heat better

i have two UTH hooked up to my tank and just ran to the wall but i have been reading about using a thermostat or somthing along those lines just wondering if it would keep the heat at a steady leavel as opposed to just plugged into the wall

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Originally Posted by PROZAC

i have two UTH hooked up to my tank and just ran to the wall but i have been reading about using a thermostat or somthing along those lines just wondering if it would keep the heat at a steady leavel as opposed to just plugged into the wall

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A thermostat is necessary by default to regulate the output to the heating element. Whether it is a rheostat (fluctuate within a few degrees) or a thermostat (stays constant at temps you set it at), you need something to keep the UTH from getting to hot/cold, possibly overheating and causing damage to your tub/tank, and the very real possibility it kills your animal.

I know there are always a few threads around with people's pictures of tubs or tanks melting and cracking, and the horrific pictures of snakes bellies burned from head to tail.

You can find very good thermostats online from 85$-$300. They all will have different methods of control (proportional etc) and what extras they have (control 4 racks, 4 probes, 2 thermostats in one unit etc)

A few brands highly recommended by me are:
Herpstat
Helix
Johnson
Ranco

Hope that helps ya!

well i really would like to keep my new friend i have been looking at the rheostats but how difficult is it to get the heat set for the tank

Those are a great option, but if you are like me and money is tight, then there is a cheap solution. I bought to "table top lamp dimmers" from Wal-Mart, which is a sliding dimmer switch that you plug the UTH's into and then plug into the wall. Mine are working pretty well, staying with about 1.5 degrees. The best part about them is that they are only $9 a piece!

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Originally Posted by PROZAC

well i really would like to keep my new friend i have been looking at the rheostats but how difficult is it to get the heat set for the tank

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After a day or two of tweaking they will pretty much stay in a small range of temps. It helps if your tank is in a room that the temperature is stable.

also for checking heat should i check the heat of the glass where the UTH is or the bedding in the tank

Is your UTH under the tank, or on the side?

The temp of the substrate is most important, because that is where your snake spends most of it's time.

What are you using to measure your temps?

there both under the tank right now just a stick on but gettin a probe thermometer later on today

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Originally Posted by PROZAC

also for checking heat should i check the heat of the glass where the UTH is or the bedding in the tank

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Hi,

It's best to check both as the snake is perfectly capable of getting under the bedding if it wants to.

The safest way to do it is to take the probe from the new digital thermometer your getting and measure the temps right on the glass on top of the UTH and then adjust the dimmer/thermometer untill that reads around 94f and then just vary the amount of bedding until the temps on top of it in his hide reads 90-93f.

Remember to give the temperatures time to stabilise after any changes. :gj:

This means he has the temperatures he needs and even if he burrows down he won't come into contact with dangerous temperatures.

I didn't see it mentioned (if it was I appologise) but it is important to note that dimmers will only keep the temperatures stable as long as your room temperatures are stable whereas a thermostat will will keep them correct regardless of what the rest of the room does.



dr del

thanks everyone i went with a rheostat 500 now its at a steady 90/93 degrees works great

I use Helix's on my racks and my incubator. They are not to bad of a price. Its worth it to me knowing that I have a good thermostat controling my heat. The heat pads need something to control the heat. They can get hot enough to burn the snake.