A Hydrofarm is going to give you the same chances of failure and end result as a lamp dimmer will. Both will fail wide open. You need to look at the thread on here about how to set up a 20g tank. Its helpful for newer people. There is nothing wrong with dimmers and stuff. The issue is you are starting with such a small enclosure that it is going to be hard to get any kind of temperature gradient to start with not to mention if you have a failure of any type, it will be magnified by the small space.
If you haven't gotten both snakes yet, my advice is only get 1 and use the whole tank for him. You are putting the cart in front of the horse by getting the snakes first without having proper setups and you are just asking for trouble. I never order a snake until I have the caging set up.
And for a UTH, you definitely need a t-stat. A CHE, you can get away with a dimmer but ideally, you want a good t-stat first and foremost. I personally use Herpstats.
Reply With Quote