Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've decided it's time to get thermostats so it'll be easier to keep my snakes' temps constant.

I found one that looks good:
[urlhttp://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/R15/Class/Reptile Supplies Climate Control/T1/R15 0047 0862/EDP/37734/Itemdy00.aspx] Thermostat[/url]

How does that look? What kind of thermostats do you use/recommend?

thanks much
.Owen.:.
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.Owen.:.

Go Tulane Green Wave!

"That Owen kid...man...he really loves that snake of his." ~Owen

0.1 red blood python (Daphne)
1.1 Borneo pythons (Augmented and Diminished)
1.0 Okeetee corn snake (Ozzy)
0.1 ball python (Caroline)
0.1 common snapping turtle (Fluffy)
0.1 Gulf Coast spiny softshell turtle (Smeagol)
1.0 fish (Hannibal)
1.1 dogs (Beowulf and Honeysuckle)

meh...that link didn't work correctly...here it is:
Home
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.Owen.:.

Go Tulane Green Wave!

"That Owen kid...man...he really loves that snake of his." ~Owen

0.1 red blood python (Daphne)
1.1 Borneo pythons (Augmented and Diminished)
1.0 Okeetee corn snake (Ozzy)
0.1 ball python (Caroline)
0.1 common snapping turtle (Fluffy)
0.1 Gulf Coast spiny softshell turtle (Smeagol)
1.0 fish (Hannibal)
1.1 dogs (Beowulf and Honeysuckle)

Dont have any experience with the one your looking at. I just got a Helix DBS 1000, and have tested it out a few times and it seems to work great. I'm still working on getting my rack stuff finished so it hasn't been put into long term action yet. It came very very highly reccomended by quite a few of my fellow herpers. The only downside is that it costs about $100 more than the one your looking at Good thing Santa knew what I wanted for Christmas But if your wiring up several cages to one single thermostat you need to make sure there all set up the same way. As in same deminsions of the cage same type of heat source etc. The ideal thing would be some sort of a rack system but thats alot more time and money to put into the project as well. I'll post some pics of mine when its totally done, hopefully this weekend.

J
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"It's my snake, I trained it, so I'm going to eat it!" - Mad Max, The Road Warrior

Hey,

I have one of those!!! The price was right, so I decided to get that instead of a rheostat. The probe goes in the cage, and you set the temp to an approximate temperature range. It seems to be pretty accurate, but the probe sits ever so slightly higher above the heat mat than my digital thermometer probe, so I can't tell you exactly how accurate it is. I'd still recommend another way to triple check temps until you figure the thing out. I would have set mine too high if it hadn't been for the digital indoor/outdoor thermometer I already had.

It allows you to plug in three different heat sources, but since there's only one temperature probe, I'm not sure how you'd manage getting all three set.

My only complaint is that the cord is just barely long enough. Its probably 5 feet from the probe to the thermostat, and another 5 feet from the thermostat to the plug-in, but by the time you get the probe in the cage and the thermostat on the floor, its just not as much room as I'd like. But it really depends on your set-up I suppose.

For the price, I don't know that it can be beat. I'm extremely happy with it, and definately recommend it.

Hey,
Well, here is my take on this particular item, and I'm not trying to say that it is entirely inappropriate, or bad. The distinction is this, this particular thermostat works by shutting the heating unit, UTH, or OHP, when the temperatures get too high, and does not regulate the heat by trickling just the right amount of current to the source to maintain and regulate the heat within the cage. However, in a pinch this would be a good way to go, till you can afford something a little bit better. On the flip side, the proportional thermostats, like the Helix Basic or the Helix DBS1000, the heat source never shuts down, instead, the thermostat regulates the current by lowering its self, relative to the heat within the room and the amount of heat that the probe is measuring in the enclosure, if that is where the probe is located and trickles just the right amount of current to the source; never shutting its self off and allowing the cage to cool down which can be a problem; at least in my book. I would never use one of these devices also, I might add, to incubate herp eggs for this very reason. The temperatures would be too eradict for me and can cause the demise of a perfectly good clutch of eggs. Just my 2 cents!

-Angel
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"Until we lose our self, there is no way of finding our self."
-Henry Miller.

Googo is absolutely right. If you can afford something better, especially if you're going to use it for multiple cages, you should.

For me, it works perfectly fine for my single snake set-up, and just in case you're curious, the temperature on the cage surface varies from 83-86 degrees. I definately wouldn't want that much variation in an incubator, especially not jumping several times a day. But as long as my snake is happy, then I'm happy, and if my checkbook is happy too, its a win-win situation. I guess it just depends on how picky you are about how perfect your set-up is. I like having the assurance that the internal temps aren't going to drop when my trailer gets cold at night, so when winter came, a thermostat was an essential, and this one fit the bill.

Hopefully this helps!

Smiles,
Alinda

I agree completely with Angel. The proportional thermostats are best. Analogs like the Biostat AT is fine for a larger cage but incubation and racks are best covered by a proportional like Helix (my favorite!).
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