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Where can i get a decent priced thermastate?

Susielea said:
Hi Cassie, just a small point, if you're using a ceramic heat bulb then you don't need a UTH. I have all my corns on ceramic heating at present and they are absolutely fine and have been for the last 5 years!

You should still be regulating the temperature with a thermostat and checking with a probe thermometer (on top of substrate and inside hides for ceramic heating).

If you're already doing this there is no need to pay out for a heat pad and rheostat/thermostat and another thermometer!

Best wishes,
Click to expand...

I was told that i needed both a heating lamp and a UTH. thanks for the infor. I keep her tank at around 77-83. i think i might still keep the UTH cause she feels cool at times when i take her out. I dont know do i really need to? I know i need to get new thermometers cause right now i have airial ones and i dont think they are very good. and i am doing that tomorrow. I will have to wait about a week till the repitemp 500r gets here. will be she be ok with just the the ceramic heating soucre. its not resting right on the lid it about 5in. above faceing down at the cage acorrding to the thermometers it 76 at the cold side and 84 at the warm. I have the lamp on the opisite side of the mat do i need to move it away from the water or is it ok. sorry for all the question. info on the internet is not very good with all the details of how to keep your snake.
thanks for the tips
Cassie
 
CassieK said:
I was told that i needed both a heating lamp and a UTH. thanks for the infor. I keep her tank at around 77-83. i think i might still keep the UTH cause she feels cool at times when i take her out. I dont know do i really need to? I know i need to get new thermometers cause right now i have airial ones and i dont think they are very good. and i am doing that tomorrow. I will have to wait about a week till the repitemp 500r gets here. will be she be ok with just the the ceramic heating soucre. its not resting right on the lid it about 5in. above faceing down at the cage acorrding to the thermometers it 76 at the cold side and 84 at the warm. I have the lamp on the opisite side of the mat do i need to move it away from the water or is it ok. sorry for all the question. info on the internet is not very good with all the details of how to keep your snake.
thanks for the tips
Cassie
Click to expand...

Just search through this site for info. Most of it's there. I would also recommend picking up Kathy Love's book. It's available on Amazon or her website. It's a must have for any corn keeper.
 
She should feel cool most of the time when you take her out. She shouldn't be over 85 degrees, and your skin temp is in the 90s so she will almost always feel cooler.
 
thanks so much for all the help i just want to make sure that i am taking the best care of her that i can.
Cassie
 
I know you have already had a lot of advise on this thread already, but just though id have my little say after a couple of comments about not needing a thermostat. When I brought my Corn, and tank and set up, I was faithfully told that a thermostat was not needed, and the UTH would be absolutely fine on its own. As this information was from 'pet experts' I trusted it. After a couple of weeks, I brought a digital thermometer with probe, and a thermostat. The temps in the warm end were reading at 112. Whilst there were no ill effects on my snake, he ate fine, shed fine, this is still far too hot for a corn. My thermostat has now been introduced and the temps are now as they should be. Unregulated, your snake MAY be fine, but long term, it is not safe, and you should definately look at getting one at your earliest opportunity.
 
CassieK said:
I've done some research but which is better a rheostat or a thermostat?
Click to expand...
Cassie - I won't tell you which is better, because that's a judgement call. But I will tell you the difference between them (in language I can understand. An electrical engineer would tear this to shreds).

A rheostat regulates the ELECTRICITY that goes to the UTH. Turn it up - more juice - more heat. Turn it down - less juice - less heat. It can be a blistering hot day and it will keep pouring in the juice making it even hotter. It can be freezing in the room, and the rheostat will obediently put out only as much electricity as you asked it to, perhaps not making a dent in the temperature in the VIV.

A thermostat regulates the TEMPERATURE output of the UTH. It comes with a probe that senses the temperature (of wherever you put the probe, so it should be right on top of the glass above the center of the UTH). You set the little dial (of the cheaper models like the 500R I have) and it will do a decent job of keeping the temperature within +/- a few degrees of whatever temperature is associates with the place on the dial you have it set.

In BOTH cases (excluding higher-end thermostates that actually give you a read out of the temperature), you still need a probe thermoter to let you know the temperature you have in your viv. The rheostat works perfectly well, but YOU have to watch the temperature more closely and adjust the amount of electricity going to the UTH to get the temps you want. Every time the ambient room temperature changes, you'll need to make an associated adjustment. Is that too much to do? That is for you to answer for yourself. With thermostats like the 500R, the thermoter will help you get the thermostat's dial set where you want it, and you can monitor it's performance to see that it's keeping temps within a range that you're satisfied with. A little less vigilence needed than with a rheostat, but it's still not 'set and forget.'

Again, the decision is yours based on your needs, financial position, and now much you want to have to be involved. Thankfully, corns are pretty hardy creatures and don't demand that their temps be exactly right all the time. You can get away with a little variance, although "optimal" is just that - OPTIMAL and you should strive to reach that. Just don't beat yourself up if you're off a degree or two one way or the other now and then.

Best of Luck and keep us posted!!

B
 
CassieK said:
I've done some research but which is better a rheostat or a thermostat?
Click to expand...
This is a tough question. I am no expert on high end thermostats used by some breeders. But I do have some back ground in HVAC.

Thermostat-
An on/off thermo like the 500R (which I use also) is limited in its capability. They range, meaning it is preset to a temp range. For example it may have a range of say 8 degrees. So if set to 80 it will heat to 84 degrees (probe temp) shutoff and stay off until it drops to 76 degrees (probe temp) then turn back on. During the time it is on the UTH is at FULL power meaning 100+ degrees. Some highend thermos may adjust flow vs on/off but they are usually (as some have said) priced out of the range of a one or two snake household. If you are not the type to constantly check or can't for some reason the thermostat is probably best because it will at least stop the ambient temps in the viv from exceeding the set range.

Rheostat-
A rheostat limits the flow of power so the UTH may only be at say 88 degrees constantly but if your room temp goes up the temp in the viv may exceed the recommended 80-85 degrees because a rheostat won't auto-adjust. A rheostat will take more interaction on your part but limiting power flow to the UTH and thereby limiting the temp it puts out maybe safer for a snake that borrows to viv bottom right on the UTH.

The ideal would be a combination of both, the rheostat would limit the highend output of a UTH and the on/off thermostat would control the ambient temp range of the viv.

Either one you choose I would check regularly to ensure your snakes safety.
 
OOPs MerlinsPop beat me to it. I should have read down farther. Good luck with your snake.
 
If you can come up with $75,you can get a Johnson therm from reptilebasics.com with a 6 plug strip.That way if you ever want more snakes(which you will!!!) you can run all the tanks off one therm.You can probably get it even cheaper with a single plug.Not picking on anyone,but I wouldn't trust a 500r to monitor the temps while I was baking brownies never mind taking care of my snakes! The Johnson is just a way better quality unit.I don't know why people pay alot for their snakes,cages,etc and then scrimp on what is probably the most important piece of equipment. :shrugs:
 
Does anyone have this model BAH-100 Thermostat rom big apple pet supply and can you tell me what you think of it or if its a good model.
 
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