Heat Pad too HOT!

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Originally Posted by Kuzar

So, it isn't an actual plug? You tape the probe to the heat pad and it can control the temps just from the probe, no plug ins?

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No, your first assumption was correct. You plug your heat pad into the thermostat, the thermostat plugs into the wall. You adjust the temp on the thermostat and it regulates the power output to the heat pad... The probe from the thermostat reports the current temp back to the Tstat so it knows if it needs to output more or less and adjusts accordingly.

Personally I'd recommend a good thermostat. One that has the ability to deliver accurate temps the 500r isn't good at that, and the hydrofarm specs are also not so great. A good proportional T-stat that is twice as accurate as the fore mentioned runs in the range of 100$ it isn't that much money especially when you look at heating costs and caging costs, and animal costs. Any of the big four produce great gear pick one. (helix, herpstat VE300 or ecozone) My opinion, any of the proportional systems are designed with reptiles in mind and do what you expect them to do.

Can u reccomend one for around that price that will be able to control 6 diff pieces of flexwatt?

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Originally Posted by Kuzar

thanks everyone. I went to home depot and got a lamp light dimmer. It works pretty well, but everytime the temperature changes in my room, the heater gets hotter or colder, so I have to check every hour.

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Hey Kuzar, it doesn't need to be precisely 90F all the time. It's natural for everything, including the hot spot, to be a little cooler at night. Just make very sure it's never getting above 95F at the hottest time of the day, and check it again in another day. Once you get it adjusted properly, you can draw a mark on the dimmer with white-out or a washable marker, and then you shouldn't have to mess with it more than once a month.

Yeah, a real helix or herpstat would be better. But if this is your first and only animal, you should be able to make this work for your situation for a good long while.

Oh, and general rule of thumb: you want to see the snake thermoregulating itself during the day. If the animal is ALWAYS in the hot spot, you probably want to check the temps and consider bumping them up a couple degrees. If the animal is NEVER in the hot spot, you probably want to check the temps and because you might want to bump them down.

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Originally Posted by loonunit

Hey Kuzar, it doesn't need to be precisely 90F all the time. It's natural for everything, including the hot spot, to be a little cooler at night. Just make very sure it's never getting above 95F at the hottest time of the day, and check it again in another day. Once you get it adjusted properly, you can draw a mark on the dimmer with white-out or a washable marker, and then you shouldn't have to mess with it more than once a month.

Yeah, a real helix or herpstat would be better. But if this is your first and only animal, you should be able to make this work for your situation for a good long while.

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One question: Does the substrate (newspaper) take away alot of heat? If so, how much degrees?

That depends on how many sheets you have in there. You need to take the temp on top of whatever substrate you use, it will tend to be cooler then what you have the pad set to.

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Originally Posted by fonzi1289

Can u reccomend one for around that price that will be able to control 6 diff pieces of flexwatt?

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What were you planning on for the flexwatt? If it was used in an identical set up a herpstat helix would do the job if they are 6 different set ups you need 6 systems.