Uth question

[Bogertophis]

I'm clear now. I think I interpreted it differently originally, my thought was that the UTH temp is going to stay the same on a dimmer no matter what the ambient temps are and with a thermostat they will fluctuate with the ambient temps. I see now what you are saying as the surface temp of the enclosure will vary on a dimmer despite the fact that the UTH temp stays constant, and the surface temp of the enclosure will stay the same when using a thermostat but the UTH temp will vary, if that makes sense....

Yeah, that's another way of saying it. Using a UTH with a rheostat, you'll have to make adjustments if the room temperature changes much, whereas a thermostat will make those adjustments for you so the enclosure stays the same. I may be wrong but most of us have our houses or apts. regulated by a thermostat, so the room temperature in that case shouldn't vary by enough to mess up your UTH, but certainly if you go that route, you should be double-checking now & then. Even thermostats fail though & it's always a good idea to check for safety. Since BPs require higher temperatures than do many other snakes & are more prone to thermal injuries (since the upper temperature they like is fairly close to what can cause damage), I'd have to say it's especially important to use a thermostat for BP enclosures. My suggestion of a rheostat was intended to be temporary until a thermostat was obtained, since the only other option (for snake safety) would be to turn OFF the UTH altogether.