Best place to order thermostats?

[Mangiapane85]

Hi everyone. New here, but I'm very excited to get to know some of you. So the question at hand is, where should I order a good thermostat from? Or what stores carry them? I need two of them because I have my baby ball pythons in glass enclosures. Their temp and humidity are perfect but they aren't eating. So I'm going to put them in a small plastic tub. So I will need heat pads under both with a thermostat. So best options please.? Thanks in advance!

[PitOnTheProwl]

Reptile Basics is by far one of the best places to order from.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/

[Sallos]

If you'd like one with all the 'bells and whistles' that can handle multiple tanks, check out http://www.spyderrobotics.com


If you're on a tight budget, I started with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NZZG3S/ and it worked well. It turns the heat on whenever the temp drops to two degrees below your desired setting.

[Mangiapane85]

Awesome! Thanks man, I just ordered 2 of the ones off amazon. They're affordable and get good reviews, so heck yes. Thanks for your advice man!

[Mangiapane85]

Also, would a normal small zoomed UTH be ok with just a 9 liter plastic tub or should I do something else? I'm wanting to transfer the snakes asap, so any suggestions are MUCH appreciated.

[Sauzo]

Spyder Robotics!! Herpstat or go home!!! J/K, well sorta. I personally swear by Herpstats but then again I got 4 of them. I also use Hydrofarm ones too but those are mostly for backups.

As for a UTH, me personally, I like Zoo Med stuff but I hate their UTHs. My vote is either for Flukers or Ultratherm for glass tanks or single tubs. For all my AP cages I just use Flexwatt and for my Proline cage, I use a Pro Products RHP. If though you are going to use a Zoo Med one, be sure to buy a roll of aluminum foil tape and tape the sticky side of the UTH so you can just slide it under the tub. That way you can reuse it and move it without trying to peel it off the tub.

[Sallos]

Also, would a normal small zoomed UTH be ok with just a 9 liter plastic tub or should I do something else? I'm wanting to transfer the snakes asap, so any suggestions are MUCH appreciated.

Probably, but it depends on where you're keeping it. From my research on this forum and elsewhere, the hot spot heater only needs to heat 1/4 to 1/3 of the tub to 88-90 degrees. You want the opposite side of the tub to be around 80 degrees along with the ambient air temperature not dropping below 75. In my case, my room can get pretty chilly, so I opted for 2 flex watt strips that cover the entire bottom of the tub. I set the larger 11" one to keep the cooler side of the tub to about 80 and the smaller 6" to keep the hot side at 90 degrees. If the ambient starts to drop, I'll cover the tub with a towel to keep the warmth in like a blanket. The important thing is to test the temps inside of the tub to make sure.

I've followed this video to be very useful on how to setup a tub. https://youtu.be/QQ20vUFka8s

I found this temp gun works well to find the surface temps in the tub. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VUZQKS0/

This thermometer/hydrometer is great for ambient temps in the tub. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JR0PCTI/

Spyder Robotics!! Herpstat or go home!!! J/K, well sorta. I personally swear by Herpstats but then again I got 4 of them. I also use Hydrofarm ones too but those are mostly for backups.

I definitely second this. I started with jumpstart/hydrofarm and it did the job, but if you can upgrade sometime to a Herpstat it is very worth it. The owner said they will have a herpstat website sale around Thanksgiving.

[Mangiapane85]

Thanks for the info! I already ordered the two "jump start" thermostats and they will be here Sunday. I'll give them a try. I plan on test running everything under the tubs for a few days to make sure everything is perfect... so with the tape I should just tape the edges of the mat so that it doesn't stick to the tub? I'm a bit confused... also, with a 9 liter plastic tub, how do I know which size UTH to get?

[Neal]

The bad side of the thermostats from hydrofarm(Jump starts) you ordered is that when they fail, in every occasion that I've seen them fail, it's always wide open. So I would never personally use them longer than I had to and get something like the herpstat thermostats or ve's.

[Sauzo]

Thanks for the info! I already ordered the two "jump start" thermostats and they will be here Sunday. I'll give them a try. I plan on test running everything under the tubs for a few days to make sure everything is perfect... so with the tape I should just tape the edges of the mat so that it doesn't stick to the tub? I'm a bit confused... also, with a 9 liter plastic tub, how do I know which size UTH to get?

You want to tape the sticky side of the Zoo Med UTH so it doesn't stick to the tub. So basically you will put sticky side of the UTH to the sticky side of the aluminum foil tape. Then you just use the aluminum foil tape to tape to the corners/sides of the UTH to the tub. Some people put the t-stat probe between the UTH and the tub bottom on the outside and others like me tape the probe to the bottom of the UTH so the UTH is completely flat on the glass/tub bottom.

As for size, you want no more than 1/2 the cage floor with a UTH but better yet 1/3 of the cage floor. So you will have to measure that and buy the right size UTH. Also you need to make sure the UTH can heat through the tub floor. And when you take temps, take it at the surface on the tub on the inside, not on top of the substrate as snakes like to push substrate aside and sit right on the warm floor.