Burn point...

If you are on a budget I would go with thisThermostat: http://www.bigappleherp.com/BAH-1000...=2&category=15. I have used them in the past and they always seemed to work pretty well. I personally would never use a rheostat.

Those are great, if you like 10-degree temp swings, and the possibility of the thermostat getting stuck on high.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Those are great, if you like 10-degree temp swings, and the possibility of the thermostat getting stuck on high.

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They worked fine for me. I never had more than a +/- 2 degrees swing. I used them for 2 years with no problems. I even know a someone who uses it on his incubator with no problems. I now use herpstats on everything but for $30 I think that tsat is way better than a reostat.

I dunno.. I'd probably trust those Zoomed 500R thermostats before I would trust one of those Big Apple ones again.. They do not stay consistent enough for me to warrant their use.

That's the scary thing about a thermostat system - certain failure cases can actually be far more dangerous than using an uncontrolled system (i.e. rheo). (This is true for any control system that uses feedback: They give you excellent control but failures can be far more extreme unless carefully guarded against. I may not be a snake expert but I do have a degree in electrical engineering so I know what I'm talking about). In fact, I would much prefer to get everything hammered out with the rheo before moving to a thermostat. If I'm not getting accurate temps and I hook up to a thermostat things could get really bad.

But, my problem right now has nothing to do with r-stat vs. t-stat. Temps are temps and it doesn't matter how it got there. I'm just wrestling with uncertainty (and perhaps nervousness) that my snake is happy when my thermometer says "93". I sanity-checked my thermometer so I think I really need to make sure my probe is securely placed. Right now I have the probe from the accurite anchored at the edge of the hide with about 1/2" of wire so that it extends away from the wall slightly but not so far that it could get really moved alot. But, the thing I don't like is that the probe-end itself just kind of lays on the bedding. I think most of the time he just lays on the probe and I'm getting a perfect "belly-temp" read out. But, there have been times when the temp readout has dropped and I think it might be due to it getting pushed up and resting on the side of my BP's body. I need some way to make it securely anchored but still free enough to kind of "float" on the substrate.

Hun, the only scary thing about this situation is when people use poor-quality thermostats and expect them to perform like a digital thermostat that has been tested for years upon years. Or.. When the under tank heater doesn't have ANY control on it... Your snake is at risk, unless that heat pad is regulated.

I used to use that above mentioned thermostat for about a month until I chunked it and used two dimmers. THEN I got a Herpstat 2 and never looked back. I still have it, as well as two Johnson Controls tstats and a Helix. Love them all and they do what they are supposed to do. Which is keep your snake safe from thermostat failure and temperature spikes.

Why do you feel that 93-94 isn't warm enough? Your snake only needs to get an internal body temp of around 85 to properly digest and be a happy snake. I keep my temps at 94.5 and 84.5, and all of mine eat every week and are growing like mad. You need to be confident that those temps are just fine and he's going to grow and be healthy, just like any other Ball Python.

This is why a reliable thermostat is very important to your snake's well-being. Even if your room temp doesn't fluctuate, that heating pad could easily spike and the dimmer wouldn't know. It just controls the amount of power the heat pad gets. If you are using a good thermostat(Johnson Controls, Ranco, Herpstat, Helix), then it will KNOW what temp that heat pad is, and if that heat pad spikes or temps go out of range, the thermostat will turn off(and will usually alert you).

Just some info, that I didn't know if you were aware of or not.

I definately recommend a Helix proportional t-stat. They might seem expensive, but I will never use anything else.. granted, my UTHs are on rheostats still, in a heat-controlled room.. but once the incubator is done with the Helix, it is going to the snakes. Best investment I ever made; I am obsessive-compulsive, and I cannot even leave the house wkile keeping my sanity when using something unreliable.

Well he seems to be happy with the new low-90's setup. He's burrowing way more than he used too but perhaps he was just used to cycling between hot and cold extremes. I'm going to give him some time to adjust. I did some research on African weather history and seeing what temperature fluctuations occur in their normal environment gave me a good basis on what to shoot for and showed me the range of temps they are built for so I don't need to fret.

Well I'll tell you from a purely technological perspective that a simple uncontrolled system is more reliable than a more complex one that uses sensors and feedback.

I'll give you a basic example. Its extreme but it helps get the idea across: Say we have a t-stat with a temp probe next to a happy warm snake at 92d (or whatever). Now, I take that probe and drop it in a glass of icewater. The t-stat will promptly do its best to cook the snake. This is because it registers a "way-low" measurement and attempts to correct by cranking up the heater. But, because the heater is not correctly affecting the measurement, it will never shut off.

On the other hand, an r-stat setup may fluctuate by 5d depending on room temp and whether or not the snake is in the hide. And, consider that ambient temperatures in their native habitat fluctuate by 10 to 15d daily. Even in a rodent burrow the temp will fluctuate by 5 degrees at least. And, of course, if the proble gets moved or broken the temperatures are not affected.

So, if you check the temps daily its actually less likely that something drastic will happen with an r-stat setup. Don't get me wrong, if you use a t-stat and its reliable then that's cool. I'm not trying to upset anybody. I'm only arguing that r-stat setups have their good points and, as long as the owner pays attention, they aren't "bad husbandry" IMO.

But, in the end I'm happy that everybody pushed me to get an r-stat. I like having it alot even if I don't see my snake any more :(. Then again, I just crank it up and he comes out after about 30 mins to cool off (just kidding!).

:taz:

Atleast get enough substrate over the uth heater to down the temp to about 95 or so.