Just a heads up on heating pads and surge protectors

[Emily Hubbard]

I have two heating pads on my enclosure, one for belly heat and one up near the roof for ambient heat, with thermostats of course, and I have them plugged into one of those surge protectors with about eight plugs. I don't have a lot of outlets, so I use the surge protector for my viv heat, and to charge my lap top. Last night as I was unplugging my laptop, I accidentally hit the on/off switch on the surge protector. No big deal, I just flipped it back on and went to bed. Well, this action apparently reset the thermostats, so they were just reading temps, not controlling them. Thankfully, the heat pads I use max out at about 100 degrees. WAAY too high, but not fatal for 9ish hours.

When I saw my snake in her cool hide this morning, I checked temps right away because she is never in her cool hide in the morning. I got a reading of 102 degrees on the warm side and of course freaked out, unplugged everything and started over once it cooled down. Crisis averted.

I share this just as a heads up if you use a surge protector, or even if you have a power outage or blown fuze, anything to disrupt your current. This may be specific to my equipment and circumstance, but stuff happens. ALWAYS check your thermostat if you have had any break in the current.

Also, the main lesson I learned from this is the importance of checking temps daily. It seems like common sense, but I am sure we have all gotten busy skipped a day checking temps, I know I have before. What if I had today? I was lucky that 102 was as high as the temp got, and I was lucky that my snake knew better and slithered herself over to the cool spot, which rose to 87 with the rising of the other side. Heating pads, thermostats... they're just machines, and machines don't always work perfectly.

Anyway, just a little warning about being vigilant. I am very thankful that my mistake did not end in tragedy, just a jump in my heart rate. I could very well have been posting on Rainbow Bridge if I had not checked temps this morning, or my heating pads had a stronger output. Learn from my mistake, I know I have. I think it is important that we all share our mistakes to save each other from repeating them. Thanks for reading!