Cheapest thermostat?

I wanted to put a new caresheet together to hand out when I sell animals at shows. The thing I find myself explaining the most is a proper setup. Of course people are looking to get away without spending any more money than they have to, I wanted to put together a "cheapest cage" list so people can see the bare minimum cost of a cage. Which honestly isn't much, 3 dollar tub, 1 dollar water bowl (just need the right shape), 10 dollar heat pad, (they can could flexwatt pre wired from another vendor there), 3 dollars of cypress will last you quite a while if you only got 1 snake. but then they cringe when I mention a thermostat. I have to honestly tell them I only have experience with 100+ dollar thermostats, I've only dealt with herpstat and helix.

So my question is what is the cheapest thermostat you could recommend without feeling like a jerk for recommending it?

also now that I think about it, whats a temp gun you could recommend? I have only used my proexotics one. I can't recommend the digital accurite thermometers/hydrometer that are mentioned a lot, i think they are garbage.

I say recommend what you feel is the best tstat option. If that is a Herpstat, so be it.

I think the temp gun has far more options and it should be pretty easy for a new owner to pick what is right for them.

Or,

Just point them here and they can get all the info they need.

I don't think you should promote anything that's "cheap ". It infers a lack of quality. I've used hydrofarm thermostats for a few years now with absolutely no problems. I know several other keepers that use them as well. They're inexpensive compared to the herpstat or vivarium electronics brands but I think they're pretty dependable.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I don't think you should promote anything that's "cheap ". It infers a lack of quality. I've used hydrofarm thermostats for a few years now with absolutely no problems. I know several other keepers that use them as well. They're inexpensive compared to the herpstat or vivarium electronics brands but I think they're pretty dependable.

---

I only bought one and it failed in three months. I wish I had the luck you do with them but I will no longer recommend them because of the failure I had when it failed in the on position and placed my snake in danger.

I would not want to be a breeder that recommended something that then caused harm to a customers snake. I would feel as if it was partially my fault.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

I only bought one and it failed in three months. I wish I had the luck you do with them but I will no longer recommend them because of the failure I had when it failed in the on position and placed my snake in danger.

---

We are talking about an electrical item, they can an will fail at some point. Regardless of what "safeties" are built in to them.

Back on topic, I have no problem telling someone to get a Hydrofarm. Its better than no thermostat at all though I would rather see a VE in use.

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Johnson-C...4gHRoCtovw_wcB

Johnsons control A419 it's what I use.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

also now that I think about it, whats a temp gun you could recommend? I have only used my proexotics one. I can't recommend the digital accurite thermometers/hydrometer that are mentioned a lot, i think they are garbage.

---

The Benetech IR temp gun is a good deal when offered with free delivery. Generally $15-20 and accurate when held 6" or less from target:

http://www.amazon.com/BENETECH-Non-c.../dp/B008KCCOPO

As mentioned, the word "cheap" has a lot of negative connotations and implies that it's OK to use inferior products for such a critical purpose like temperature control. Best to phrase it as "least expensive" or "most affordable". And even then, if I were writing such a list, I would make a point of emphasizing that the cost of the risk involved in choosing less than stellar quality on critical tools can't be measured in dollars.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

I only bought one and it failed in three months. I wish I had the luck you do with them but I will no longer recommend them because of the failure I had when it failed in the on position and placed my snake in danger.

I would not want to be a breeder that recommended something that then caused harm to a customers snake. I would feel as if it was partially my fault.

---

Even the cheapest herpstat doesn't have a mechanical relay, which in the same situation could fail on the On position as well.

I have seen too many times that when I say all I have used are the 100+ dollar thermostats, then go to the next guy who says you don't need to have one then, just watch it carefully. they walk out of there with everything but a thermostat (which there are herpstats for sale there), so I can only assume they choose to use nothing because of the price and reassurance of the other vendor doing anything to sell his snake. While I can say I feel better because thats not what I told them and didn't sell to them, that animal still went home with them. I'd much rather have a bare minimum package that doesn't shock them and deter them from using it at all.

Looks like the johnson thermostat requires some wiring, I don't really want to put that on the average person.

It's easy to talk down about the hydrofarm, its not proportional, no night drop, no mechanical safety, no other features at all pretty much, but if generally people are having success with it, I don't have a problem putting it out there as an option. At 33 bucks shipped on amazon I might order a few and have them on hand, not even advertise that I have them ( my buddy who sells the herpstats wouldn't be happy with me anyway lol), but if someone is about to walk out of there with nothing, offer it to them.

