[Cara]

I want to get a thermostat for each of my vivs, which ones would you recommend for each one?
I have two baby CRBs in a 3x1.5x1.5 (with lots of hides)
I have two Red-Tail/Common Boas in a 3x2x2
I have a males (stunted) Beardie in a 2x1x1 (to be upgraded asap)
I have a Banded Cali King in 3x1x1
And a Crestie in a Large Exo-Terra
And a missing Florida King on the floor

I want to move away from heat mats & go for heat lights/ceramics what would you recommend as best for each? Also I want to put some live plants in with the Common Boas, what would you recommend (is there anything that possibly a Beardie/Crestie could eat? I know Beardies eat some plants.... unsure about Cresties) Also I know snakes are best left on thier own (we bought Red-Tails in their tanks together & rescued the new CRB so she had to go in with the other temporarily but there is plenty of hides & they are both v well fed so hopefully no probs) sorry went on a bit of a tangent then... basically are Beardies & Cresties happier on thier own or with others?? Cheers in advance peeps

 

[liam_rokocoko]

why do you want to move away from heat mats?

belly heat it very important for digestion.

 

[mark67123]

Liam does have a point there - I changed my plains rat snake's viv from heatmat/bulb combo to a ceramic a couple of years ago and she's had a few constipation problems recently.

But saying that, every other snake I've kept with just overhead heating has been fine.

Ceramics are a lot safer than heat mats (unless you use the mat under a false floor) and they heat the air in the viv, which mats struggle to do.

A pulse proportional stat is best for a ceramic, but if you're going to use ceramics in some vivs and incandescent bulbs in others I'd go for dimming stats, then they'll be interchangeable between all the vivs (you can't use a pulse stat for a light bulb, but you can use a dimming stat for a ceramic). I've found dimming stats to be a tiny bit less accurate than pulse proportional, but only by a degree or less.

If you go for Microclimate dimming stats (which are cheaper than habistats but do the same job) you can also use them for heat mats as they're minimum load is 5w - Habistat dimming stats have a min load of 40w.

If you're going to use ceramics then go for these fittings:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=porcelain es&doy=12m6&source=15

A lot cheaper than the hanging type, and a lot smaller - one of these with ceramic fitted will fit inside a standard bulb guard.

 

[Cara]

I dont like heat mats really but would still have a small one under a false floor to keep the ambient temp up, would just prefer to have lights/ceramics for proper heating, hwo about a UVA/UVB light do snakes need one? if so whats a good one?

 

[mark67123]

Snakes don't need UV light at all so don't worry about that.

A heat mat won't raise the ambient temp at all really (especially under a false floor) - it'll just give a warm spot on the floor that the snake can lay on, in the same way that a snake may lay on a rock that's been warmed by the sun.

I wouldn't say belly heat is essential but if you ever have a snake that gets repeatedly constipated then the option of adding a heat mat may be worth thinking about.

Ceramics would the best bet rather than incandescent bulbs - ceramics cost a bit more but they last longer and you can leave them on 24/7 with absolutely no disturbance to the snake.
If you do get ceramics pay a bit extra and go for Pearlco ones rather than the Exo-terra type. Mine have been ok, but quite a few people have had the Exo-terra ones fail really quick - Pearlco ones are smaller and neater anyway.

 

[Cara]

ok and a pulse proportion habistat would be ok for those? do you know the cheapest place to get those from?

 

[mark67123]

Pulse proportional would be the best one for ceramics, but if you think you may use lamps/light bulbs at some point in the future you could get dimming stats which will work for both.

These are the cheapest I know of, unless you get second-hand ones:

http://www.camzoo.co.uk/pd1523480994.htm?categoryId=12

I've got a couple of these and they do the job fine. They have the dimming version on there for about £4 extra.

 

[Cara]

excellent cheers