Thermostats

I'm going to buy a thermostat and was wondering which to choose. I have looked at some expensive ones like the Boaphile Plastics thermostat, but I can't afford that right now. I'm looking for something under $50. Is Zoo Med better than ESU? The Zoo Med I'm considering is called Reptitemp 500R, and the ESU is just called "Temperature Controller." The ESU is a bit more money, but if it's better I'll buy it. Anyone have any suggestions?

You can get the Ranco thermostat from herpsupplies.com for $65- the only catch is you have to attach the power strip (or have an electrician type person do it for you). I have been using it & it has been working very well!

I've heard that the BAH-1000 thermostat by bigappleherp.com is really good for the money. It's $30, and I think it has dual receptacles.

I got my Ranco from dsreptiles.com for $85 shipped already wired to a 6-outlet powerstrip. If you own several enclosures, it's entirely worth it.

So the Ranco keeps track of the temps of several probes and adjusts each enclosure separately? Can you program it to change temps at night? What's the performance difference between the Ranco and the Johnson models? If I'm spending this kind of money, I want to get the most reliable. Is the Boaphile Plastics thermostat worth the extra cash over the Ranco? I'm just a little lost here with all these different brands and I don't know which ones are the best.

I appreciate your advice.

The Boaphile thermostat IS a Ranco. Rancos, Johnsons, and Helix were all designed for industrial use, so they're much more reliable than unregulated pet brand models.

Ranco is just the basic thermostat. You're able to specify a differential. So I could have the temp set at 90 with a differential of 5 degrees. That means if the temp ever goes down to 85, the thermostat will automatically kick on the heat until it hits 90. Then the heat turns off until the temp goes down to 85. But again, I can change the differential to 1 or 2 degrees. Boaphile has a great description of it on his page.

Johnson costs more than a Ranco, but people like the smaller size. It also offers more features, which I think includes day-night timers, but I could be wrong. There are more details on dsreptiles.com.

I know nothing about Helix, but it's the other high-end thermostat people prefer. You can check it out on beanfarm.com.

The thermostats only come with one probe. I just keep the probe on the top cage since that's the one that would get slightly warmer than the rest. For the most part though, there isn't too much variation. I still use a temp gun to check on the cage temps, which I suggest you do no matter what type of thermostat you use.

Thanks very much. You've been very informative

Are these VERY reliable? I know some companies (Boaphile Plastics) make 2 Ranco thermostats in a series, one making sure the other one is not getting "stuck wide open." Is this a necessary precaution?

Thanks

That's just an extra precaution for people who have thousands of dollars invested in their collections. If it helps, I've never heard of any of these thermostats failing. (But I HAVE heard of instances where pet brand thermostats fail.)

OK, thanks. I feel better about it now.

Sorry, I have yet another question. These thermostats are on/off, not proportional. If I have it controlling a heat lamp, will the light turning on and off mess with the snake's photoperiod? Are proportional thermostats better in that they provide a steady temperature, and not just constantly adjust the temperature like the on/off ones? What do you recommend?

Thanks for putting up with all of my questions

Ranco ETC 111000-000 for $48

I found a supplier for Ranco ETC 111000-000 for $48. It is controlls depot, 617-381-9716. They also have a website that is easy to order from.

The reason I ordered the Ranco..

is because on this site or Fauna I heard bad stuff about the BAH 1000. One person claimed that they will eventually fail.

It depends on your application..

I have the Ranco, which is an on off, connected to heat cable, which is routered into the shelves of my rack. In this case on off is fine because I have the probe attached to the shelf, which will take time to heat up and cool off. An on off thermostat hooked to a heat lamp doesn't sound like a good idea.

A couple of thoughts regarding the photo period- snakes don't usually require the UV light, like many other reptiles do... so if you have natural sunlight coming through that could provide your photo period, additionally, if used for heat you could consider one of the red or blue bulbs which do not interfere with the "photo period", while providing heat, it also enables you to observe the snake at night- when mine are more active . I personally am able to maintain adequate cage temps with a heating pad. :wavey: