Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was wondering if any one knew where i can get a device that will automatically sense and regulate temperatures. in other words something that i can plug one end into a thermometer and one end into a heat lamp so when it gets to hot/cold my heat lamp will turn on/off thanks, bc

A Helix Thermostat System can do all that. You can find them at beanfarm.com.

Using a thermostat with a lamp isn't recommended. Besides shortening the life of the bulb, it can cause stress for your snake with a light going on and off all the time.

Thermostats are better used with radient heat panels or flex-watt.

Chris is right. If you are using a lamp, you could switch to a ceramic heat bulb that doesn't produce light. I used them for a few years with a thermostat before I used radient heat panels and flex watt. Their are a few nice thermostats out their, and they can be spendy. Check out the cage forum on this site for more help. Also beanfarm.com, lllreptilesupply.com, and bigappleherp.com? . big apple has an affordable thermostat with a back up failure mode. I use mainly ranco t-stats, but their are really nice ones out their as well. Check out all that you can.
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I'm just the snake room janitor

Yeah, the ceramic heaters work great, but you do have to watch humidity as they dry out a cage. Also, make sure your fixture has a ceramic base and is rated for the wattage.

If going that route any thermostat would work. But I would play it safe with digital. Ranco, Johnson, Herpstat or Helix.
If you use a radiant heat panel, same thing. Flex-watt is designed to be used with a proportional thermostat so Herpstat and Helix for that.
Both Spyder Robotics (Maker of Herpstat) and Helix have a number of models with different features, so shop around.