Racks and Thermostats

T-stats I would recommend the herpstats mostly due to the safety relay. I do not believe with tubs sliding over probes that a fail safe T-stat is optional. The herpstat has settings that protect against probes being pulled off the heat source. The others on the market really need a failsafe but the herpstat's relay makes it questionable.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I do not believe with tubs sliding over probes that a fail safe T-stat is optional.

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I mount my probes right behind the tub stop and fine tune the temp to get 91-93 in the tub;)

That works unless the tstat fails. I personally have a fail safe on every stat I own the relay just adds a third line of safety.

I have a fail safe too but my tubs never hit the probes an the fail kicks everyone off at 98 degrees

I'm hoping to get a Herpstat 4 when I order my customs. I just didn't quite understand how probe placement worked with one t-stat running the whole thing. But even with a Herpstat 4, would I need a fail safe?

As to the room, it's already kept in the 80s. Humidity in the tanks is a problem though, which is why I want to switch to racks. I have to spritz tanks twice a day to keep the humidity in the right range. And I'm glad to hear I can just get one size tubs for now and pack them full of extra hides and foliage. :gj:

Thanks for all the responses guys! This has already been immensely helpful. :)

With the HS4 it is a debatable about a failsafe. The repay will protect against a pulled loose probe. The HS will also shut down if a probe wire or probe breaks. The only point where a failsafe would be needed is a full catastrophic T-stat failure. It can happen not overly likely. The use of a good surge protector would add a bit more safety to the HS4 as surges can cause issues with the Triac controllers.

In the end only you can decide what is reasonable or not. Personally the new Herpstats are the only t-stats I would ever even think a fail safe was not needed. I own a herpstat 4 and I have a fail safe used with it. I don't know if that helps, I felt that the cost was worth it. My decision, you will have to do what you think is right for you and your animals.

I currently have a herpstat, a helex and a ve-300 thermostat. They all work great, and I would have no issue buying any one of them again. I don't find any one to work any better than any of the others.

I am considering a fail safe because, even if I breed, all my animals will be pets. Breeding would just be a side thing for fun. I want BELs and jigsaws, and happen to adore the morphs that make them just as much. I wouldn't want to take the risk of anything happening to them. I think the cost of a fail safe would be worth it just for peace of mind.

On a side note, how would probe placement work in a custom PVC like a Boaphile? The heat isn't directly exposed and is different for each unit. Do you need a probe for each cage? :/

No I have the mine on the middle shelf. My room is cool so there are a lot of complications. But the top generally is warmer and bottom cooler. In the past I set my t-stat at 93º the tub in the middle was 91º the top was 93º and the bottom was 89º. Currently I am not heating the room and have to use 4 zone to keep the temps correct.

After 15 years of breeding reptiles the one thing i still cant wrap mybhead around is this. Probe placement. I do not understand why some people put the probe directlly on the heat source. Please dont explain it to me cause i dont want this to get into a 4 page rant about it lol. Thats not really my intention nor do i want to start an argument. I want to know exactly what temps are in my tubs. Therefore i place all my probes where they can read tub temps. For example on my freedom breeders that use cb70 tubs there are 10 levels with 30 tubs. I use 2 helixs on each rack. I place the probes where they can read tub temps. This way no guessing. When i had plastic racks i used a sokdering iron to melt a channel in the cieling of the middle tub and hot glued the probe. Again so it could read tub temps. I just dont like the idea of probe placements on heatbsources and having to adjust or guess at tub temps. Maybe its just me. Maybe im just crazy i dunno.