does anyone here NOT use thermostats?

[Boa2112]

I do not use a thermostat or even a thermometer, i used to but as long as you get the wattage right on the heat element, it stays pretty much stable, i feel for myself how hot or cold the air and substrate is, and simply watching your animal's behavior you can tell if they are happy, if they shift from one side of the cage to the other and thermo regulate, you know that the cool end isn't too hot, and you know the hot end is hot enough. if they avoid the hot side you know you need to lower the wattage, and if they only stay at the hot side, you know its not hot enough.

i will say its always best to use a thermometer whenever you set up a new enclosure so you can be sure heat is correct, after that its pointless (to me).

 

[Defective]

Yoda and Keiko aren't on thermostats. Keiko's heatmat has a cutoff point of 32 degrees which i tested everyday for a month before i got her and yoda's basking light gets to 35 -37 depending on wha its like outside and if its a hot day i don't turn them on at all i take him out so yeah....been working like that for nearly 2years with yoda and nearly a year with keiko....theyre fine.

 

[JUNGLE-JAK]

i dont, i dont always have heat for them either, only about 3hrs a day, its pretty warm in cairns and when you think, snakes in the desert experience extreme cold every night really

 

[fantapants]

unless the cage is no bigger than a microwave in most cases a thermostat isnt even needed, havnt used one for years

 

[longqi]

You dont need a thermostat if your room temperature doesnt have massive temperature changes and you dont use heat pads

But you also should have accurate mercury thermometers to check things now and then

We have a couple of therms but only use them on rare occassions

 

[bigjoediver]

Today's temperature range in Adelaide was 12 min and 29 max so unless your reptile room is climate controlled it can be hard to maintain good temperature control without a thermostat. For my stimmie I use a heat cord on a thermostat and a 20w downlight and for my dragons I use a ceramic emitter on a thermostat and a 40w reflector spot both lights on timers. Seems to work for me, if it's going to be really hot I unplug the lights.

 

[fantapants]

there is no climate control outside in the wild so why is it so different inside?

 

[PythonLegs]

There is, it's called moving until you're warm/cool enough. Tough to do in an enclosure with no heat gradient.

I've seen too many burnt snakes that didn't have them not to use one.

 

[longqi]

Today's temperature range in Adelaide was 12 min and 29 max so unless your reptile room is climate controlled it can be hard to maintain good temperature control without a thermostat. For my stimmie I use a heat cord on a thermostat and a 20w downlight and for my dragons I use a ceramic emitter on a thermostat and a 40w reflector spot both lights on timers. Seems to work for me, if it's going to be really hot I unplug the lights.

Although the outside temperature had a huge difference do you know what difference there was in the reptile area??
Often the external temperature doesnt have much bearing on internal temperatures if the house is insulated

You are totally correct to keep doing what works best for you

 

[bigjoediver]

Unfortunately I haven't got a dedicated reptile room and the rest of the family use it as a second living area also it is the main access to the back yard so maintaining a constant temp is near impossible. The room has a high raked ceiling and can get cold at night, it also has a volume of 90 cubic metres wich makes hearing and cooling expensive. Even though it is fully insulated it can have a day to night temp difference of 10-15 deg. Also SA has the most expensive power in Australia so we try to minimize the use of our a/c.
Also for those mentioning the real world, it should be noted its a hell of a lot bigger than a 4ft enclosure! Not taking the p..s just being practical.

 

[Shotta]

out of my 7 snakes only 1 enclosure has a thermostat for my spotteds, and the rest are on heatmats no thermostat, just a thermometer to check temps

 

[longqi]

Unfortunately I haven't got a dedicated reptile room and the rest of the family use it as a second living area also it is the main access to the back yard so maintaining a constant temp is near impossible. The room has a high raked ceiling and can get cold at night, it also has a volume of 90 cubic metres wich makes hearing and cooling expensive. Even though it is fully insulated it can have a day to night temp difference of 10-15 deg. Also SA has the most expensive power in Australia so we try to minimize the use of our a/c.
Also for those mentioning the real world, it should be noted its a hell of a lot bigger than a 4ft enclosure! Not taking the p..s just being practical.

In this case you are much better off using a thermostat exactly as you are now
As said before thermostats definitely have their place and should be used where needed