Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our collection is growing to the point that we are working it almost every day, so I'm considering some upgrades to our equipment.

Up until now, we've used some of the adhesive strip thermometers and some of the round stick on thermometers. I like the round ones better simply because they are easier to read and I can put them on with velcro and pull them out when I hose out a cage (messy snakes). We have five snakes currently and two or three more coming within the next month (still not a huge number, I realize).

If we exclusively use the round analog thermometers at $5 each with one at the warm end and one of the cool end of the cage, the cost it is starting to add up. The ones I see locally aren’t impressive for accuracy; I might pull six of them off of the rack and see six different readings. This variability is not favorably impressive to me.

I've been looking at the infrared thermometers. I've seen one of the RayTek's for as little as $65 plus shipping. I like the idea of being able to spot check various areas of a testy animal's cage without opening it to move the thermometer (and wait for it to change). I don't need need a huge working range. Given the animals we keep, we'll never have a cage over 6' long and 3' wide at the outside maximum, so I can't foresee a need for a range over 6'. I plan to keep an inexpensive thermometer in the warmed area of the cage just as a quick indicator of trouble.

We just acquired our first very young snake, and I'd like to document her growth closely, so I want to get a scale.

We are going to attempt breeding some snakes in the future, so that is a consideration.

I'm soliciting your input as to

1) what brands and models of scales and/or thermometers that you have purchased,
2) why you picked what you did and
3) your satisfaction/the reliability of the product.

I bow in advance to both your your collective and individual expertise as well as your willingness to share it.

BN

I haven't gotten my infrared thermometer yet, but in checking prices Pro Exotics seems to have a good one. Less than $65 too. They advertise in the caging/reptile supplies classifieds here pretty often.
Lora

Hello –

Click here for some information I posted last year on infra-red thermometers. The price information is probably outdated. I’m still just as enthusiastic about this tool as I was the day I bought it. Two properties that were important to me are the laser sighting capability and best accuracy in “normal” temperature ranges (I don’t care if they can measure the temps in a blast furnace). In reference to something you said, you DO have to open a cage to measure the interior temperature with these; they don’t work through glass. Also, the closer you get, the more accurate the measurement.

I also use an Oregon Scientific model # EMR963HG (click here) and three remote units around my place, mainly to measure room temperatures. Occasionally I put one in a snake cage temporarily if I'm monitoring a new set up, or am checking on the temps for a gravid female. I used one in my incubator this season although the 95-plus% humidity wasn’t kind to it and is specifically cautioned against in the instructions.

Finally, I still find uses for an inexpensive Springfield digital indoor-outdoor, min-max thermometer, the kind with a sensing probe at the end of a 8 foot wire. (click here for an example.) The wire is so thin that you can route it through lids or sliding cage doors without having to drill holes in cages.

Click here for some information I posted recently on the scales I use.

You can sort of make out the Ohaus and My Weigh scales and the Cooper IR thermometer between them in the photo below. If there are any other questions I could answer, feel free to ask.

-Joan

Radio Shack sells an infrared thermomoeter that works very well for what we need it for. The price is around $30.00, plus battery. I've been using one for a couple of years now with no issues whatsoever. Accuracy is right up there with the $100.00 models.

For a scale, I've just been using a digital kitchen food scale (less than $50.00) that is also quite accurate. You can pick them up just about anywhere. When I need extreme accuracy, I have a digital reloader's scale that is extremely accurate and cost $89.00 from Midway.

Let's face it. For what we are doing, we don't really need accuracy to 1/100th of a degree F., or with /- .001 gm. If we can get accurate to with .5 degrees or .5 gm, we are good to go. I'd much rather spend the extra money on another snake or another cage.

>>Let's face it. For what we are doing, we don't really need accuracy to 1/100th of a degree F., or with[in +] /- .001 gm.

Absolutely. With that sort of accuracy, you’re talking laboratory-grade instruments costing thousands of dollars.

>>If we can get accurate to with[in] .5 degrees or .5 gm, we are good to go.

All the IR thermometers we’ve mentioned with price ranges of $30 - $100 display in whole numbers only (like "90" degrees). Their accuracy is another matter. That Radio Shack model, for instance, claims accuracy of plus or minus 4 degrees F or plus or minus 2.5% of reading, whichever is greater. Probably not likely to be 4 degrees off in the ranges we're measuring; I’m just quoting their own specs.

If I want to keep track of 5 gram hatchlings, a change of 0.5 grams might be of interest to me. A scale actually accurate to 0.5 gram in most people’s price range would not be able to weigh anything much over 2300 grams (5 pounds). If I am also keeping track of 5-pound and heavier snakes, a change of 0.5 grams is meaningless, anyway. I’ll need another scale.

So, we’re just talking the right tool for the job, with what we consider important uses of our money factored in. I like music. There’s no way I’m paying mega bucks for audiophile equipment; I couldn’t hear the difference. But I wouldn’t waste my time with a really low-end boom box. So I compromise on something in the middle. Same situation here.

-Joan

Actually, the Radio Shack model I have (Catalogue number 22-325)displays in .5 degree increments. I have checked it against a couple of others and it showed no variation at all, within it's display capability, meaning that if the other thermometer showed, for instance, 89.3 degrees, mine would display 89.5. If the other showed 89.9, mine showed 90. I can live with that. I've never seen it even 1 degree off, much less 4 degrees. Maybe in the extreme lower or upper ends of the range, as you said, the variance would be greater, but that's not really a concern.

As far as the 5gm hatchling, you are correct. That's when I use the digital reloader's scale.

Thanks for sharing the model # of the IRT you're using, Oldherper. The one I saw on the RadioShack website wasn't that accurate, but they likely have more in the stores than online. The one online gave it a range (distance wise) of only two feet. How far can you be from the target to use yours?

This is the most confusing thing I find looking at these online - the range. They speak at length about temp range but rarely say how close to target you must be to use the instrument. I don't want to buy something and find that I HAVE to be within 12" or it's useless.

IF I stick with the Drymarchon genus of snakes, I'll never see a live hatchling at 5g., but with this reptile hoby, you never know what the next obsession might be.

BN