Thermostat probe?

So I'm looking on Amazon for a thermostat, and I found the ipower thermostat that comes with a UTH as well for only $29.99. My question is, in the pictures it shows the probe has a suction cup on it. I know everybody says to sandwich the probe in between the enclosure and the UTH. But with the suction cup there should I put it inside the enclosure under the substrate where the UTH is?

No, suction cup or not you should still sandwich it in between the UTH and the probe. That way your snake can't move, pee or spill water on the probe and cause the temperate to spike.

Does having the probe sandwiched like that mess with how well the UTH sticks to the enclosure? Also, does anybody have any experience with that kind of thermostat?

These have kind of chunky probes. The heat mat UTHs you generally get at pet stores are mats with adhesive. It sometimes tends to bump the UTH so there is a gap if you try and stick the probe between the glass and UTH. The solution is to get styrofoam board and put that under the entire bottom of the tank. You then can stick the UTH to the bottom of the tank and stick the probe on the UTH and use the styrofoam to hold it in place. You can also put a strip of duct or alminum tape ont eh probe cord close to the probe tip but not on the tip and tape it to the UTH.

So it would go from bottum up: Styrofoam > probe > UTH > tank.

This works just fine so long as the probe tip is in contact with the UTH. Place it so it is roughly centered on the mat. Again the styrofoam will keep it all in place because the weight of the tank will keep everything from moving around.

I do this on my Rosy boa tank and it works perfect. There is nothing wrong with those zoomed under tank heat mats. They have been used for years and years and are UL listed. They simply need to be regulated down with a thermostat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SDA

You can also put a strip of duct or alminum tape ont eh probe cord close to the probe tip but not on the tip and tape it to the UTH.

---

I second the aluminum tape. Cheap, easy, and very secure.

Oh, I have one of those. You can take the probe out of the suction cup. Once it's out it will fit just fine between the bottom of your cage and the heat pad.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MD_Pythons

No, suction cup or not you should still sandwich it in between the UTH and the probe. That way your snake can't move, pee or spill water on the probe and cause the temperate to spike.

---

Totally agree with that, the best and safest method. When I first started, I used to put the suction cup inside the tank, on the UTH, with the hide right on top squeezing it down (so it would be on the edge of the hide), honestly never had issues with it that way. But the best/safest method is the one given already.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crowley136

So I'm looking on Amazon for a thermostat, and I found the ipower thermostat that comes with a UTH as well for only $29.99. My question is, in the pictures it shows the probe has a suction cup on it. I know everybody says to sandwich the probe in between the enclosure and the UTH. But with the suction cup there should I put it inside the enclosure under the substrate where the UTH is?

---

I've never used that particular product, but I generally follow the rule of thumb: you get what you pay for.

That's awfully cheap for a t-stat, nevermind a t-stat and heat mat combo. I can't help but think that's basically the equivalent of buying ear buds from the gas station. Sure, they're only 7 bucks, but they're only going to work for a few weeks...

I think I'll just go with the jump start thermostat. I'll only have the one snake anyways. I've heard jump start works just fine.