The major difference is the use of racks for bps. Heating pads aren't going to melt a glass aquarium and kill everything in it. Same with basking lights. Racks can quickly become an overheated death trap if the t-stat fails in the on position. This is why back-up t-stats are a MUSTwhen using a rack. If the geckos are not being housed in a rack, then there are more options and more leeway for t-stat use.
I use a herpstat to control my overhead dragon basking lights. I do not use a back-up t-stat for them and the probe is inside an enclosure. Why? There's no danger to them or to the enclosures if the lights go on full blast due to a t-stat failure. I could just as easily use a rheostat for this purpose but prefer the precision of a t-stat.
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