Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,
At this time, I have a couple different cages set up using various types of heating pads. A few of the pads would get too hot when I tested them (before using!) and these have dimmer switches on them.
My questions; 1) Can heat pads that have been at proper temperatures "flare" in heat temps? 2) Will a simple dimmer switch keep disasters from happening?

On 2 -- I'm no electrician. Do dimmer switches act by providing a "max level of electricity that can flow through them" or simply "reduce the electricity flowing through them by a certain fraction"? That is to say, would I still have to worry about an electricity surge, if it was large enough, with a dimmer switch?

Yeah, I've just been reading up on some heat-pad horror stories. :/ Would like to hear from those who know what the best precautions are!

you should be fine with a dimmer, it regulates the max amount of electricity that can go through. if you wanna learn more this is a really good site that explains a lot of common things in life

home.howstuffworks.com/dimmer-switch2.htm
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)