Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am setting up a breeding colony of ball pythons in a well insulated garage. They will be kept in vision racks with heat. My question is what is the best type of thermostat to control the ambient temperature. I want something that has a night time temp. drop. Also, I have heard of hooking up a photo cell to turn on the lights when the sun comes up. Where do I get one and how do I use it? Thanks -

GO JOHNSON ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY

I say Ranco

Greg Van Zweden
http://www.vanzwedenreptiles.com/

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Forever Trust in what we are,and nothing else Matters

If another company is gonna knock Helix off, they are gonna have to explain why they are better than a Helix.

I don't sell thermostats, but Helix has been the leader for going on 20 years now.

Will a helix run a 1500 w oil based heater,I think thats what he using it for.maybe i read it wrong as for incubators and others i would use a helix/herpstatII......And i would use back ups Dual Rancos with a alarm sent to my phone..

Greg VanZweden
http://www.vanzwedenreptiles.com/

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Forever Trust in what we are,and nothing else Matters

including, Helix, Herpstat II, and Ranco's. They all work great but I would have to say the Herpstat has the most bang for the buck and has been flawless! There is nothing else to buy. The device will coontrol lights, heat, cooling devices and has a built in night drop. I will be using them from this point on.
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Greg Power
B.O.A. Inc
boainc@gmail.com

I went with the Johnson and I'm really happy with it. I chose it primarily because for my collection I would have had to buy 2 or 3 of the proportional thermostats to handle my just over 1000 watt load - the one Johnson handles the load fine and works well. For the $300 plus dollars that I didn't have to spend I can walk in and manually adjust the temps - but I also hear that there is now a way to wire the Johnson for night drop.

As for the Photo cells - sorry, can't help you there.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

Helix, Johnson and Ranco. Between the two on/off t-stats, we prefer the Johnsons because of a few extra features, including night drop capability. They all work well. When we need precise temp control, as in incubation, we always use Helix.
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Louis Kirkland
Cornerstone Reptiles