ReptiTemp 500R

[emiebeth]

Right now I'm borrowing a thermostat from a friend of mine to control my UTH, but I need to get my own ASAP. I'm considering the ReptiTemp 500R, as I've heard good things about it, and I was wondering if anyone here has used that? I am NOT technologically or electrically savvy by any stretch of the imagination, and it says that there's nothing to wire in or anything like you have to with the Ranco...is that true? Is it simple to set up?

Aaand I'm going to throw in another question here instead of making a new thread. Right now I have my baby BP in a plastic tub (about 2x1.5 feet) with newspaper on the bottom, and I can't get the humidity level up high enough for anything. I do have a small water dish, but it doesn't seem to be helping too much (even when placed over the UTH). If I were using substrate I would be able to mist it without worrying, but I'm afraid that the wet newspaper will be bad for the snake. Should I be worrying about that? Is there anything else I can do to get the humidity up?

[m00kfu]

You can buy Ranco's pre-wired from someplace like Reptile Basics.

The thing with the 500R is that it's not digital. Which means you have to play with it quite a bit to get it set to the temperature that you're looking for, where with something like the Ranco you can set it directly to 85 degrees or whatever you might want.

[emiebeth]

I would love to get the pre-wired Ranco; the problem is that its really expensive (I'm a poor college student) and I only have one BP. It's all I'm planning to have, too, so fiddling with the dial to get a good temp is fine, so long as its easy to set up, lol.

Oh, I just realized I was looking at the double pre-wired. Hm..$80 isn't too terrible...but still expensive for one BP.

[seeya205]

I have the Reptitemp 500R and its works well! I have used it for over a year with no problems! A bigger water dish would help humidity. You can use paper towels or aspen as a substrate and mist it without worrying! If you have holes on the top then cover all of them, if they are on the sides tehn cover some of them. Your holes should only be on the sides. Big Apple Herp sells the BAH-1000SC for under $40! That one is better for a little more $! Hope this helps!

[AkHerps]

I'm deciding on a ranco or Johnson from e-bay. You just have to wire it yourself. Both are under 50 shipped.

[Adam Chandler]

I would love to get the pre-wired Ranco; the problem is that its really expensive (I'm a poor college student) and I only have one BP. It's all I'm planning to have, too, so fiddling with the dial to get a good temp is fine, so long as its easy to set up, lol.

Oh, I just realized I was looking at the double pre-wired. Hm..$80 isn't too terrible...but still expensive for one BP.

+1
I would also recommend buying a pre-wired Ranco from ReptileBasics.com

[don15681]

I had a 500r a few years ago and mine broke. you get what you pay for.

[English-bulldog]

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...=1#post1441092

check the last few pages.



I bet you could do it.

[bman123]

Buy a good t stat like a ranco or johnson, you can wire it yourself and not have to mess with a stupid dial like the 500r.

[ChuckSM]

yea, for the price of the 500r you could buy 3 plug in dimmer switches. You just wont have the probe that is attached.

The 500r is very finiky, you can play with it all day before getting the right temp. Turn it a quarter inch and it might change a degree, turn it a hair and it might change 10 degrees.