Looking for space heater suggestions.

I recently decided to breed and now have a dedicated room for my snakes. With the weather now turning cooler, I'm dipping below my easy to maintain 80 degree summer ambient. I have a small space heater that heats the room just fine, but the thermostat has a 5 degree swing. I'm looking to upgrade it to future proof for breeding.

I'm hoping to find one that has programmable temperatures for both day and night. I've seen a few thermostats that would handle the temperature swing, but I'd prefer to have it all in the same unit.

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions as to which space heater and/or thermostat I could purchase?

P.S. It's a very small room. Roughly 10' x 12'. Smaller units will work.

I have a 8x10 room, and I use an oil heater. I don't use any thermostat, but I have it dialed in to hold the temp between 86-88.

I've heard of people using the ranco thermostats.

If you want long term why not baseboard electric heat wired to a normal programmable thermostat?

I use a DeLonghi Oil-Filled Radiator like this one in my snake room that's similar in size to yours. It's plenty to keep the room from falling below 78°F during the year.

To maintain that temperature, I plug the radiator into a Ranco thermostat similar to this one from Reptile Basics.

Now, I have one question for you as well. :) Why are you looking to be able to change temperatures between day and night?

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

I use a DeLonghi Oil-Filled Radiator like this one in my snake room that's similar in size to yours. It's plenty to keep the room from falling below 78°F during the year.

To maintain that temperature, I plug the radiator into a Ranco thermostat similar to this one from Reptile Basics.

Now, I have one question for you as well. :) Why are you looking to be able to change temperatures between day and night?

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I use this same one, but the black model. It's does the job well enough to only be on low power (700 watts), but only on power level 3.

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

Why are you looking to be able to change temperatures between day and night?

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While BP's don't need a temperature night drop, other species do benefit from it for breeding.

I would hook the current heater up to a Ranco t-stat.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

While BP's don't need a temperature night drop, other species do benefit from it for breeding.

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Of course. Since the post is in the BP Husbandry section, though...

You need a Oil filled heater (does not have to be expensive $50 or less will work) and a reliable thermostat Ranco, Johnson for that use such at this http://www.reptilebasics.com/ranco-etc-111000-pre-wired

Do not purchase a oil filled heater that has a digital thermostat, they are the first thing going out and are unreliable.

I too am looking into these heaters. Regarding probe placement, would you just want it exposed to the ambient air at about the height of the enclosures in the room?

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Originally Posted by JoshSloane

I too am looking into these heaters. Regarding probe placement, would you just want it exposed to the ambient air at about the height of the enclosures in the room?

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I'm in the same boat and need to invest in a new space heater for my room. Knowing where the temp probe is supposed to go would we great :D

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Originally Posted by JoshSloane

I too am looking into these heaters. Regarding probe placement, would you just want it exposed to the ambient air at about the height of the enclosures in the room?

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That's exactly what I do. I have the probe for the heater secured to the side of a table I use in the snake room (where there is decent airflow), allowing it to measure ambient temp in the room. I've been running it like this for several years now and it's been effective for me.

Also a piece of advice for shoppers... You want the mechanical on/offs & temp gauge, NOT digital.

When used with a tsat, once it cuts power, with a digital its not going to come back on when the tstat calls for it. Where as mechanical switches stay on or set!

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Originally Posted by bcr229

While BP's don't need a temperature night drop, other species do benefit from it for breeding.

I would hook the current heater up to a Ranco t-stat.

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I've heard from a few of the more well known breeders that dropping the temps at night aids in follicle growth. Justin Kobylka has a chart that I was planning on following that suggests nightly drops for a few months when you start pairing.

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Originally Posted by myadlosky

I've heard from a few of the more well known breeders that dropping the temps at night aids in follicle growth. Justin Kobylka has a chart that I was planning on following that suggests nightly drops for a few months when you start pairing.

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I was planning on following the same chart going into my first season. What I ended up doing was contacting an established breeder in my area and talked about what works well in his collection. I'd recommend you do the same, as experience can be a great teacher. It made sense to me that what Justin does in Georgia may not work as well for me in Arizona (or maybe it would have - who knows). I had great results in my first season breeding (34 good eggs from 4 females with 0 slugs), so I plan on following the same routine this upcoming season as well.