heating frustrations

I was thinking of doing that too. I just wasn't sure if that would work or not.

I had the same problem and I bought one of those little $15 rheostats. It worked out great.

What I did is to buy a ceramic tile from the hardware store. Get one that is a bit larger than your heat mat. Stick the mat directly to the tile. Then you put the tank up on wooden blocks so it is raised off the shelf, which is a good idea anyway to minimize the risk of the shelf catching on fire. Put the heat mat/tile on blocks also. Now you can increase or decrease the height of the blocks and increase or decrease the distance of the tile/heat mat from the bottom of the tank to increase or decrease the temp of the glass. Another benefit of this is that when you change tanks, you just move the tile/heat mat instead of trying to peel the heat mat off the old tank. But honestly, the snake will move off the heat if he gets too hot. The heat rocks don't work as well because a lot of times they REALLY malfunction and can get REALLY hot and they don't raise the temp of the tank at all, just the heat rock stays hot, so the snake will hog the heat rock and not move. I think (and I may be wrong) snakes and lizards don't have heat sensors on their bellies and that is why they get burned.
sue frederick

does anybody know where I could get a thermostat? the hardware stores here all think I'm trying to heat my house so they aren't much help....

Try looking for a rheostat at a pet store or a pet supply store. If none around you have them, you can try any of the decent reptile supply stores online. Most of them carry rheostats for around $15, give or take.

K