Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok im trying to control the heat in my boa cage to be able to cool and bring heat back up for breeding. Right now I have a wooden cage with light bulb connected to timer and strait into outlet and a sterilite heated with human heat pad connected directly into outlet. Im going to get 2 11" heat tape connected to 6' cord is a thermostate all i need or do I need a dimmer? The thermostate im looking to get is the 30$ ones like Alife.

The cheaper products do work for the most part. I used rheostats/dimmers for a long time. The biggest difference to me was with rheostats you have to constantly monitor both the temp of the hotspot as well as the room ambient air temp. because the temp in the room will make the hot spot fluctuate as well. I love being able to use the advanced thermostats of the day. I have been using the Rancos thermostats for awhile with decent results. They are not that expensive either, hope that was some pertinent information.

Bob

So this means you can use a dimmer with heat tape to control the output heat?
I wasn't sure about it because a while ago I tried doing that in combination with a heat mat and the little plastic controller on the mat made a unbearable 'clicking' noise.

Also, is it possible to use my Microclimate thermostat (B1ME - for any heat source) together with a ceramic heat bulb? (now I have a red light/heat bulb) Since there is another model of mine (B2ME) with following specs:
"Pulse proportional thermostat for controlling up to 600 watts of any non light-emitting heat source."

Thanks in advance, Koen...

T Stats work better then dimmers with less work.Heat bulbs kill humidity,so focusing on under tank/cage heat is a better option.
The TStats I mentioned above are the 1000 watt Alifes,they`ll get ya by for acouple years until upgrades can be made.
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T/
Money Only Wished It Had The Control Over The World That FEAR Does !

Yes they do work good,I have a source on them for under $30 shipped if your interested LMK
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T/
Money Only Wished It Had The Control Over The World That FEAR Does !

My advice would be to be safe and use both a dimmer and thermostat. The reason I say this is because I have had a thermostat (a $30 one) go bad. Luckly I had my dimmer set so that the cage heat topped off at 95 degrees and no animals were hurt. If the dimmer had not been there the hot spot would have been in the 100's and possibly cooked one of my snakes. I have also heard of dimmers going bad and in this case you would be backed up by your thermostat. Don't hesitate to put in a good factor of safty with your animals. Good luck with it.