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Rack/heat question

Lolo

Lolo

Surrounded by snakes
I just did some "reorganizing" of my collection, and moved all of the corn snakes into a 30qt back-heat rack. I've used this rack for corns before, but I was living in chilly San Francisco at the time... now I'm living in a warmer town (and in a more insulated apartment), and the temps are way too high!

I turned the rheostat ALL the way down, and it was still measuring at 95-96 directly on the heat - using a temp gun & acu-rite digital thermometer. It's only 78-80 inside the tub (also w/ a digital thermometer), so is that okay? Or should I just turn off the heat altogether? I currently have the heat turned off, and the ambient temp is holding steady around 79... but it was unusually warm today @ 82 outside.

Another option is to switch that rheostat for one of my proportional thermostats, which are currently hooked up to python racks... but with the pythons being more sensitive to fluctuations, I've always felt more comfortable using a proportional with them. I would buy another one for the corns, but I don't have an extra $120 right now. :eek: Any thoughts?
 
Correction: Ambient temps are around 76 with heat turned off, and the 78-80 (with heat) I mentioned is ambient at the back of the tub.
 
I don't think your temps are too high, but if you can't afford a nice proportional, what about getting a decent on/off Alife from The Bean Farm? They're pretty cheap, and when you _do_ get a proportional, you can still use it as a back-up.
 
Nanci said:
I don't think your temps are too high, but if you can't afford a nice proportional, what about getting a decent on/off Alife from The Bean Farm? They're pretty cheap, and when you _do_ get a proportional, you can still use it as a back-up.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about this one? http://beanfarm.com/product_info.php?cPath=1238&products_id=5685

That looks decent, and would be better than my ZooMed rheostat... but the picture's kinda small, so can you explain how it's different from a proportional? Does it just have higher/lower instead of actual temp settings?
 
Yes, that's the one. I have several as back-ups and they are very reliable.

An on/off thermostat is set at the temp you desire. It turns on at full power and heats the UTH (or rack heating system) to the set temp, then shuts off. The temp continues to rise a few degrees, <5 generally. Then the UTH temp begins to fall, and when it is a couple degrees below the set temp, the stat turns on again. This type of stat is accurate to about 2-3 degrees of what you have set, and has some minor fluctuation, which is not harmful to cornsnakes. You generally set the temp on a dial, which is not entirely accurate, so you have to have a good thermometer (probed, digital) in place to make sure the temp you set is the temp you get, and you would adjust the setting on the stat according to your thermometer reading. Unlike a rheostat, a thermostat allows you to forget about it after the initial setting; you don't have to readjust it for room temp fluctuations.

A porportional thermostat has a digital setting. After you input the temp, it turns on at 100% power to bring the heating device up to the set temp. As the temp of the UTH nears the set temp, the stat decreases the power supplied, slowing the warming of the UTH, and then shutting off completely as it reaches the set temp. The temp may rise .5 to 1F over what you have set. When the temp falls just below the set temp, the stat turns back on with 10% power tovery slightly raise the temp back to the desired setting. This type of stat is usually accurate to .5F. The digital readout of the temp is accurate and should match a good thermometer within tenths of a degree. It is fine to trust the digital readout of a proportional thermostat to set the temp by.

While cornsnakes don't "need" the accuracy of a proportional stat, a nice thermostat such as the Herpstat ND will provide additional features, such as high/low temp alarms which the owner might find useful. Additionally, a proportional stat has a fuse which will shut down the stat, and thus the heat, if there is a heating malfunction. Some stats, such as the Herpstat ND, have a replaceable fuse so you can send the stat in for service instead of having to replace it.
 
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