getting temps and humidity right

Sup Random quick question did you have to take ur girl to the vet to find out it was a girl?

Oh and where can I find the thermostat I have been looking around pet stores and I work at petsmart but I can't find one!

With the thermostat you can set a temperature, a probe is connected to it. Put the probe in the location you're measuring (usually the warm side) and when it reaches the correct temperature, it will cut off the heat source, and come back on when it dips below.

and reptilebasics.com

Yea, its the same basic idea as the thermostat in your house. It will control the power to the UTH to keep the temperature at the probe at whatever level you set.

I personally prefer manual control over automation whenever possible (I drive manual transmission cars for example). Automatic stuff works great - until it screws up.

There are certainly some different issues and gotchas with thermostats so I would ask somebody with experience using them if that's the way you want to go.

Here's the thing... I don't understand why you wouldn't want to use a thermostat... I know I work 8 hours a day, go to the gym for 1 hour, and then I'm finally home after about 10-11 hours total of being away from the house. That gives me one adjustment to make, in the morning, for that entire length of time. In that time I could cook my snake, which is what basically happened (overheating) when I was using a dimmer. Unless you're home the entire day and can continuously check and make adjustments, why wouldn't you want to use a thermostat?

You work at Petsmart? You will probably never find a thermostat there...or at least not a good one. I worked there for a while, till I couldn't take the manager or the crappy animal care policies.

Best place to find a good thermostat would be online. Places like HerpSupplies.com, or a good google search should give you plenty of options.

Thanks for the sites and different views on the subject I am like others work 5 days 8hrs gone plus some. So maybe it will be good for me to use! Thanks I will check out the sites now! What are average prices I hope not too expensive!

Sadly, the lowest price I saw for a good stat was $65. The average seems to be $100. I, in my cheap-student frame of mind, bought a cheap ZooMed thing that everyone here is saying not to use. So, now I am saving up to buy a good quality one. Luckily for me, in the meantime my temps have been pretty stable. Good luck finding an affordable one!

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Originally Posted by darkangel

Here's the thing... I don't understand why you wouldn't want to use a thermostat... I know I work 8 hours a day, go to the gym for 1 hour, and then I'm finally home after about 10-11 hours total of being away from the house. That gives me one adjustment to make, in the morning, for that entire length of time. In that time I could cook my snake, which is what basically happened (overheating) when I was using a dimmer. Unless you're home the entire day and can continuously check and make adjustments, why wouldn't you want to use a thermostat?

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So, my point in posting wasn't to convince anybody not to use a thermostat. It was meant to be helpful information for somebody who was planning on using a dimmer.

Well I'm not like anti-thermostat I just don't feel its warranted for my setup at the moment. Having been a professional engineer for over 10 years its been drilled into my head that you should never introduce more complexity into a system than is needed. My setup never drifts more than a few degrees - most likely because its in a room that is also always 72 +/- 3 degrees or so. I'm considering moving it to a different room that fuctuates quite a bit and I'll surely need a t-stat then.

I would say the most likely cause of drift in dimmer systems is caused by over-adjustment. One thing that can fool you is when your snake has been out and about and just gone into the warm hide. At that point, the warm side readout with drop by 5-10 degrees. If you adjust it right then you'll find its way over temp when you come back an hour later. However, if you note that its running low and give it 15 mins and then check again you'll find its back where its supposed to be.

Yeah I feel you I just moved my tank outta my room cuz my room fluctuates too much from super hot to 70's at night for the cool side! But I found a great atmospheric thermostat check out www.herpsupplies.com click on products icon, then select controls option. Select thermostats and its the first item in the list its made by Green Air Products its a must have for those of us who can't get the cool side down from being too hot! It is $135 but I think it is worth it. It controls your cool side and your heated side and has two separate probes for each side. Plus it is simple to control just set the temp you want your cool side to be and then same for heated and it will regulate everything to keep it at the best temps you can get! I would check it out! I am definitely going to save for it!