Choosing a Thermostat - New Ball Owner

[Exo-ky]

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. 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!

[steveboos]

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!!

[saber2th]

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.

[firemandan26]

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.

[dsirkle]

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.

[Boanerges]

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.

[Bass&Balls]

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.

[pavlovk1025]

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.

[steveboos]

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.

[Zedd]

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.