I have been a member of this site for about two years now and in that time you see alot of the same topics over and over again. The one that really bothers me is snakes being burned by UTH. Tomorrow will be 2015. we live in an era of high tech gadgets and yet we still hear almost daily of snakes suffering horrible burns. I just dont understand. People are smart enough to find sites like this AFTER they have caused a burn but dont think about doing a bit of research BEFORE they get their animals. The excuse that I find the hardest to handle is " I dont have to money for a thermostat. " there are a lot of fabulous thermostats out there like herpstats and such but they can be a bit pricey for first timers. HOWEVER, there are also thermostats out there like the digital hydrofarm model that runs about $25.00 plus shipping from Amazon. this model works well for a lower end device and is better than nothing. I have not done any research on this but my guess is that a majority of the snakes being burned are the so called " normals " that are priced for about $20.00. I highly doubt some one would spend a couple hundred dollars and risk their investment being burned. It just makes me sad. Is there any good answer on how to stop this ? Me and my wife belong to the Chicago Herpetological Society and do alot of educational shows on proper snake husbandry.