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Heater problems... panicking a bit!

kipchack

kipchack

New member
So for the last 24 hours or so Asha's heater has been problematic... It was measuring 90.1 for a few hours yesterday and I was nervous but since I've heard 90 is the safe high I wasn't quite panicking yet. But last night right before bed it got up to 93 (after I spot cleaned his tank). Being really late with no stores open, I just put him on the cold side and rearranged his hides so the ones he usually is in are on the cold side. He is almost always on the hot side and I thought perhaps he just prefers those hides... But apparently not, because he suddenly decided that the other hides on the hot side are his favorite now! He also likes burrowing which has me even more worried because he burrows on the hot side.

Needless to say, I rushed to Home Depot to try to get a thermostat this morning but they had nothing appropriate for his heater. I then zipped to two different pet stores and asked them if they had anything and they didn't.... So there are two other stores in the city I can try tomorrow morning but there's not much else I can do today as far as running around to stores.

Until I can get a new thermostat, should I put a divider in his tank to keep him from the hot hot side? His tank is 33 gal and four feet long and he's only three feet long now so there is some space I can block off... Theoretically I could get some cardboard in there and try to separate it until I can regulate it.

But as for getting a new thermostat, where is a good place to look? If I buy one online what kind should I get... I'm also on a budget and I'm freaking out that I'm going to have to spend $120 on a thermostat... :blowup:

Any advice for a student on a budget who's freaking out about her kiddo? I don't want him to cook! But I can't seem to find a thermostat at any of the stores I've looked and all the ones online are over a hundred dollars and will take weeks to arrive...
 
Did you look for a lamp dimmer at Home Depot? And you can buy a heavy, thick ceramic or slate floor tile and put it over the UTH, inside, to buy yourself some time until you find a thermostat or rheostat.
 
Personally I don't like the ones I found at the pet stores (the zilla and the zoo-med ones). The zilla one I bought didn't work barely at all and still let the UTH run unacceptably hot. Now that may have just been a fluke, but I haven't bothered with them since.

I would recommend you get one of the Hydro-farm thermostats (or one of the Herpstat models if you want to lay out big cash for a really nice thermostat), even if you have to save up a bit for one.

In the meanwhile, go to home depot or your local hardware store and buy a lamp dimmer. Be sure to get a full-range one that will go from full power to zero power. They run about $6 or $7 around here. They are usually in with the extension cords. You'll have to keep a bit of an eye on it until you "dial in" the right temp, and dimmers (rheostats) keep the power level at a constant percentage, so if your room changes temp, so does the overall uth temp. But it'll keep things in the safe range until you can get a real thermostat.

Just my opinion though, I'm sure others will chime in with thiers as well :).
 
You might try online, I have a Reptizoo UTH and while most people who have the matching thermostats for sale for 75-100 or more I got one online through ebay for only $30 and it was brand new never been used from some online thrift store. Asha should be fine though for a few days if it's a heat issue only. She'll stay away from where it's overly hot and move to the cool side as long as there are still hides there.
 
Thank you so much for the advice everyone... I just ordered this Zoo Med thermostat on Amazon and put a rush on it so it'll be here on Monday: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...8-1&keywords=reptile+thermostat&condition=new

Until it arrives I'm going to unplug my heater because my house usually hovers comfortably at 75 degrees, sometimes a degree or two warmer, and since he had his last meal on Sunday he's not in dire need of a hot spot to digest at the moment. I don't know why the thought of unplugging it didn't occur to me. *doh* Hopefully he'll be okay in the 75 range until Monday!
 
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