Quote Originally Posted by dylan815 View Post
I'm sorry but this is something that has been bugging me for weeks. I just have to get it out now, ugh! I cannot believe the bad information that chain pet stores and small uneducated mom and pop shops give to new reptile owners. for instance, a local shop here where i live Had two adult ball pythons that they bought from someone in a 40 g breeder tank with nothing but a mild heat lamp. The heat lamp was so cool i could touch the ceramic part at the top of the light. This kind of stuff really really bugs me and makes me sad. Another thing that blows my mind is that places like petco and petsmart don't sell any sort of heating thermostats! I have only ever bought one snake from them, my very first ball python 5 years ago, and he went 4.5 years with a unregulated heating pad. I didn't know about needing a thermostat until i joined on here! It just seems so darn ridiculous to me now that they don't properly inform people how to care the the animals they sell. DON'T EVER BUY FROM CHAIN STORES OR STORES THAT DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING! My local pet shop just got two cornsnakes that someone brought in. Neither of them have any heating element and have been being kept on sand. I don't think either of these adult corn snakes have had proper heating ever in there life. When I was in the store the owner asked me how she should heat it and if she really needed to!!!!! Those poor snakes and neglected beardies at that place make me so upset and mad. I just wish i could buy them all and save them from the crappy life the live right now. Anyways, sorry for the big rant, and for the bad punctuation, Anyone have any other thoughts on situations like this? Have a good day yall!
Three things to consider:

You should be able to touch the ceramic part of a heat lamp with your hands, if you can't then its gonna be WAY too hot in the cage for a snake.

Some people keep corn snakes at room temperature. There is literally nothing wrong with it as long as your house stays at a stable temperature and aren't feeding too often.

The typical heat pad doesn't get too hot to burn a snake or even really heat up a tank enough to cause problems for the most part as long as it isn't too big. Its even more rare for a failure nowadays that manufacturing/engineering of the common brands has gotten much better than in the past. Thermostats are a fail safe in all reality, actual temp control for a few people with specific temp issues based on their house or where they live. I used heating pads, like you for probably 10 years without ever having a thermostat. I never had a problem. The burned reptiles and such from heat pads/heat rocks are only the people who posted of a product failure. People who have a positive experience are much less likely to post a review or even talk about it. People who have something bad happen are MUCH MUCH more likely to post photos and stories and the like. I don't think the reptile burning was ever as prevalent as people think it was due to that. THAT SAID, everyone should have a thermostat for their pets that have heating elements because quite frankly it's not worth the risk and vet bills that would result from something like that. The 90's/early 2000's were the wild west of reptile keeping and not many people used thermostats at all, most of the reptiles got out just fine and I think that's part of the reason so many still don't use them or are even aware of them.