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!