to settle an argument - your views.

[boidae]

Originally Posted by ratboy

You would hope that most people would be more concerned about their animals than £25.

some mat manufacturers recommend thermostats if your reptile room has a tendency to overheat.
not many are going to bother.
some shops dont sell stats with setups. there classed as add on sales i guess.


http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/En...I7czoxOiIwIjt9
thats an undertank mat though.

Q: Can I use the rheostat/thermostat with Reptitherm Under Tank Heater? A: Yes! We recommend using a rheostat or thermostat if your home reaches 80 degrees or warmer.

[kelboy]

Originally Posted by boidae

well i bought an ultratherm the other day because mine are all in use, instructions assume your using substrates.

What's substrate got to do with the price of fish? Regardless of what substrate you're using, it's a fact that a lot of snake species burrow. I've known mine to find their way under newspaper, which, if I'd used a mat in their enclosures, without a stat, could've had disastrous consequences.

[midori]

Originally Posted by Morgoth

Fact is, most keepers don't use thermostats, certainly not on mats anyway. Any of them on this forum aren't gonna post here, as they'll get murdered by this rogue militant lynch mob.

They are good for beginners, certainly, and I don't object to anyone having them. But I do object to people making out as though your reptiles are as good as dead without one, which is complete rubbish.

Is it only beginners who's heat mat's are likely to overheat without a thermostat then? Does experience mean you're somehow immune to having animals overheat and die?

The only reason, IMO, not to have a thermostat is because you want to save money.

[boidae]

Originally Posted by kelboy

What's substrate got to do with the price of fish? Regardless of what substrate you're using, it's a fact that a lot of snake species burrow. I've known mine to find their way under newspaper, which, if I'd used a mat in their enclosures, without a stat, could've had disastrous consequences.

thats something for a borrowing specie owner to bare in mine and maybe put the mat on the side of the enclosure. or under the tank if its glass.

[The_Real_Moreliaman]

Originally Posted by Ssthisto

I am more than willing to admit I don't know everything, and to learn from people who've done things or kept things I haven't. If a shop or another keeper can show me that something I previously *thought* was true (as opposed to something I have personally tested for myself) is wrong, then I learn from that.

I'm sorry you think that those of us who choose to share our pets with school children and try to pass on our enthusiasm for reptiles are "ranting" or that we automatically dismiss what other people are saying as rubbish.

I can certainly see that there are applications for which a heat mat might not need to be placed on a thermostat. Like cooking an egg*. Or heating invertebrate racks from the back. Or heating a basking area for a small monitor that can't destroy the plastic coating of the mat.

But for the vast majority of the applications I need heating equipment for... I need heating equipment that does not exceed 90 degrees fahrenheit.

Thats the obvious reply and responce id expect really, anything else wouldnt have been a kind and caring attitude for you to put accross on a public forum.
Ive no idea what make of matts your using (even though you stated you dont use them earlier) but ive never experinced heat of the level your describing....obviously the way i use them differs greatly from yours.
Have you tried running them on 240v ???
Im still trying to find the bit on the instructions which state......although heatmatts can be used without a thermostat they will ruin the matt if you dont !

Originally Posted by Ssthisto

He thought he WAS checking - using the thermometer that was in the faunarium where he was told to put it and showing temperatures on the warm side that were what he thought were too low. Because people have this idea that reptiles have to be kept warm, he thought it was completely normal that the bottom of the faunarium felt very warm.

Yes, he needed to have done more research. He needed to know more about the equipment he had. And he also needed NOT to be advised that a thermostat is an unnecessary waste of money.

Again it depends on the specie being kept and the situation....yes there are dodgy shops which give incorrect info...yes he should have researched more........change the record mate.

Originally Posted by Ssthisto

Real_Moreliaman, have you looked at my album where I DID in fact try running a heat mat - and took photos of the temperatures achieved - without a thermostat? Or the thread that's stickied at the top of the Snakes forum where other users have ALSO documented the temperatures unregulated heat mats can reach?

I am not sure what purpose my trying to scorch the bottom of a wooden viv using a heat mat underneath the viv in question will do, other than ruining a perfectly good vivarium and heat mat. I already know - from my experiences and from the experiences of others - that this is a possible result, and I don't think the experiment justifies the cost.

* Ok, that's an experiment I haven't tried yet. I don't have a spare heat mat I'm willing to ruin by cracking a raw egg on it to see if I can cook it.

No i havent checked your album....why...because whatever im doing with heatmatts is obviously different to the way you use them. so it doesnt affect me does it.
Perhaps your using them wrong....ive NEVER had a heatmatt scorch the underside of any viv....ive only heard of them over heating when poeple cover them with sand or use them with no air gap
From your experince and other (perhaps inexperinced) keepers findings.

Jeez...whats this thread all about.....Sometimes a dont use a stat on a heat matt....FFS just get over it !!


Spit.....im not replying to any of your pathetic replies....perhaps when your testicles drop and you loose the attitude things might change.

[ratboy]

Originally Posted by midori

Is it only beginners who's heat mat's are likely to overheat without a thermostat then? Does experience mean you're somehow immune to having animals overheat and die?

The only reason, IMO, not to have a thermostat is because you want to save money.

Apparently, if an animal has managed to survive without one for a few years through luck, you and your animals become exempt from the need to have them.

[boidae]

i hope some of you are getting payed for bigging up thermostat's.
i use them too. but it doesnt excempt the fact that a snake can be fine with a heatmat with no stat.
they should be covered if inside for body heat, my temps stayed constant without stats. as long as the room wasnt overheating somehow.

[The_Real_Moreliaman]

Originally Posted by kelboy

I've just realised the irony of this thread, maybe a little slow of me, but the title starts "to settle an argument"

your right...thats quite ironic

[boidae]

thermostats are just a complete peace of mind!!!!

[loxocemus]

a couple of years ago there was a guy that used a cheap desklamp to heat some ratsnakes, the lamp melted and subjected a couple of the animals to a horrendous death, thing is he used to jump on peoples methods if they differed from his own but when he f**ked up he asked people not to judge him, strange how people work. anyway



in the pic above theres a pad on the ceiling (i think this is only time iv used one internal) its unregulated, plugged straight into the mains

and the snake when fed would do everything she could to get as close to it as possible



so much so i added a bit of bark so she could contact it a lot more, it was her favourite snooze spot.

strangely enough this boas heat panel



provided the heat for the tubs floor above,



going through a polysty sheet between itself and the celing, thru 30mm of chipboard, 5mm air gap, 5mm plastic, 50 mm substrate and then to the snake and it still managed to reach 90of after all those barriers.

ed