Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In the never ending quest for perfect husbandry, I recently purchased myself a thermostat.

I have been using an under tank heat pad, and an overhead lamp to provide heat for my boa. The majority of the heat comes from the UTH though. The bulb is a pretty low wattage, and is relatively high above the cage. It's only function has been to provide light and to raise the ambient air temperature slightly during the day. The lamp has been plugged into a timer which keeps it on 12 hours during the day, then shuts it off automatically at night. I want to keep using the lamp and the timer.

Now, on to my question...
With the lamp still on the timer, should I plug it into the thermostat as well or leave it completely un-regulated? With both plugged in, the thermostat should allow the UTH to run a few degrees warmer at night after the lamp switches off and the ambient air cools down. This would allow for a little more belly heat at night. Would this be the best way to set it up?

Thanks!
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David - Houston, TX
Young Red Tail Boa
Purchased 11/16/03
www.geocities.com/davidag02

Without knowing what type of thermostat you are refering to,or,the specifics of your timer,I can tell you that standard "on-off" lamp timers are designed to operate at what is considered "full power",they are not meant to be "dimmed",or,have their operating voltage altered.other commonly used paraphenalia that should always receive "full power" are (most)electric motors,such as "fan forced air" heaters,and,fluorescent lights.The two most commonly used thermostats are either "on-off",which "make-or-break" electrical current based on temperature rise,or,drop,(depending on application,and/or,setting.)and,"pulse proportional",(such as Helix brand,and,others.)which continuously alter incoming current by "communicating" with a secondary "power module". Using the latter type of controlling device in the manner you suggest would subject the timer to voltages that it was not designed to operate at,and,would probably result in failure,and/or,possibly,the risk of fire...using a basic on-off type thermostat,("wafer type",or,"point break" )seperately from whatever you are using for the UTH would be the safer option,however,this can,and,will result in the "flashing light syndrome",where your light will flutter on & off when the temp.hovers near the setpoint,which is why CHE's were invented,if you use a CHE,(ceramic heating element.)make sure your fixture is rated for it,and,take precaution that it is securely mounted,and,all flammable materials/objects are well clear of it!!! (any changes,or,new "set-ups" should always be done when you will be home,and,have time to monitor their progress frequently,to ensure they are operating within the desired parameters of your given situation!)it's much better to be safe than sorry,hope this helps!

I hope this is not to confusing.
Let me get this straight.

Lamp into timer, timer (with the UTH) into thermostat, thermostat into the wall outlet. Right?

The lamp and UTH will have to be on two different power sources.

If the lamp and timer (which has a 12 hour cycle) is plugged into the thermostat, lets say that this is a Ranco type thermostat which is the “on off” type and this thermostat in theory is on half the time and off half the time cycling the heat. Then say when the timer is off for the 12 hour off cycle it will not come back on for 24 hours because the thermostat is shutting off the power to the timer and the UTH half the time. Another words the timing with get way off. During your day cycle when the thermostat shuts off the power to the UTH it is also shutting off the timer still getting your timing way off.

If this is a thermostat that is a proportional type which adjusts the amount of power to what ever is plugged in, there may not be enough power to run the timer and you may run the risk of a FIRE.
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Jeff
0.1 Wife (Homo sapiens sapiens): Kim
2.0 Hogg Island Boas, Bob Sears Line (Boa Constrictor imperator): Ham-let and BLT
1.1 Smooth-Scaled Sand Boas (Eryx johnii johnii): Xerxes, and Sa'rai
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa (Eryx colubrinus loveridgei): Solomon
0.2 Kenyan Sand Boas, 100% het anery (Eryx colubrinus loveridgei): Sheba, Jasmine
0.1 Doberman (Canis familiaris): Princess Grace
1.0 Pitbull Mix (Canis familiaris): Popcorn
1.0 Rough Collie (Canis familiaris): Dante
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“It’s not bragging if you can prove it”

I use timers for my lights. My lights are under cabinet type fluorescents. I use under tank Flex Watt heat strips for the heaters 11” x 24” for each 4x2x16” cage that I am heating. The heat strips are controlled by slide dimmer switches, the type you can use to plug lamps into (this is just a contained rheostat.). I use indoor/outdoor digital thermometers to check my temps, but they do not regulate them. I use this simply to choose the setting for the dimmer. So with the dimmer setting the hot spot at 92 degrees and that cool end of the cage at 80 during the day with the lights on, I get a natural cool down when the lights go off for the night, just as if they would in the wild. The hot spot of 92 degrees stays as is, but the ambient cool end will drop by several degrees, the amount of heat in which the light produced, which is about 5 degrees of ambient temperature.
I have picture and information on the set up posted on my website (I know this sound like a broken record, but I really did put a lot of info on the site and just recently updated it LOL) so you can go see what I am talking about. Also all the items I used were from Home depot and very inexpensive. It may not be the super high tech stuff that is out there today, but it is functional and reliable.
I hope this helps.
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

Great website Hoppy... definately one for the bookmarks!

I like that dimmer switch that you talk about on your site. Is that one of those that plugs inline with your lamp? I've seen those before, but never in a herp application. What a smart idea!

I adjusted my setup last night so that only my UTH is controlled by the thermostat, and my overhead heat lamp w/ timer is on a completely seperate outlet.
However, I still have to keep my lamp higher above the cage than is convenient because it creates too hot of a basking area if I lower it much. Hopefully one of those dimmer switches will allow me to keep it at a more convenient height but running it at a lower intensity.

Thanks Hoppy!
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David - Houston, TX
Young Red Tail Boa
Purchased 11/16/03
www.geocities.com/davidag02