Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm preparing to build a 3 tier sliding bypass display set up. I've researched the heck out of thermostats but still can not justify spending $100 on a proportional. BUT if I did, would you simply place the probe in the anticipated warmest part of the middle cage? Is the alternative on/off style good enough to drop temps with accuracy when breeding snakes? I even thought about a rheostat and just get a temp gun and tweak it manually until you reach desired temps. Your input is appreciated!

I used to use a rheostat but I found I was always fiddleing with it and it would always change as the weather changed. I would be tweaking the rheostat several times a day. I broke down and got a Herpstat Pro cus I needed more than one, it has night drop capabilitys, its great. Plus they are on sale for the holdiays so mabie $110 you can get the basic model proportional. I chose to go with a proportional instead of an on/off because of the acuracy.

What kind of heater in each cage? Lamp? RHP? Heat pad?
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Mark

>>I'm preparing to build a 3 tier sliding bypass display set up. I've researched the heck out of thermostats but still can not justify spending $100 on a proportional.

But think how much you'll be spending just on the caging, not to mention the animals you'll be putting in those cages.

>>BUT if I did, would you simply place the probe in the anticipated warmest part of the middle cage?

Yes. That's a reasonable plan. You'll be splitting the difference of your bottom cage being a little too cool and the top one being a bit too warm, with the middle one being JUST right. Of course, depending on how much your ambient temperatures vary from ceiling to floor, perhaps you'd want to purchase THREE thermostats - one for each cage. Okay, I guess that's unlikely based on what you said.

>>Is the alternative on/off style good enough to drop temps with accuracy when breeding snakes?

Absolutely.

>> I even thought about a rheostat and just get a temp gun and tweak it manually until you reach desired temps. Your input is appreciated!

Well, you can't beat the price of a rheostat, that's for sure. But if you have, indeed, researched the heck out of thermostats, you probably already have a pretty clear idea of the various advantages of a quality on/off thermostat or of a proportional one versus a basic rheostat.

I've used Helix, Big Apple, Herpstat and one other proportional model over the years; they've all performed adequately. For what it's worth, a Helix one is the only one of 21 different proportionals which has failed - so far. If I were starting from scratch today, I'd buy Herpstat.

By the way, you should consider buying that temp gun in addition to a proportional thermostat (as long as I'm spending your money for you). They are cool husbandry tools. I use mine every day.

Don't forget that snakes are very good at thermoregulating.

You do not have to hold the temp to 0.1 deg.. the snake will move closer/farther from the heat source as needed. Well, unless the cage is really small and the snake cannot escape the heat if desired.

So, an ON/OFF is fine. For a heater like an RHP, CHE or lamp, the proportional controller results in less wear on the heating elements, but the difference is really not worth worrying about.

What is more important is hiding opportunity for the snakes at different areas of the cage, or all areas of the cage.

I agree with the poster who suggested a thermostat for each cage (if using a CHE or bulb or RHP in each cage). Why? Well, what if you do use one controller in the middle cage? What if you accidently unplug that heater, or it burns out. The other cages have heaters that are ON, while the temperature sensor in the middle cage shows a lower temp. You have no protection in that case (or should I say the snakes have no protection.)

If you want to use just one thermostat, you can if the cages are large enough where one end always is close to room temp. Use the controller probe to sense the room air temp or cool end of the top cage, while the controller output is wired to each heater in each cage through a dimmer. Use dimmers on each cage to dial in a reasonable temperature on one end of the cage, or use one dimmer for all three cages if the heaters are the same and the wattage total of the heaters is less than the rating on the dimmer.

So that is: wall power -> ON/OFF controller -> 1-to-3 dimmers in parallel -> heaters
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Mark

I think I'm going to get a on/off and just have it in the middle cage. If the malfunction case arises, like one poster said, the snake can easily get comfortable on the other side of the cage - there will be enough space.