A reptile thermostat is a vital part of reptile vivarium heating. First and foremost, this is a device that helps you regulate the temperature in your reptile’s enclosure to prevent it becoming too warm and possibly hurting your reptile. Second, a reptile thermostat helps you regulate your reptile’s daily and nighttime temperatures so you don’t have to be constantly there to flip the thermostats up and down. Finally, you can spend anything from $25 to several hundred on a quality thermostat to help keep your prices down. Here is what to look for in a quality thermostatic thermometer.
The best reptile thermostats use a dual-axis thermometer. This is much more sensitive than a single-axis thermometer. Dual-axis is also much more accurate, which means it will be able to pick up any slight fluctuation in temperature. This will make it very important that your vivarium’s temperature to stay at a constant temperature no matter what the season is or what time of day it is. While the cost of a dual-axis thermostats is higher than a single-axis, it will pay for itself over time.
Another feature to look for in a great value thermostats is a thermoelectric effect. This effect gives you the ability to set a specific temperature and then provide a gradual increase or decrease in that temperature. This is perfect for low metabolism reptile pets, such as lizards and snakes. Reptiles are creatures of habit and will adjust their temperature based on how comfortable they are. If you suddenly increase the temperature on these cold days, they will more than likely show signs of discomfort, which will either make them less active or result in them freezing altogether.
Good reptile thermostats should also have a temperature controller. This is a feature that allows you to program the heater so that it does not run constantly. Instead, the controls should be programmed a couple times each month. You can do this by turning the thermostat to the desired temperature range and leaving them there for a half hour or so. After that, turn them back down so that they never go above that range again. Good thermostats will allow you to program two or more separate temperature control settings so that there is still some flexibility.
The last feature to look for in your reptile thermostat is its maximum load capability. This refers to how many times the thermostat can run and maintain the set temperature of the room. Most ceramic heaters are able to maintain the desired room temperatures for up to fifty or sixty hours without having to kick on the thermostats once. However, you want to make sure that it has a higher maximum load capacity than you will actually need, because if the temperatures drop below the required levels, the thermostats will simply shut down without warning.
Humidity control is another important feature to look for. If you are planning to keep a terrestrial reptile such as an alligator at home, you will want to make sure that they do not get too warm or too cold. By monitoring the temperatures they control temperature, and humidity levels, you can make adjustments to their environment to make sure that they stay healthy. Some animals like lizards will even do better when kept in a humidifier. They will even do better if you simulate moonlight for them or leave a light on during the day to keep the humidity levels consistent.
Reptiles need their habitat to be as comfortable and warm as possible. There are a number of ways that owners can mimic the warmth of the sun. You can provide them with a nice heated humidifier, or place rocks in their enclosure to retain the warmth even after the sun has gone down. Some people like to use nightlights with bulbs attached to them so that they can turn on the lighting equipment as the temperatures begin to dip into the thirties. However, there are a number of different reptile enclosures with different heating equipment that will allow you to provide the perfect temperature and environment for your pets.
One of the most popular is called a temperature sensor. These are small devices that will be placed on your pet’s cage, or wherever you place them, and will sense any temperature changes. When they detect a slight change, either up or down, they will sound an alarm. As you can imagine, these are great accessories for your pets that will make caring for them a lot easier. The biggest advantage of these is that they will not set off any alarms, which means that you will not have to worry about waking up your pet in the middle of the night because of a low temperature change. If you choose one of these devices over the traditional thermostats that most people use, you will be able to set the sensor so that it only alerts you when the temperatures go above or below a certain point.