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Are thermostats necessary? Also, UTH keeps falling off.

C

Callow Methuselah

New member
I've read stories about UTH's overheating and being fire hazards. Is there a thermostat that can control 3 different heat mats at the same time? I have a 16w Zoo Med, a 8w Zoo Med, and a 7w Fluker heat mat. So I guess they're all different powers. Would that be hard to get them all synchronized on a thermostat? I just want something as cheap as possible that will keep my snakes safe as well as my house.

And has anyone used electrical tape or packing tape to keep the UTH's attached? The big Zoo Med pad isn't sticking anymore and the Fluker mat doesn't even have adhesive to stick it with. :/ I guess I'm just supposed to place them under the tank, but would they get hot enough to start a fire if there was a book or wood underneath them?
 
Hot glue works wonders in my opinion. But electrical tape would work to. umm you can make a homemade dimmer for cheap that can controll all 3 PM me for details
 
First, I think thermostats are a must. A dimmer will lower the max heat, but won't keep your viv at the same temp. In your case, with 3 UTH's with different wattages, they do have their place. With 2 dimmers, and thermometers on all 3 UTH's, you can run them all on one thermostat. Depending on the temps you're running, you have to figure which UTH needs to be run closest to max. Probably the smallest. Put the thermostats temp probe on that mat, and put a dimmer on the other two and adjust so the temps stay where you want. Plug all three into the thermostat so that they go on and off to keep the temp steady.
I suppose a dimmer would work if your room temp never varies, but if I tried it here, I would either freeze or fry my poor snake since I don't use a lot of heat or AC and my condo's temp can vary a lot, especially in the summer.
 
I just went to three pet stores and all they had were rheostats ($20 min). Petland, Pets Mart, and Petco had no thermostats in the place. Does anyone know a good online one (hopefully inexpensive) that could accommodate 3 uth's?
 
The matts have to be the same wattage and even the same brand to use with one thermostat. It won't work to put them all on one.

To tape the UTHs to the glass you need aluminum tape from Lowes or Home Depot. It's in the heating section- where all the duct work stuff is.
 
Nanci said:
The matts have to be the same wattage and even the same brand to use with one thermostat. It won't work to put them all on one.

To tape the UTHs to the glass you need aluminum tape from Lowes or Home Depot. It's in the heating section- where all the duct work stuff is.
Click to expand...

No kidding? That's a bit more than I'd hoped to shell out. Thanks for the info. Oh, can I just set the heating pads under the tanks? Right now the tanks are on wood dressers and one is on plastic milk crates.
 
A website called The Bean Farm sells a cheap but nice thermostat called the Alife. That's a better bet than anything you can find in a pet shop.
 
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Any other type of tape besides aluminum gets all melty and yucky. And duct tape leaves those weird strings after it gets baked on. Electric tape turns into black glue. Just get the right kind.
 
Callow Methuselah said:
I just went to three pet stores and all they had were rheostats ($20 min). Petland, Pets Mart, and Petco had no thermostats in the place. Does anyone know a good online one (hopefully inexpensive) that could accommodate 3 uth's?
Click to expand...

lllreptile.com is where I buy all my reptile stuff.
 
I've read stories about UTH's overheating and being fire hazards.
Click to expand...
The main concern is that UTHs are designed for use with a range of reptiles, and without a thermostat they hit temps that are way too high for Corns.

I ran one without a stat whilst taking the temp at regular intervals and switched it off when it hit 120 degrees. Bear in mind that 90 is the safe maximum for a Corn, and that should really only be in a limited area. Your aim is to get the floor area immediately above the UTH to around 85 degrees. You can be more precise with a thermostat.

You'll be surprised how cool 90 degrees feels to you - lukewarm at most (human core body temp is 98.6 degrees). It took me weeks of paranoid temp checking before I was comfortable that my setups weren't malfunctioning!
 
As a side note, I would never use a dimmer unless my room stayed a constant temperature. The temperature of the dimmer will fluctuate with room temps. I used a dimmer once and came home the same afternoon to find the UTH over 100*. A thermostat is more expensive, but it gives peace of mind. Worth the extra cost!

Edited to say I just saw the other thread you posted in, and you are already aware of this. Sounds like you have your temps good though! Good luck :)
 
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