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I need some sort of recommendation

honey.bee

honey.bee

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So my corn snake's UTH is getting overheated. The surface of the glass is pushing 95F. Im currently using a rheostat, but I recently realized that its not lowing the temp even though im turning the dial wayyyy down. I guess its broken. So im thinking of investing in a moderately affordable reptile thermostat. Does anyone have any certain models that they recommend? I just don't want to buy something else that will break within a month of purchase. >.<

Here's a photo of what mine looks like:
CF-231703-47070H-Reptile.jpg
 
I've used the same rheostat for my boas, and had a problem getting the temperature below 97-98. When I plugged two heat pads into the rheostat, I was able to lower both to about 90 at the lowest setting. I'm not as well versed on the care of corn snakes, so I can't say whether that is acceptable or still too hot.
 
Are you sure it is a problem with the rheostat, and not that the room is just warm? I have no experience with that particular unit; but I have used different rheostats with a number of types of heat sources....with varying degrees of success. When using rheostats, one must always be aware of fluctuations of room temperature and how they will impact cage temperature. Also, you should always be aware of the on/off points in the controls.

As far as switching to a thermostat - it's a good choice. In the on/off category, I prefer Johnson Controls A419; for a proportional model, Spyder Robotics (HerpStat) or Vivarium Electronics (VE)
 
I might get yelled at for suggesting this, but we've actually started to just use a light dimmer switch on our racks.

My partner and I discussed it for a long time, and regardless of how good your thermostat is, if the sensor somehow got bumped or moved or came loose, the thermostat would just keep heating and heating (potentially cooking your snake...I know this situation should never occur, but crazier things have happened). Also, with a thermostat, you're going to have it constantly shutting off and turning on to regulate the heat. While not drastic, you still are having fluctuations with your temp.

With a dimmer switch, it literally just sits at a constant temp. If you notice it is running too hot you can lower it a little bit; vice versa for cold. Plus, it's a much cheaper alternative (we got ours for $12 a piece at home depot). I had to adjust ours slightly over the first couple days to make sure we found the sweet spot, and haven't had to touch it since. I don't plan on buying thermostats again other than for incubation.
 
A light dimmer is a rheostat - it doesn't hold a specific temperature, it regulates the amount of power delivered to (in this case) the heating device. Yes, you can use them to regulate temperature; but fluctuations in room temperature will result in fluctuations in enclosure temperature. They're fine, as long as you maintain fairly stable room conditions.
As far as your comment about thermostats, that was only accurate for the on/off types. With those, the degree of fluctuation due to power cycling should be within an acceptable range; and the better ones will allow the user to program the tolerances. Should one feel that more stable temperature maintenance is necessary, then proportional t'stat is an option to consider.
 
We haven't had any problems with thermostats, it was just brought up as a possibility that the sensor might somehow get displaced. Apparently when my girlfriend first got her snakes, she had a friend watch them who knocked the sensor out and didn't notice...thankfully she was only gone for a couple days, but when she got back the guy was sitting at 110 degrees.

But yea, the fluctuations from most thermostats should be minimal, we just noticed the dimmer switches work just as well for us but at 1/4 the cost. From what you're saying Harald, maybe the dimmer wouldn't work very well in this situation if it's the room conditions that are the issue. I personally haven't seen any problems with it, but that's with the setup that we have.
 
I suppose I should mention too, when we first had our setup we were using normal heat pads and were having issues with them getting way too hot as well. We switched to the flexwatt tape and it seems to be much more reliable. Not sure if that's really a feasible option though if you're just looking at one snake/enclosure.
 
Rheostats are not immune to that problem - regardless of whether the control is a knob or slide (on many models) it can easily be moved by brushing against it or during cleaning.

Another issue with rheostats is that one has to be more concerned with exceeding its power limitations.

Don't get me wrong - I don't care what you use, I'm just pointing out that rheostats aren't the ideal solution. I've used them - still do, on my baby rack; but that generally only gets used for a few months at a time, and I've already got a HerpStat sitting on top of it for when it's needed - but, I decided a long time ago that they weren't worth the risk to me.
 
That's very true...that was actually my initial concern with using it, so I decided to glue the slider to the side of the rack where HOPEFULLY it will never get moved on accident. We also try to check the temps every day to make sure they're staying constant. I think you're right though, it's probably just as likely (if not more so) that the slider would get moved as the sensor of a thermostat.

Are you saying that if you try to run too much wattage out of the rheostat that it can actually blow it? I didn't know that was an issue, now you have me worried :S
 
Most of them aren't designed to handle much power - did you check the rating?
 
It's rated for 300W, and flexwatt is approx. 10W/ft. The biggest rack that we have at the moment is running 25 feet of flexwatt so I think we should be fine. Thank you for bringing that to my attention though, that could have been a big problem lol.
 
I have one of those zoomed rheostats in use from time to time, when I do use it, I turn it so it clicks 'on' and leave it there, as close to off as possible.

For affordable/cheap thermos, I've had a few Big Apple 1000DCs in use for years, I think those are about $45/ea?

I've got a few other brands in use that were more expensive, big apple's old Herp Power Proprotional Thermo (don't know if they make those anymore), Habistats, a Ranco and a Herpstat. If I get any more, I'll most likely stick with Herpstat. I've heard generally good things about Helix but haven't used them personally.
 
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