Choosing a Thermostat - New Ball Owner

Hey everyone, I have a quick question about thermostats. I am a new ball python owner (I have a lovely female normal ball named Ky, short for Kylara), and I have encountered some difficulties with my temperature control (particularly overnight). I have a flexible UTH heat cable, made by Zoomed, I think? Anyways, when I have that cable fully in place, Ky's plastic tank is nice and warm, but then it quickly overheats. So then I pull some cable out, and her temps go back to normal, but then overnight they plunge.

I have been thinking that maybe the best solution to my problem would be to get a proportional thermostat, since then I could put most of the heat cable under the tank and let the tstat work out how much juice to give the cable, so the tank stays at my chosen temp. My problem is, I don't know what one to get!

I have heard from my friend, who is also on bp.net, that both Helixes and Herpstats are really good tstats. Basically, I am only looking for a good proportional tstat for one tank, as I dont think I'll be doing any breeding any time soon :) I was leaning towards a Helix DBS-1000, but then I looked at the Herpstats, particularly the Herpstat ND with the high/low temperature alarms, and now I dont know what to get. :D I do know my budget is around $100-$150, though.

Does anyone have any thoughts for a noob ball owner about what kind of proportional tstat I should get? Me and my girl would be very appreciative of any help! :)

Helix and Herpstat are great choices, but why not save $100 and get an On/Off thermostat like a Ranco? I got one off ebay for $50.50 shipped and spent $7 on a power strip and heavy duty extension cord, so less than $60 total for a quality thermostat. I currently own 3 Rancos and they work great for me. But for incubators, Herpstat all the way!!

You can't go wrong with either one of those that you mentioned. both are top of the line. But like steveboos mentioned, the Ranco's are good and so are Johnson's. Lots of people use both of them. I use a Herpstat II, but I run two racks with that.

I would get ranco or johnson controls. You can get one all wired up and ready to go for about 80. I have heard great things about them. If not either of those, I would get the herpstat ND. I am getting a ND here soon, also heard nothing but great things about them.

I have one proportional thermostat (a herpstat)which I really bought for incubator regulation, where consistency is more important .
Other than that, I have several Rancos and one Johnson Control, all of which work great for enclosure temp control.
Many here swear by the proportional type.

I have ranco's and herpstat's. I have had ranco's fail to turn back on due to excessive power outages where I live (I have read this is a common problem, I think it was on a beer forum or something like that). The other thing I really do not like about the on-off style thermostats is the constant clicking when the thermo kicks on and off. I have switched to using all herpstats at this time because of the worry of a ranco failing and not turning back on due to a power outage and I also hated the clicking sound. I now have my ranco's set aside in case something goes wrong with any of my herpstats I have back ups until I can replace it with a new herpstat.

I have the Johnson, and it's great. I suggest you buy them wired if you aren't very good at that sort of thing. It's not too hard...but honestly next time I'd just pay them to do it ;)

Warning though....don't put a Johnson on your rack if it's in a bedroom. Whenever they turn on/off there is an audible clicking sound that gets quite annoying if you are trying to sleep...Ranco's may do it too, but I can't say for sure.

I recommend Herpstat, Helix is a pain to adjust the temp since you have to press and hold the button and cycle thru the whole range of temps if you want to lower the temp.

I have one Herpstat running 2 9 tub racks, no matter what you get make sure you get the probe placement right through trial and error.

I have 3 Ranco's in my bedroom and the clicking has never bothered me. Then again i sleep like a rock, so maybe that's why!! I've been using Ranco's for about a little over a year and haven't had a single problem.

I'm using a Johnson's for my rack. I got it prewired from reptile basics for 80. shipped and got it 2 days! yes there is an audible click. since it is on the other side of the house from my bedroom, I don't hear it much, but I cna see how it would get annoying if it was in my room.

next year I'm building my incubator, so I will be lookin at getting a herpstat.

Wow, thanks for all your help, guys! :) I've got another question: a couple of people have mentioned getting my thermostat prewired. I am just wondering what this means. Is it not just a simple matter of plugging my heat cable into the thermostat? I've never really seen a thermostat for anything other than just heating a house. :D

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Originally Posted by Exo-ky

Wow, thanks for all your help, guys! :) I've got another question: a couple of people have mentioned getting my thermostat prewired. I am just wondering what this means. Is it not just a simple matter of plugging my heat cable into the thermostat? I've never really seen a thermostat for anything other than just heating a house. :D

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Pre wired means it has the plug for the wall outlet and the power strip to plg your heat mat into already wired to the thermostat. Non wired means you are just getting the thermostat and the probe and thats it. You then have to wire an extension cord to your themostat and wire the power strip to the thermostat when you get it. Hope that helps...

Edit - You have to buy the extension cord and power strip your self if you do not get it pre wired also. The thermostat will not come with it.

