Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if heat tape must be connected to some sort of thermostat. As it is, I just wired mine up and have it without. The temp gun says its around 106 degrees. If I need to use a control device, can I use the kind that sell for around $30, where you simply turn the dial to the desired temp and then it turns the power on and off to keep the temp at that 'mark'.
I am wondering both in terms of safety and the proper needs of the snakes.
Thanks,
Mike

A few years ago I would have said boldly that the cheapy dimmer-switchy style of thermostats work great.....but a few fried snakes later due to failures in these units have changed my mind completely (perhaps these cheapies are still a good option, and are perhaps better than running the heat tape without any type of thermostat). I am now using the Big Apple thermostats and they appear to work great and appear to be reliable, but I guess I will have to test them out for a few years to know for sure. In some cases you get what you pay for and I would at least keep researching this thoroughly. I currently use 4" wide heat tape on the bottom of the Visions that is taped using aluminum tape used for duct work, which is then plugged into the Big Apple thermostat (purchased from Pro Products)...the 4" heat tape works well as I have a heated lab to keep the ambient temps warm. Depending on your ambient room temp, you will have to find the right place in the cage to put your sensor to get the temps where you want them. Cheers!

Similar to Chris's experience, I have had some bad luck with "cheapo" thermostats. Two different units (different brands...ie. "both" of them) failed on me. in both cases no snakes were injured, but for the most part I use proportional thermostats now. I also use Big Apple, and really like them- they are remarkably accurate, which is another thing to consider with some of the cheaper on/off dial thermostats- always double check, as often even when functioning properly they are a few degrees off. I still use on/off thermostats, but only on heating devices that don't have the potential to injure an animal in the period of time between my rather frequent checks. My best heating experiences are with Pro Products radiant heat panels, with the Big Apple Proportional thermostat. I imagine Helix thermostats to be an equally good choice, though I haven't used them myself. The further beauty of the proportional thermostats is that their constant functioning allows you to set up very stable thermal gradients, and both Big Apple and Helix have ways to figure in a night-drop if you so desire.
Hope that helps.

hey Mike, the concern i have about heat tape is the variability of it...

if you just "run it", it tends to "pulse" quite a bit, where the heat fluctuates a lot. and i have certainly seen a number of cages get burnt or melted from uncontrolled heat tape, so i would most likely put a controller on it.

plain $6 rheostats aren't a good choice for heat tape (flex watt). they heat up HOT, and don't have a way to dissipate the heat. look for a higher caliber rheostat that has a heat sink built in to dissipate the heat build up. the ones we used (for a couple of years straight) were the size of a light switch, box and all, and had some nice metal fins. $20 or so...

we have since set up our heat tape sections (for rubbermaid snake racks, 20 feet long) on Ranco thermos like the Boaphile sells, and i like those a lot, from a safety and effectiveness point of view.

on a final note, from a large thermal mass point of view, we run a couple strips of 4 inch heat tape, about a foot long each, at the dirt line on our monitor troughs, and that is run full blast, but there is enough mass (1000 pounds or more of soil) there to dissipate the heat well there, so full blast is not a problem for that application.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles