HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello! I am planning to get a UTH from reptile basics + a thermostat for Christmas. Though, the thermostats are a little... pricey. I want to buy this thermostat on amazon, but the heater needs to be a 3 prong plug for it to be compatible. Do the heaters from reptilebasics have a 3 prong plug?

The Reptile Basic Ultratherms only have two prongs. I don't think any UTH heaters have three prong plugs. I am not sure if having three prongs would matter or not. Like plugging a phone charger into a standard wall outlet. I would do some research just to be safe.

Motörcrab wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 28, 2019 8:55 pm

The Reptile Basic Ultratherms only have two prongs. I don't think any UTH heaters have three prong plugs. I am not sure if having three prongs would matter or not. Like plugging a phone charger into a standard wall outlet. I would do some research just to be safe.

Okay, thank you! I'm just a bit worried because i try to keep my room pretty warm in winter, and i wouldn't want to bake my crabs if i were to get a UTH! I'll do more research. Meanwhile, if anyone has any thermostats they can suggest, that would be appreciated!

We use regulators with our UTH. The temp never gets too hot that way

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The thermostats that reptile basic sells are extremely good, and they operate differently than the cheaper models that the companies like zoomed sell. If anything were to go wrong they would fail into the off position, keeping the animals they are protecting safe from being burned. (I had a dimmer light on my crabs go once and it failed into the on position. Tank was 120 degrees, so it's something I always consider now!) Some models have some really nice bells and whistles, too - night modes that drop the temperature automatically, digital temperature sensors, memory settings so power losses have no effect, adjustable audible alarms so you know if it's too hot or cold. Some of the multiple outlet models can do both heat and humidity sources at the same time. After messing with entry level thermostats I went with Herpstats, myself. I've never had to touch it since setting it.

Like @wodesorel mentioned, there's a huge variety of regulators. If yiu have the budget for it, Herpstat is definitely the way to go. If you're on a budget, I kbord offers a range of regulators, but you need to ensure it's calibrated properly. Mine was off by 2C.

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Scarletfire wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 29, 2019 11:55 am

Like @wodesorel mentioned, there's a huge variety of regulators. If yiu have the budget for it, Herpstat is definitely the way to go. If you're on a budget, I kbord offers a range of regulators, but you need to ensure it's calibrated properly. Mine was off by 2C.

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Yeah. I'm on quite a budget here. I'm just a 15 year old with no job, so i usually buy stuff with the help of my nanny or aunt. This christmas i'll be asking for a lot of hermit crab stuff, specifically a UTH for the 100gal tank. Can you please send me a link to the regulators you're talking about?

They are on Amazon. They may be like $20 or so. Plug the UTH into it, then plug the regulator into the wall. Set your temp. It's easy and maintains a steady heat within a few degrees. We have them for all 5 tanks.

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Xenocrab wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 29, 2019 12:46 pm

They are on Amazon. They may be like $20 or so. Plug the UTH into it, then plug the regulator into the wall. Set your temp. It's easy and maintains a steady heat within a few degrees. We have them for all 5 tanks.

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Oh! i saw a similar product on amazon, looked the same save for a different logo, lol. And the price isn't bad at all. Thank you very much!!

The regulators xeno mentioned are like $20 on Amazon. They are basic with no additional settings like Wodesorel mentioned. It would be nice to have a night mode and some sort of temperature alert.

Even though there thermostats measure the temperature we still use an Acurite in each tank as a double check.

In case you are interested, I am going to be selling my UTH's as well as my daytime/nitetime heat lamp that has a regulator. Also selling everything in my tank, my shells, cholla, etc....you can have your family contact me if you'd like. I'd give them a fair deal and probably throw in a lot of extras too If interested send me a PM and I can give you my email to pass on to them.....

This is the one I use. $40 Cad. Its budget, with alerts if it goes over or below a certain temperature.

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