Hi,
Is it?
And yet it stops the snake from messing up the reading - say by sitting or P'ing on the probe and causing the thermostat to overheat the enclosure trying to compensate. And of course if the snake managed to move the thermostat probe off the heater alltogether the thermostat would crank it up to full and never turn it down as the probe wouldn't register the temps change.
So, to clarify, your way runs a risk of your snake getting badly burnt or cooked to death through it's own actions and ours doesn't.
Nothing can prevent equipment failures and accidents but every risk you minimise is a good thing.
Still think we are lacking something from the shoulders up?
dr del