Heating Question

[WarEagleFan]

From my research, I've come to the conclusion that the best way to heat my boa's cage is with a UTH for belly heat, a CHE on top for UV heat, and to have these hooked up to a thermostat to keep the temp in check and consistent. My question and concern is whether the thermostat would be able to differentiate between the two different watt appliances plugged into it? If it can't, then do you need a thermostat for each heat source, or do you just hook one source into a thermostat and just not worry about the other? I'm sorry if these are dumb questions, it just seems that heating is very important, and I want to do it correctly. Thanks for any help!

Joe

[morti]

CHE's don't provide UV (Nor is UV required). Just heat. I would skip the CHE and go with just a UTH... I specifically like flex-watt heat tape (because you are not wasting money on expensive "Name-brand" products.)

But to directly answer your question:

Most thermostats measure the heat and turn on when it gets too cool and then turn off when it gets too hot. It will turn on and off whatever is plugged into it... so both the UTH and CHE will be controlled.

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	Under Tank Heater Under Tank Heater

	Ceramic Heat Emitter Ceramic Heat Emitter: A porcelain heating device that screws into a standard porcelain incandescent socket

[C. hortulanus bites]

CHEs and RHPs create infrared waves that heat surfaces and air, definitely not UV.

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[WarEagleFan]

Whoops, got UV and infrared mixed up. Thanks morti, I'll look into the flexwatt. This question might help me a little better. Could some of you give me a layout of how you are heating and lighting your boa's cage, what thermostat you're using and what you've got plugged into it? Thanks again!

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[morti]

Most of my cages are boaphile plastics 421d with built in heat tape. They are controlled by a Ranco thermostat. I have 10 cages plugged into each thermostat. It would handle more than that, but that is a limitation of my space.

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[LooseAFur]

flexwatt is ideal for multiple cages stacked. However if you only have one boa and want to go all out get a radiant heat panel. They create a perfect temperature gradient using similar wavelengths to the Sun's which means perfect basking and thermo-regulation. RHP are not necessary as years of productive husbandy occured before their creartion but IMO are the next best thing to natural Sun heat.

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	In My Opinon IMO = In My Opinion and IMHO = In My Honest Opinion