Reptile & Amphibian Forums

(sorry about posting here had no luck in cage/habitat forum)

Hello Everyone,

I recently just decided to add to my collection of herps and have been using a Helix dbs 1000 to regulate heating in the boa's enclosure I already have. I am planning on getting a couple more of these guys and would like to regulate their enclosure temps. with my helix as well. I have 3 plugs that come with it, so I have the needed outlets, my question is what do I do about the temperature gauge. How can you regulate all three enclosures with just one temp. gauge?(thats already in my boas enclosure)

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks, Shannon

Use separate thermostats for each cage. By far the safest and most exact way to control various cages.
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http://www.GilbertBoas.com/
http://www.BoaList.com/

Really depends on your set up. Are you using stacked cages/racks or aquariums spread around a room with no regulated temp? If you are using aquariums...if they are at the same height in the room(on a shelf for example) and basically lined up so the temp. is going to be fairly consistent within that area, I'd put the temp. probe in the middle cage so long as all heating elements are the same. That's to say if you're using heat tape in all cages, and it's all say 11" this should work. If you're using a heat lamp in one cage, heat tape in another, and radiant heat in yet another cage, this isn't going to work out for you. If you have stacked caging, I generally temp. probe the middle of the stack, understanding that your bottom cages will be slightly cooler and your upper cages will be slightly warmer. In this situation, I would try to maintain the males in the lower cages. I've never seen a large collection where they're using a seperate thermostat for every single cage. Having only 10 animals would cost you roughly 1500 dollars if you bought one Helix per cage. That's just not reasonable for most people. Hope this helped a little bit.

I use one thermostat per cage, or per rack. For example, I have a 4 bin rack for males, that is on a thermostat; and only because it is not possible to independently control each bin.. But the rest of my boas are in individual cages and each has its own thermostat. I look at the cost of my animals, and the extra cost for one thermostat is worth the piece of mind that I have a safe setup. The Herpstat pro is a great solution. 4 independent thermostats in one unit, and only $319. Not to mention more options than a Helix. Hi/Low monitor, alarm feature, built in night drop, and power curve adjuster.
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http://www.GilbertBoas.com/
http://www.BoaList.com/

If you want to spend the cash and run one thermostat PER CAGE, that's fine. Is it the only way to go? If you're heating a stack of individual cages in the same manner, running one thermostat per stack is essentially the same as running one per "rack". If you really want, you could run individual heat strips on your racks so you can have one thermostat per level there as well. As far as I know, you're not maintaining a great number of animals, and you're also not paying all the bills, so you're not looking at things in a very broad spectrum. Your bringing this attitude forward that if you care about your animals, then the only way to go is one thermostat per cage, and it simply isn't necessary! I'm sure you take every single animal to the vet regularly, have them all micro-chipped, and raise your own rodents to insure they are fed prey that is fed only the best and hand raised by you to insure quality...right? I'd say the cost of your animals would justify these minor expenses as well. Wait, which frozen rodent dealer did you say you prefer? I'm done wasting my time on this.

LOL!!
Plenty more could be said in this context ......

OH LORD ITS HARD TO HUMBLE ...... and PERFECT IN EVERY WAY
Everytime I look in the mirror I get better looking each day
:slap:

tnk > As far as I know, you're not maintaining a great number of animals, and you're also not paying all the bills, so you're not looking at things in a very broad spectrum. Your bringing this attitude forward that if you care about your animals, then the only way to go is one thermostat per cage, and it simply isn't necessary! I'm sure you take every single animal to the vet regularly, have them all micro-chipped, and raise your own rodents to insure they are fed prey that is fed only the best and hand raised by you to insure quality...right? I'd say the cost of your animals would justify these minor expenses as well. Wait, which frozen rodent dealer did you say you prefer? I'm done wasting my time on this.

I do not have too large of a collection, I do pay for everything for my animals, and we do raise our own rodents for the exact reasons you mentioned. I don't understand the attitude when I am simply saying how I do things with my collection. Paul, I respect you as a breeder and a person, but I really don't see where this is coming from. Your information on controlling multiple cages with one thermostat is the way to go about doing it, for the people who choose that method.
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http://www.GilbertBoas.com/
http://www.BoaList.com/

It's the way you go about doing things. You already replied to the guy saying how you do things. COOL! Then you reply to MY reply again saying how YOU do things, which is insulting to people. Throwing in the "cost per animal" puts out the idea that I must not care as much about my collection as you because I do it differently. Try to lose the air of arrogance in your replies sometimes. One thermostat per cage is overkill IMO, not wrong, not right, just overkill. You may pay for your animals, but you're not paying the mortgage, raising kids, paying all the little costs that come with not living at home or still under the financial control of your parents. I'm not knocking you for being a college kid, that's great, but try to realize not everyone may be as fortunate as yourself! Off to a cook out, gotta run....see ya!

Thanks Paul! Take care and enjoy your cook out.
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http://www.GilbertBoas.com/
http://www.BoaList.com/