Probe Placement spin-off

[Cheesenugget]

"If the animal is healthy, eating and doing well, the rest can be figured out along the way."

Yup, and many a keeper HAS figured out things along the way. The hard way. And the animals paid the price.

Sure, all streets lead to Rome and things can be done a hundred different ways. However, when it comes to LIVE animals, perhaps its just smart to go along with what has been established to be the best and safest way to go about things. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had relative newbies boast how their way is just fine and people are just to dang picky. Only to end up NOT being fine one day, and there is the burned animals, there is the sick animal, there is the chewed upon animal, there is the escaped animal, there is the dead animal.

Lesson learned.

No one here is being condescending. Anyone that has been in this hobby for a long time has seen what this hap hazardous ignoring of good advice can lead to. We all have seen the crispy, red and bleeding bellies of snakes.

It works for you to have the probe inside? Great. It will keep on working. Until it doesn't. If you say they do not move, then obviously you have fastened them down. Since you have glass and pvc cages, you must have them glued down. At least I hope there isn't any tape. Any glue can fail over time. I've seen hot glue pop off of a smooth surface without much effort. Other glues as well. Esp. if they are subjected to wetness or corrosive liquids. Any probe, plastic or whatever, is connected to a cable. That cable is usually not one piece construction covering the probe. There is a connection somewhere. Sure, usually fairly water proof. But give it time and liquid will find a way.

So can it work ? Of course. Maybe even years. But why take the risk ? If glue pops off, or tape, or the animal is in any way whatsoever able to move the probe, even if just a few inches or up onto their body, the heat will be wide open. Enough to burn your animal very badly. All it takes is just that one time.

Can a thermostat or probe fail otherwise too? If installed correctly and safely away from the inside of a enclosure? Yes. HOWEVER, what we should strive for is to do the best we can. The safest. The way that has been proven to work the best. And why not? Its not like its a big deal or difficult to do.

In a forum such as that, where many newbies come to, you always want to hand out the best advice there is. Let them learn the well established proven way to keep their animal safe.

Heat (right, or to high, or to low) is a HUGE part of keeping reptiles. And keeping them safe and healthy. Why risk it?

I've seen Ball Pythons live for years without thermometers. Some with heat rocks. Does that mean we should tell people to do this? Because, why not ? It works for some and their animals "are healthy, eating and doing well". But we don't do it. Because we have learned, through trial and error, that this can quickly go very bad.

I tend to take risks such as that with myself. After all, I know what I'm doing. And if I get hurt through my own stupidity, well, I've got myself to blame, don't I? I rode horses for years without a helmet, bareback at that. Until I got thrown off my horse because someone spooked her badly and she took off. I rode that fine, its her sudden stop that made me hit the ground with enough force to cause blood clots deep in my eyes. I landed on my head and upper back. 6 inches away from a rail road tie. Had I hit that, I'd probably be dead. I KNEW the risk, but I took it anyway. Hey, it worked for years. Works for others.

But animals in our care have no say. They depend on us entirely to be responsible and make the best decisions. So I'm always careful to weigh all the options and go with true and tried methods. While no method is entirely risk free, taking the LEAST risk is what I want for my animals.

All that said, you can do what you want. I'm not trying to change your mind whatsoever, I can tell you aren't open to that anyway. The reason I typed all this out is for anyone that may be on the fence about doing things "just so" when it seems that perhaps its not all that necessary. And for the newbies that wonder if they really should bother do things the way the way they are recommended.

My response to OP was a short one because I wanted to leave it at that. I did not want to convince anyone to do it my way nor say that there is no way but 1 way to do things.

And do me a huge favor : you do not know me, so don't assume you think I am not "open to that anyways." The truth is, I read a lot of threads and responds to very few, probably 2 out of 10 the most, and that is if I felt something that worked for me might help or I refer that person to another poster's advice. I never once claimed I knew more. I had asked for help and opened to ALL suggestions to my questions. So I don't know how your remark about who you think I am is not the least condescending but okay. Moreover, there were some comments posted in response to others who did things differently by comparing the number of snakes one have, I guess that makes one's opinion completely invalid if you have less snakes? All newbies and old should be doing their own research. Opinions are exactly that, opinions. While the forums are great source of info, one should never rely strictly on only one source of information.

I looked at both sides of the argument and made my choice. If someone who have a pet snake that was burned by having a thermostat probe inside the tank (on the glass or tub), please elaborate because I am completely open to learning about that. Or any independent studies done on that would be even better. And I mean where there is the direct cause/effect of how a snake pee on a probe can cause fluctuations in temps so high that it burned the snake. So far I have read responses from keepers who is doing things a certain way because "it happened to someone else" plus graphic pics.