Basically everywhere I've read on this site, and others, strongly suggest, and that might be too conservative a word, is that an UTH should not be used without a thermostat. My question is, why? Is it possible for a snake to get burnt with an UTH as the only heat source? I'd like people who have firsthand knowledge of this as I have never heard of a snake getting burnt with an UTH as a single heat source. I know snakes can get burnt with hot rocks and/or a combination of UTH/lamps/heat emitters etc., but just an UTH? Maybe the bigger ones get hotter and that's what’s confusing me but I have a 8 watt UTH, had it on all day and jammed a thermometer between the pad and the glass, the stabilized temp reading was 88.5 F, and that's at the hottest point. There is no way my snake is going to get burnt at that temperature. Is the argument that 88.5F isn't hot enough for the hot spot, so a secondary heat source is required, and the combination can increase the temp enough to burn the snake? Also as I understand it, when a UTH breaks, it doesn’t heat up, it just stops working as the circuit is broken, is this correct? When they fail, if they increase beyond their design temp, I understand the point of a thermostat, but my understanding is they just stop heating.
Any thoughts on this?