Hello, I have a small collection of BP's in a Vision Rack. I keep mostly colubrids and living in Central Florida, haven't had to worry too much about heating them. But we do have some cold days and nights in the winter so the BP's do need heat. Couple of questions regarding heating:

1. For those of you keeping a small group, that don't have an entire room to heat, do you just use the heat from the racks? Or do you also use a space heater?
2. I've seen people put the thermostats heat probe right up against the heat cable/tape and that's how I've always dont' it with old melamine Matrix rack. but I've also seen people put the probe into an actual tub. What do you think is the most accurate/best method?
3. I've read a lot about potential fires from the thermostat going bad or staying in the ON position permanantly. The Vision racks seem very sturdy and heat duty so I would imagine it would take a lot of heat to actually cause a fire. Plus, I emailed Zoo Med and they said that without a thermostat (or with one that goes bad) the heat cable will only get 110 F, as long as there is no heat impaction. The Vision racks are made to avoid heat impaction. Still, what precautions do you take? I've always used a surge protector but on the Herpstat site there is a warning that some surge protectors will actually cause the thermostat to remain in the ON position. I'm a little nervous since I have dogs at home and just a little paranoid, even though I think these equipment is very safe.

Thanks for any advice. Hope I don't sound paranoid. Just figured it best to be safe than sorry.