Thermostats and heat pads

[KMG]

I don't want aspen, because I heard of a snake that went blind because aspen got in his eye...

Where did you hear such a silly thing? Snakes don't blink because they do not have eyelids so things don't get into their eye. They burrow through plenty of things stronger and rougher than aspen without issue. This fear is just silly.

As for layering paper towels to control the uth I don't see how you have a forum full of great information and thought that was the way to do it.

Why not just get a tstat like you are supposed to?

A dimmer will work but its not the best method. A dimmer is dumb, meaning it does not know what the room temp is doing and delivers the same amount of power regardless of the room temp. This means as the room gets colder the uth gets colder and if the room gets warmer the uth gets warmer. A tstat works with the temp and adjust the power accordingly so the uth stays at the ideal temp.

Get a good tstat and be done with it.

Note: Tstats at most pet stores are junk. Search the forum and read/learn your options and buy what is best for you. Buy the best you can as it is the most important thing you can buy for your snake.

[bcr229]

If you can't find a rheostat at your local pet shop, Lowes and Home Depot carry lamp dimmer switches for about $15 that will also work. It's basically the same type of thing.

[calmolly1]

Why spend money on a rheostat when a Tstat is what you need? Especially in a cold climate your going to adjusting a dimmer ten times a day!
But better than nothing.

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[Lizardlicks]

Thirding the Tstat. The difference between a tstat and a rheostat is the the rheostat has no way to measure the heat out put. Plug your heat pad into a rheostat/dimmer switch and you can manually turn down the power out put to the heat pad, ensuring it won't get to it's maximum temps, but then it stays at what ever you set it too regardless of any other factors such as room temps. Like calmolly said, if you want to keep that hot spot stable, you'll end up have to constantly fiddle with it. Thermostat has and extra feature: a prob that measures temps and sends back to the unit what the heat pad is currently doing. Then the thermostat will increase or decrease the power output, automatically adjusting for factors to make sure the temps are stable. Depending on your model, tstats can also come with a variety of sanity saving features; things like auto shut offs if a malfunction happens, warning indicators that can sound alarms if it gets too hot or too cold, and lots of other stuff. It's worth the peace of mind to spend the extra $20-$30.

[Sauzo]

A rheostat is better than an unregulated UTH. I have used rheostats from Home Depot for a long time on everything from UTH to heat lamps and ceramic heat emitters. They are better than nothing and if your UTH does short out or go crazy, it is limiting the voltage to it to begin with so it wont burn your snake. The downside though is there is no safety shutoff on lamp dimmers and assuming you are keeping your snake in a room that is either warmed with something like a room heater like a reptile room or you keep your house fairly warm, you shouldn't have to adjust too much. I keep my house set to 70f and I almost never need to adjust my dimmers. I also check on my snakes and lizard a lot as they are all pretty social and really like the interaction. But yes a thermostat is still the best, even something like a Hydrofarm which is only $35.

Lol honesty im no sure why I keep responding to this gals threads as she doesn't listen to anyone anyways. Guess I must really be that bored

[bcr229]

A rheostat is better than an unregulated UTH. I have used rheostats from Home Depot for a long time on everything from UTH to heat lamps and ceramic heat emitters. They are better than nothing and if your UTH does short out or go crazy, it is limiting the voltage to it to begin with so it wont burn your snake. The downside though is there is no safety shutoff on lamp dimmers and assuming you are keeping your snake in a room that is either warmed with something like a room heater like a reptile room or you keep your house fairly warm, you shouldn't have to adjust too much. I keep my house set to 70f and I almost never need to adjust my dimmers. I also check on my snakes and lizard a lot as they are all pretty social and really like the interaction. But yes a thermostat is still the best, even something like a Hydrofarm which is only $35.

Lol honesty im no sure why I keep responding to this gals threads as she doesn't listen to anyone anyways. Guess I must really be that bored

A rheo/dimmer is a short-term solution since it takes time to order a decent t-stat and get it shipped - or in the OP's case, she needs some time to save up or to get her next paycheck so she can buy the t-stat.
As was pointed out, if your room's ambient temperature fluctuates then the pad will fluctuate also, as the rheo/dimmer won't adjust the pad to keep it the same temp no matter what the room does. So, if the pad is 90*F with a room ambient of 75*F, then the pad will go to the mid-90's if the room goes to the mid-70's.

And yes, since some t-stats fail wide open - I found out recently that VE's do, more's the pity since a lot of people use them - then it's not a bad idea to install a dimmer between the t-stat and the heat appliance so that if the t-stat does fail the heat won't go so high that your snake ends up burned or dead.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Just gotta love being old and stupid.
Hope you are not too late for your snakes sake.
FYI if you stil havent gotten your ambient temperatures up then your snake is going to sit on the heat longer even if it is too hot for it to be there.

[Marrissa]

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...hermostat+seed

Purchase this product and call it done. If you get more into ball pythons and giving them proper care, save up for a herpstat 4. I have several of them and they're awesome. I started out with Hydrofarm thermostats. Set it and forget it. With a rheostat you can't set it and forget it. You have to adjust for the temps in your house all the time. So just buy the thermostat and don't waste your money on the rheostat.

And go to petsmart and pick yourself up a ceramic heat emitter for the ambient temps. Also for bedding it a tank, I recommend coco fiber because it really helps with the humidity. I use aspen on my snakes in their racks and T8s. When I had a tank, I used cocofiber and kept the side of the tank that wasn't covered by the ceramic heater emitter covered to keep in heat and humidity.

[Reed12321]

http://www.amazon.ca/Jumpstart-Digit...ords=hydrofarm

Here's the link to the Canadian version of Amazon so you can stop saying, "I can't even get that here."

[MarkS]

Why spend money on a rheostat when a Tstat is what you need? Especially in a cold climate your going to adjusting a dimmer ten times a day!
But better than nothing.

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Not really, as long as you live in a house that's temperature controlled. I used rheostats for several decades before digital thermostats with remote probes were even available. Some people even think that it's more natural because the heat will rise during the day and drop at night just like it does in nature. I personally prefer a good proportional thermostat, but there is nothing wrong with using a rheostat as long as you know how to use it properly.