Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked up a couple of water bed heaters from a thrift store. They have the thermostate. Has anyone ever used one of these for an UTH?

I took one of them apart. It looks just like an UTH, but just bigger. Any reason not to use it?

What about using just the thermostate for a real UTH? Basically cutting the cord that comes from the heater and plugs into themostate, connecting it to a regular electrical plug. Then plugging the UTH into that plug. Kinda like a store bought rheostate. Would that work?
Thanks,
Rob

i'm presently using a water bed heater in my incubator,it fits perfectly into my 90qt. sterilite that i use for incubation.

the thermostat is mechanical (copper wire to copper probe) and i use it for back up set at 84 degrees,my primary stat is a herstat set at 79.9 degrees.i would not use the heater stat alone for herp applications as it varies too much for my comfort level.

i personaly feel the stat is one of the most important links in caring for herps and is the last place i'd cut a corner.have fun!

I'll second that. I've never used one for heating a cage or incubator, but I've used several on waterbeds and out of 5-6 heaters I've had 2 thermostats fail and the pads get hot enough to scorch the wood frame even with 100 gallons of water keeping it cool...

I wasn't realy thinking about the quality of the thermostate on that thing.
Rob