Thermometers?

[abra]

Okay, fist off I just want to thank EVERYBODY for their amazing answers and everything they've said to help me out! Without you guys I wouldn't have my little Rambo!

So here are my questions on thermometers:

How many should I have?
What kind?
Where should they go?
Prices?

One last thing, I'm getting little Rambo a MVB bulb and I was wondering if I should still use my red bulb that produces heat? Or should I just use it at night? And can I manage with just one MVB in his small tank? (It says it's 20-long?)

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

 

[moswen]

i'm so glad the forum could be of help to you!! you probably can manage heat perfectly with a mvb in a 20 gallon long, but you'll just have to check your temps and see.

i have 2 digital thermometers/humid-ometers (?! lol can't think of the word) that i got somewhere online (ebay or amazon i'm sure) that are actually for cigar boxes, they work great for me. i can check the lowest humidity levels and the highest humidity levels, and the lowest temps and the highest temps within a 24 hour period with these things, and they were something around the $20 a piece area. you need one near the basking spot so you can tell what the temps are there, and one in the cool end for monitoring temps there!

 

[coreyc]

you can get a wireless thermometer that comes with a remote sensor for 15 buck an up at Home Depot or Lowes they are better than the ones at petco If you can get a temp gun then you can check the exact spot of his tank whats the temp at night ? I would keep it on to keep him warm

 

[Len B]

I received a True Value Ad in the mail and they have a digital desktop weather station alarm clock for $6.97. The ad says, monitors the indoor temp and humidity, records min/max temp, humidity values, displays trend.alarm clock has snooze and backlight.on sale till Dec 24. (I think the snooze function will be used alot). I am going pick up a couple to see how well the function in a high humid enclosure.

 

[abra]

Thanks for the help guys

 

[Len B]

Well I went to the hardware store and picked up two of them and set them next to each other and after a few minutes the readings were the same.Put one in the baby sulcata's and the other in the impressed tortoise enclosure. I am going to change the sulcata setup, going to add soil under the cyprus mulch, can't add plants,(they eat everything) but there was a big difference in the humidity levels,I have a mister on the sulcatas and believe it will be easier to keep the humidity level up with moist soil beneath the mulch.For $7 I'll use them, picking up a few more later.

 

[Tom]

I like this one:
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Wireless-Remote-Thermometer

I have around 10 of them spread all over the place and they work great. I also use an infrared temp gun. I think you need both.

 

[abra]

Okay thanks! I might use that one it looks great So, I can use it in two places?

 

[moswen]

I like this one:
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Wireless-Remote-Thermometer

I have around 10 of them spread all over the place and they work great. I also use an infrared temp gun. I think you need both.

sometimes i can convince my husband to bring his temp gun home and every once in a while i get to check the temps, they stay pretty accurate with my thermometers... how often do you use your temp gun tom? what do you mainly use it for? just to confirm your thermometer, or do you use it to check little microclimates in your tort's enclosures?

i tend to walk around checking air vents and dark corners and windows and my husband's face, so he doesn't bring it home weekly or anything... such a fun little toy.

 

[abra]

Haha

 

[ticothetort2]

I have to digital thermometers/hygrometers, one on the cool end and one in the basking spot. They were bought from Walmart for around $6 and have been working great.

I went last weekend up to LLL Reptiles and also bought the PE-1 temperature gun. This was definitely a well spent $24. I believe I just saw them on the online store for $16 for the black Friday sale.

This thread has some interesting info on the subject.
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-A-W...or-my-fellow-Newbs?highlight=thermometers[hr]

I like this one:
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Wireless-Remote-Thermometer

I have around 10 of them spread all over the place and they work great. I also use an infrared temp gun. I think you need both.

sometimes i can convince my husband to bring his temp gun home and every once in a while i get to check the temps, they stay pretty accurate with my thermometers... how often do you use your temp gun tom? what do you mainly use it for? just to confirm your thermometer, or do you use it to check little microclimates in your tort's enclosures?

i tend to walk around checking air vents and dark corners and windows and my husband's face, so he doesn't bring it home weekly or anything... such a fun little toy.

