Rheostat or thermostat?

[TommyZ]

I have the repti-therm under tank heating pad from zoomed, the largest size they make. What is the best device to hook it up to for regulation? A rheo or thermo stat? I have a cherry head hatchling so the pad is on 24/7 which creates the humidity, and makes his hide cozy warm. What do you all think is best? Thanks!

Tom

 

[WillTort2]

I've heard bad things about the under tank heaters. But I'm no expert.

This bump may get you a better answer.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

In my opinion, overhead heat sources are best for tortoise/turtles and most basking reptiles. I feel this is closer to the real world where the sun heats the animals back as opposed to geological heating. Heat radiating in a downward fashion just seems to make more sense to me.

 

[TommyZ]

Yep, she has two light, a powersun a d an infrared, the heat pad is used mostly for creating humidity, im just not sure which control is best?

 

[ulkal]

Some forum members, including me, use this:

http://www.bigappleherp.com/BAH-1000-Thermostat

I have a heat cable for the same purpose (creating humidity). The thermostat probe is on the cold side.
You can set the temperature with a thermostat more precisely, and then figure the rest out with temp gun and thermometer.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

So this is the set up I'm most comfortable using. First, I have a zoomed Powersun on a 12hr. cycle.
This maintains the heat very well in my enclosed habitat for my baby sulcata during daylight hours, as well as providing my higher temp basking spot.
Then I have a CHE set on a thermostat for back up heat as well as heat during the night cycle, insuring the temp never drops below 80 in the coolest part of the tank, (humid hide box). For humidity, I have a Reptifogger setup to automatically come on when the humidity drops below 75%. Here's the fun part, these are all set on a zoomed hydro-therm. This works great for me. It's all automatic and maintains everything perfect for me. And to make it even funner, I have this all setup on one of those zoomed power strips with the built in timer that controls half the inputs by timer and the other half are live. Some folks use other foggers, but I've never had issues with mine, I live on a well that doesn't produce hard water, and I think the hard water deposits are what cause them to fail for other people. Hope this helps some.

 

[jaizei]

I am assuming that you are referring to straight on/off thermostats and not proportional thermostats for your question. How stable is the ambient temperature where the enclosure is located? If there are large fluctuations in temperature, then a thermostat is probably a better (and safer) option. If the temperature is more or less constant, then a rheostat may be a valid option.

A proportional thermostat is more expensive but is (for simplicity's sake) a rheostat controlled by a thermostat. It automatically adjusts the power to the device rather than turning on/off.

 

[TommyZ]

The temp and humidity are very stable, almost no fluctuation at all, (humidity only became stable once i affixed the pad), ive got 3.5 inches of substrate so burning the little one isnt a risk i dont think, specially being i havent seen her burrow or dig even a little bit. Here is a pic of my setup, the hide is placed directly above the heat pad. Most times the hide is the warmest place in the viv due to it being placed above the pad, which i figure is best cuz she spends 95% of her time in the hide.

---

Sorry app was not loading the pic at first