can handle and the wattage of each UTH and all UTH MUST be the same size and wattage, otherwise there will be a differential in temps.

A helix thermostat, a herpstat, or vivarium electronics are all decent brands that can run more than one heat mat at a time. You only use a single probe, and the thermostat will run all the mats based on that one probe (so you'll want to make sure you've got the same type of animal in those tubs together). I use a VE-200 for my two ball pythons. I have the probe under my regular BP's cage, but both mats are run at the set temp.

Helix: http://helixcontrols.com/
Herpstat: http://www.spyderrobotics.com/index....=index&cPath=1
VE: http://www.vivariumelectronics.com/

I don't know if these are available in the US, but the reptile breeder near me uses the EVO PRO Microclimate thermostat, and I run an EVO lite which is smaller but awesome.

Thanks for the explainations, I am a little less confused about how racks actually work now! :D