It's very easy to wire up a Ranco or Johnson thermostat and there are plenty of instructions online with pictures on how to do so. You can save yourself about $20 if you have a little wiring know-how and don't want to pay for someone else to do it. I always bought pre-wired in the past, but i realized how easy it is and wired up my last one. Took me 5 minutes and works great!

I use Herpstat and love it! Very accurate and the temps stay where you want them to be. My Zilla1000 sucks, it's all over the place, hate it!

i'm controlling heat tape in two enclosures with one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

i found it after some people on this forum posted links/info on it. its been working great for several months now! :)

Herpstat nd for ball pythons

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Originally Posted by therieldeal

i'm controlling heat tape in two enclosures with one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR.../dp/B000NZZG3S

i found it after some people on this forum posted links/info on it. its been working great for several months now! :)

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Hydrofarm!! Yep, I recommended it several times already. I think it's the best choice if you are only keeping one snake. I bought it after just... becoming completely confused about the "pre-wiring" or whatnot you have to worry about for some of the other thermostats... I couldn't be bothered thinking too hard about it. For the Hydrofarm one, you just put the Hydrofarm's plug onto your heat source, plug your UTH (or whatever heat source) into it, plug the Hydofarm into the wall, set a temperature, and you're good! That is all. I know nothing about this wiring business or whatever you have to do.

I just ordered a Ranco from Reptile Basics. I have heard nothing but good things about this. I am quite excited for it get here. I believe in purchasing a quality thermostat if you can afford it. Now I can feel secure about regulating my heat sources. I was using a very cheap thermostat and I constantly had to adjust it according to the temperatures in my room where I have my snake. I am so glad that I can have peace of mind now from purchasing a quality thermostat.

I use both Ranco and Helix for a few years now. No problems with either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Exo-ky

Wow, thanks for all your help, guys! :) I've got another question: a couple of people have mentioned getting my thermostat prewired. I am just wondering what this means. Is it not just a simple matter of plugging my heat cable into the thermostat? I've never really seen a thermostat for anything other than just heating a house. :D

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The Johnson and Ranco are designed for commercial heating, a/c, and refridgeration applications, so they come from the manufacturer un-wired which allows them to be custom wired into whatever application they will be used. Here is a link to Reptile Basics website for the un-wired model.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/ranco-etc-111000.html

As was said above, pre-wired means they wire in the power strip and cord for you.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/ranco-e...pre-wired.html

I was using a Johnson and Ranco for my tubs, but I decided I wanted to spend my tax refund on some herp candy, so I got a Herpstat Pro. I removed the power strip from my Ranco and re-wired it with a heavy duty extension cord. Now I use it to run the space heater in my snake room. I keep the Johnson as a back up should any of the others fail or in case I accidentally come home with another snake and need to put together a quick set-up...

I have swapped out all my herpstats and moved all my racks to Johnsons. This makes it easier on me to have a thermostat per rack for better control.

I did have herpstats on my racks but just didnt like the software setup.

I say go johnsons, for 88 shipped you can control 1500 watts worth of heating compared to herpstat or helix having 4-600w rating per outlet.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

I have swapped out all my herpstats and moved all my racks to Johnsons. This makes it easier on me to have a thermostat per rack for better control.

I did have herpstats on my racks but just didnt like the software setup.

I say go johnsons, for 88 shipped you can control 1500 watts worth of heating compared to herpstat or helix having 4-600w rating per outlet.

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Have any spare herpstats you want to sell? pm me

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Originally Posted by yeroc1982

Have any spare herpstats you want to sell? pm me

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Sorry but 2 members on here already own them.

no problem! Thought id ask

This topic came just in time.
Do you guys have some thermostat to recommend for us guys from europe?
I ve seen that herpstat has versions with adapters for UK, Australia etc. But i havent seen the classic europian version..
Would buying some simple adapters for power strip/heating mats(and for thermostat itself) work?

As long as the adapters can swap/convert to your power requirements anything should work properly.

They do sell flexwatt thats 220v

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Helix

This topic came just in time.
Do you guys have some thermostat to recommend for us guys from europe?
I ve seen that herpstat has versions with adapters for UK, Australia etc. But i havent seen the classic europian version..
Would buying some simple adapters for power strip/heating mats(and for thermostat itself) work?

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Hello, and :welcome: to BP.net...

The only one I can think of available in Europe is the HabiStat...

Hi,

You can also get thermostats from microclimate and from luckyreptile.

I have used the luckyreptile thermocontrol II and most of the habistat ones over the years - except for the magic eye versions as I prefer a timer switch for any temp drops.

If you need a dimmer or pulse proportional I'd probably have to recommend the habistats simply because I have used those exclusively.


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

You can also get thermostats from microclimate and from luckyreptile.

I have used the luckyreptile thermocontrol II and most of the habistat ones over the years - except for the magic eye versions as I prefer a timer switch for any temp drops.

If you need a dimmer or pulse proportional I'd probably have to recommend the habistats simply because I have used those exclusively.


dr del

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I agree habistat are better but don't fancy the magic eye myself.

Had two lucky reptile break down inside first year and would not buy again




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