I've used dimmer switches on UTH's for decades with no problems. I've had more Thermostats go bad on me than rheostats. I hate heat lamps for heat for ball pythons because they dry out the air so much so I definately recommend a UTH. I prefer using thermostats myself but as long as you check the temps regularily dimmer switches are a prefectly acceptable alternative.
Personally, I prefer the Ultratherm heat pads for use in a single cage application (IE: not a rack) the heat pad should cover around 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottom of the cage so that you have a gradient from warmer to cooler. Here is an example of the type of heat pad I prefer. http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultrath...ater-uth-6-x11
Reply With Quote