Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought an UTH(for 10-20 gallon tanks) for my 20 gallon long tank and since I've had no problems heating my 10 gallon to the right temps with the same type of heatmat, I skipped on using a thermostat.

I ordered a thermostat and had it sitting around but never set it up because my temps were always good. Yesterday I took the probe for my digital thermometer out of the tank and never put it back in. While giving my geckos fresh food and water tonight I placed the thermometer back in the tank and to my horror the temp over my UTH was 116 degrees. Thank gawd my gecko could go over to the cooler side of his tank. I was actually wondering why he was hanging out over there.

Needless to say I plugged in my Reptitherm 500R and I'm setting the temp up now. Be very careful with UTHeaters because mine was working great and heating to the right temps without a thermostat but I could have killed my gecko tonight or burnt the house down without a thermostat.
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1.0.0 Double Het Patternless Albino Leopard Gecko 'Yoshi'
0.1.0 Patternless Albino Leopard Gecko 'Miso'
1.0.0 Beagle 'Tigger'
0.1.0 Jack Russell 'Roo'
2.0.0 Guinea Pigs 'Millhouse and Ralph'
1.0.0 Hamster 'Fluff'
1.0.0 Husband

Yup I agree 100%... Even the cheaper tstats will cause overheating and death...
http://www.mgreptiles.com/thermoguts.html
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www.mgreptiles.com
CBB Herps and Heating Supplies

Where do i aquiare a cheap but working thermesdat.
im in college and poor. but also i fireman up here and it would be bad to cath the dorms on fire. lol. but the mat is new so brutie sems happy on them. also is it safe with papertows as the substrate? whith the heat mat?
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1.0.1 Green Anole(tedo, bubbles)
0.0.1 Tremper Albino Leo gecko (Brut)
1.0.0 Small Dog( Cho lu la)

0.1.0 Beachy Girl Friend

Well the cheapest themostats on the market that are relaible are about 85 each... JC or a ranco...Check out my sig and goto the thermostat FAQ and compairison page.. That should help ya with the different features and what not...
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www.mgreptiles.com
CBB Herps and Heating Supplies

Even on it's lowest setting my UTH heater was still reading in the high 90's. Last night I thought I had it set and the temps were up high again this morning.

Right now I have my heatmats hooked up to simple lamp dimmers and the temp is between 86-88. Much better than the ZooMed Reptitemp.

I'm going to get myself a Ranco controller and I found cheap ones at grainger.com and also controlsdepot.com has in them at times for only $39.99. DIYReef.com has them for $69 but their store is closed until next week.
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1.0.0 Double Het Patternless Albino Leopard Gecko 'Yoshi'
0.1.0 Patternless Albino Leopard Gecko 'Miso'
1.0.0 Beagle 'Tigger'
0.1.0 Jack Russell 'Roo'
2.0.0 Guinea Pigs 'Millhouse and Ralph'
1.0.0 Hamster 'Fluff'
1.0.0 Husband

Make sure you get a single stage tstat... I beleive most of the ones that the reef place sells is dual stage.. I could be wrong but that what I saw last time.. I agree the zoo-med control products suck major league... I would trust a dimmer anyday comparied to a repti-poo...
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www.mgreptiles.com
CBB Herps and Heating Supplies