Ultratherm question...

[Adrya]

Does anybody here use these specific Ultratherm heat pads? Do they really eliminate the need for a thermostat?

http://www.beanfarm.com/cgi-bin/stor...&user4=Heating

If so, that's great because I'll probably get some of those... The ExoTerra ones get too hot for my liking with the tileboard cages and its way too hot of belly heat for the ball pythons. I just want an 80-90 degree belly heat spot for the ball pythons. I'll probably have to make a dimmer for some of the ExoTerra heat pads. I don't want any kind of a fire hazard.

To be honest, I've never used thermostats or anything of the sort and I don't know anything about them.

Thanks for your input.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[dhonaker]

i dont know but i was looking at them today and wanted to get some

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Adrya]

I'm really tempted to get some but I need more info about these from peoples' personal experience with them.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[muzixman]

I wouldn't know but i would still use a thermostat.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Nexus]

I have not actually used the Ultratherm ones but I do use the Habistat equivalent. I would always us them with a thermostat although they allegedly do not get hot enough to damage the animal. Also they produce a fixed output depending on size so ambient room temperature / solar gain will have a direct effect and could cause serious over heating under normal room cycling. Although encapsulated in plastic they are still not safe for direct contact with fluids as the connector block is not guaranteed water tight, so snake / lizard urates could cause a problem if it picks the right spot.

I use them on glass tanks for my Hognoses, Emerald, and my Dumeril and Brazilian rainbow's temporary home. They give me a hot area of about 85f and unchecked will go slightly higher. I use slate on the vivarium floor over a portion of the heatmat to soak up the heat this acts a bit like a radiator to give better air temperatures. In the Emerald tank I use a 23 x 11 mat on one side of the tank which is 18W x 18D x 24 H and this easily creates a temperature of 81/82F on the warm side and 78/79 on the cool side.

Cheers
Nick

[CraigC]

I would never consider not using a thermostat with any heating device and after reading this, I'm going to add some extra protection.
http://corallus.com/ikonboard/ikonbo...=ST;f=13;t=495
Craig

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[JimH]

As we go through our daily husbandry with our animals, nothing scares me more than what happened to Joe. Good idea Craig, I'll be looking into some back up protection as well. As for Adrya, most dimmer switches are real easy to wire into your set-up and then you'll be able to dial in the temp of your choice.

[ChadRamsey]

i use them with my Helix! I love them. I am getting ready to order 2 more myself.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Adrya]

Okay guys, well don't freak out on me here. I haven't had any problems so far, so I will just make a few dimmer switches and hook them up asap.

[RKing611]

I've been using one under a pvc enclosure for over a year now and no problems. It is hooked up to a dimmer now, but it worked fine without as long as i made sure the substrate was thick enough to absorb some heat (was using newspaper so just layered it thicker). Ambient room temps definately effect how warm it will get however, so a dimmer switch is a good idea, but you probably wont have to turn it down much at all depending on your room temps (mine stay between 72 and 75). I'm about to order another one as well (and thanks for the link cause those are a little cheaper than the site i got mine from) Just my two cents....
Rob

[Adrya]

I've just been layering the newspaper as well...

I got the dimmer switches and stuff I need so I'll be working on that...

[Adrya]

Well I hooked up my first dimmer switch and the heat tape temps are SOOOO much better now. Takes awhile to get the temps you want lol but it's good right now.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters