Thermostat is driving me crazy!

So, I talked to the exotic pet shop I got the thermostat from and he was asking if he sold it to me. He asked that because he started it wasn't needed. He said that there is no need for a thermostat because the reptile uth's now have like a built in thermostat that will shut itself off. This is why the thermostat is turning on and off so much. They are battling back and forth with the different temps. No returns or refunds and basically just said sorry. Is this true? I have a zoomed uth. WTF? And yet, everyone is shouting that you need a thermostat with the uth. This is a reputable shop and had never steered me wrong until now.

You need a thermostat. Listen to the great advice you were given by the other forum members. They are giving you advice based on experience. I can't comment on your pet shop employee, but I'd just stick to the advice on here.

There are uth that are not supposed to get to hot by design but they do not have built in tstats and they should still be used with a tstat in most cases.

These are what he would be referring to. I have one but I still needed a tstat to make it temp friendly for my blood. I tested this with a thick layer of cypress mulch over it and unregulated it got above 110F. http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads

The Zoomed uth is for sure not that model and will really cook if left unregulated.

If you arent using flexwatt (which you arent). You can slide your probe inside of the plastic that surrounds the heating element. This will allow you to insert the probe against your UTH without removing it from the tank, and without using tape.
You MUST be very careful when you do this. First, make sure you dont have power connected to the UTH. Then, take a very sharp exacto knife, and cut a slit in the plastic on the underside on the UTH. I prefer to cut the slit near the center of the UTH. You must be very careful when you do this, because you dont want to cut the heating element inside the plastic cover. You also dont want to expose any of the electrical elements inside. I make the slit just big enough to slide the probe inside.
Once the probe is inside, then you can hook the UTH back up to the thermostat.
As mentioned above, you will have to adjust the thermostat so that you get the desired temperature inside your tank. In my experience, there could me anywhere from a 10 degree to 4 degree differential.
In other words, if you want your hot spot to be 90 degrees F, then set your thermostat to 95 degrees. (theres going to be some temperature loss through the glass/substrate/plastic/paper/etc. After your thermostat gets to temp, take the temperature gun and measure the actual temperature inside your tank where the hotspot should be. If its low, you need to turn the thermostat up. If the infrared temp gun is reading high, then you need to turn your thermostat down.
I hope this was helpful. Let us know if you have any other questions.

Personally, i think a thermostat is the one thing you should not get "cheap" on when buying equipment for your snake. Its kinda like buying a cheap helmet for your new motorcycle. That thermostat could save your snakes life, just like the helmet.

I thought the guy was misinformed because if doesn't regret to any kind of regulator on the packaging of the uth. Thank you everyone. I've been trying the probe under the tank and it seems to have balanced out. Thanks again for the advice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pinheadjas

Thx everyone. I'll put the probe underneath and get the surface temp.

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I had the same situation - UTH already stuck on and the glass terrarium weighs 40 pounds or more so...
Bought a small roll of aluminium tape from hardware store for around $4.
Propped up the UTH side of enclosure with a stack of books,
The probe wire has a few kinks, and had to rotate the wire so the probe was pressed up against the glass, then affixed it with the tape, near where the hide is placed. It's not going to move now.

http://i58.tinypic.com/34qseok.jpg

I find that with the probe (thermostat) set to 90, the temp of the glass inside the tank above the probe where the hide sits is also 90.

Mine is set up like this but I have to set thermostat at 100 to get it to read 90 in tank


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