Thanks for the input... the last thing I want to do is cook my little buddy. I ordered the UTH off of Amazon, so it's kind of a knock-off brand, "Aiicoioo." 24 W, and yes, I definitely got the thermostat/regulator. The warning is probably a CYA thing, I guess I will move forward with my plan to convert to cypress. We're going off topic a bit, but would you recommend blending the Aspen and cypress for a while, gradually shifting the mix to give the snake time to adjust?