That's so funny!! My wife and I did the same thing when I got home with mine this past weekend! We must have measured the temp on just about every surface in the house, including the dog!

As far as the real use of it, I will check a few times through out the day to make sure that every microclimate is where I want it to be. I also like to check the surface temp on Tico when he is in his hides to make sure they are not to cool.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I think you should get a temp gun...very quick and accurate. They start at about $25 (I have the PE1). I like these because in less than 30 seconds I can point and click and see the temps all over the enclosure, not just at one or a few spots where I keep probes or whatever. Accurate temps are very important in tort keeping. I check the temps at least every other day as in our house we have widely varying temps, so I need to adjust the bulb up and down. Even if you keep your thermostat the same temp, humidity changes can change the enclosure temp. Many people make the mistake of not re-checking temps after doing a bulb setup.

I also think a 20 long tank is way too small for an adult Russian...thats only 30 x 12! I doubt you can even get a gradient going in that, nor more than one hide plus water and food. I'd like to see a minimum of 6-8 sq ft unless that tort is primarily living outside. An xmas tree tote is a simple solution, but even those aren't too big. Building a tort table is ideal, or a stock tank. The MVB should be fine as the only bulb in the day for an enclosure that size, although you need to test you can keep a gradient from 70 to 95 F. At night, as long as your house is above 60 F, no heat is needed. If your house is below 60 F, use the red bulb, or preferably, a ceramic heat emitter or black light bulb (some have reported they think their tort is bothered by the red light).

The best MVBs in my opinion are T-Rex Active UV Heat (not the one without "active"), or Mega Ray. You'll need 100 Watt with a lamp stand (or other way to securely mount it with the bulb face parallel to the substrate, and have the height adjustable), with a ceramic socket deep and wide hood fixture. The Mega Rays are starting to ship again (buying online from www.reptileuv.com), but as far as I know T-Rex is still out of stock. I haven't seen either in stores. Powersun is the second choice.

 

[Tom]

Okay thanks! I might use that one it looks great So, I can use it in two places?

Yes. I gives you temp AND humidity in two places at once. I use them in my big outdoor tortoise boxes, my underground tortoise bunker, in my indoor enclosure and hide boxes. I even leave the probe in my van and bring the main unit into hotels or restaurants with me when I'm traveling with animals (almost every day). I get some funny questions from waiters and waitresses.

---

I like this one:
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Wireless-Remote-Thermometer

I have around 10 of them spread all over the place and they work great. I also use an infrared temp gun. I think you need both.

sometimes i can convince my husband to bring his temp gun home and every once in a while i get to check the temps, they stay pretty accurate with my thermometers... how often do you use your temp gun tom? what do you mainly use it for? just to confirm your thermometer, or do you use it to check little microclimates in your tort's enclosures?

i tend to walk around checking air vents and dark corners and windows and my husband's face, so he doesn't bring it home weekly or anything... such a fun little toy.

I use the temp gun all the time. I check my basking spots and cool sides frequently. I also use it outside a lot to check basking and substrate temps outside. Its fun to see your tort at 97 on a 65 degree sunny day. Today the temp was 49 and sunny, but the bottoms of my black tubs were in the 90's in the sun. I still opted not to sun them. Seemed too risky to have them breathing that cold air.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

We use the mercury glass ones that come with the little giant incubaters for all incubators and hatchling inside bens. I have found them to very consistant and close to being true. I always use a back up thermometer, mercury based, that I spot check all incubators regularly.
I have used several digital thermometers in the past and they seem to stray several degrees from one another.

 

[abra]

I'll probably try tom's thermometer, then get a temp gun a little bit later

 

[chairman]

If you have a harbor freight near by, you can frequently find temp guns for under $10. I have their non-contact pocket thermometer and it works quite well.