Well, if you're really looking for the least expensive way to regulate heat I need to put in a plug for the good old fashioned rheostat. MUCH cheaper than any thermostat. Sure it is not as effective and requires more vigilant monitoring of temperatures but it does work and will keep people from burning their snakes when using an unregulated heat source.

does anyone know what the accuracy of the PE temp gun is? Looks like a lot of the under 20 dollar ones are plus or minus 1.5-2 degrees, which I think is more than acceptable for general husbandry, but I was wondering how they compare to the PE that I own.

As far as lowest cost? I think the zilla thermostat they sell at the petstores works (this one here?). It costs around 35 dollars, is nothing fancy, and won't make a person with a shiny new snake think "maybe I don't need a thermostat at all..." Problems with it are what you might expect; it tends to crap out after a few months of use, which is to be expected for buying the cheapest around. Reviews also say the dial isn't completely accurate and the temp you set will be higher or lower than what you get, so double checking temps is a must. Better than nothing, not as good as more expensive thermostats.

And for cheapest temp gun, I use a simple nat geo one that is also sold at the petstores (couple different brands depending where you go, 20-25 dollars on average). These are also considered "cheap" when compared to the fancy ones for sale at lowes that cost around 75 dollars each, but I would say that's only because it doesn't have all the bells and whistles (it tells you the surface temp in C or F, that's it). There aren't any specialty reptile shops near me, so big name pet stores have to do.

It's not as cheap as the hydrofarm tstat, and I don't have any experience with it but I plan to order one pretty soon, the hobbystat from reptile basics is only $54 and that definitely seems more appealing to the general public that only have one snake

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarkS

Well, if you're really looking for the least expensive way to regulate heat I need to put in a plug for the good old fashioned rheostat. MUCH cheaper than any thermostat. Sure it is not as effective and requires more vigilant monitoring of temperatures but it does work and will keep people from burning their snakes when using an unregulated heat source.

---

I don't think I am going to put that on the average person either, but no doubt cheap and readily available at any hardware store. I have done that in a pinch waiting for a thermostat to come in the mail.... ever think you had an extra thermostat and found out you didn't?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sammiebob

It's not as cheap as the hydrofarm tstat, and I don't have any experience with it but I plan to order one pretty soon, the hobbystat from reptile basics is only $54 and that definitely seems more appealing to the general public that only have one snake

---

I actually don't see anything that would make me order it over the hydrofarm one, on/off, no mechanical safety, no features (however you can buy night drop for $25 more bucks), not even a display. What do you see in it?

Actually I've still got several rheostats that I'm using on older racks where I have colubrids. I'm betting that they're over 15 years old and still work well. I do like using something a little more stable for the pythons, but I've used rheostats for them too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daigga

As far as lowest cost? I think the zilla thermostat they sell at the petstores works (this one here?). It costs around 35 dollars, is nothing fancy, and won't make a person with a shiny new snake think "maybe I don't need a thermostat at all..." Problems with it are what you might expect; it tends to crap out after a few months of use, which is to be expected for buying the cheapest around. Reviews also say the dial isn't completely accurate and the temp you set will be higher or lower than what you get, so double checking temps is a must. Better than nothing, not as good as more expensive thermostats.

And for cheapest temp gun, I use a simple nat geo one that is also sold at the petstores (couple different brands depending where you go, 20-25 dollars on average). These are also considered "cheap" when compared to the fancy ones for sale at lowes that cost around 75 dollars each, but I would say that's only because it doesn't have all the bells and whistles (it tells you the surface temp in C or F, that's it). There aren't any specialty reptile shops near me, so big name pet stores have to do.

---

Kinda funny, I completely forgot I actually had one of those thermostats that came with an incubator. Yeah they are terribly inaccurate (9 degrees inaccurate...), but it did hatch eggs for me one year. but at 35 bucks the hydrofarm is still less expensive.

There has been so much talk on the forums lately about regulating heat that I decided to make up a post on how I put together a rheostat for temperature regulation. You can find it in the DIY forum here. -> http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...95#post2311495

I hope somebody finds it useful, it actually took me longer to put together the post then it took me to build the device. :D

Someone on here recommended the jump start heat pad to me. I think it's for plants but it keeps my temps between 88 and 92. I have an ir gun and checked every 5 mins at first but it's always been good. So far. It was like 35 bucks online I think.

Not heat pad. Heat pad thermostat I meant

Good point about the Johnson it has to be hard wired, not something the average buyer would want to do. MarkS bring up a good point. Before my Johnson I used only rheostats that I got from home depot. I stayed on top of the temp measurements...but it was a pain in the butt.