Big surprise with IR temp gun

Just thought I'd post this for the newbies like me out there who are still tweaking their setups:

I've had my mojo girl for 2 months. Until now, I've been using just the Acurite combo thermometer/hygrometer to monitor her tub temps, and everything was looking fine: cool side 80-81, warm side 89-91, humidity around 60. I use a UTH on a Herpstat 1, which is set to 93.

Then I got an IR temp gun, and it shows the surface temp of the warm side at about 4 degrees lower than what the probe from the Acurite shows (which is placed between layers of paper towel substrate over the center point of the warm side).

On the cool side, there's less than 1 degree difference between the surface temp as measured by the gun and the ambient tub temp at floor level by the Acurite thermometer.

I was really surprised to see that the heat produced by the UTH is so much less on the surface of the paper towels than just one or two layers down. I've since bumped the herpstat up to 95, and now the surface temp on the warm side is 90 per IR gun, while acurite says 92. Maybe this point is so obvious that the experienced keepers are all rolling their eyes by now, but I'm really glad I got that gun to straighten me out! I'll be double-checking from now on.

(the temp gun is RBI 412L, if anyone wants to know) :)

I think that's pretty good to know. I'm in the process of building a rack system and I've ordered some Acurite Indoor/outdoor thermometer/hydrometer to help detect temp and humidity. I'll probably invest in a temp gun. Where did you get yours?

A temp gun can make a huge difference in your keeping. I don't know how I ever did it without one. It made my tanks much more ideal for my animals. I would recommend one for everyone.

Plus they are so cheap now you really have no excuse not to pick one up.

Nice share.

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When I bought this one it was $20 but now its $10. I know its cheap but it has worked flawless for me. It also uses a regular 9v battery which is nice and has a backlit screen for checking temps in the dark. For 20 bucks i was really impressed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o00_s00_i00

Yea this happened to me also, before I got my temp gun I thought my temps were great, get my temp gun measure my temps and find they very off, I would recommend a temp gun to everyone

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Originally Posted by snakehobbyist

I'll probably invest in a temp gun. Where did you get yours?

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Right here:

http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers

Mine's the 412L. Bought it b/c I'm getting a rack soon and read that the temps in the different tubs can vary a bit since the thermostat probe only monitors one of them.

Raytek makes a nice temp gun and they are well known in the industry. The MT-4 is a good bargain.

If you want the absolute best Exergen is what you are looking for. DX501 is their "entry" priced model.

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If you want to see how accurate your gun is then boil some water in a thin pot. Place a piece of black electrical tape going up the outside of the pot. Once the water is at a good boil run the gun right along that tape. You will hit 212°F right at the surface of the water.

I bought one love it i have all my snakes in a temp contolled room but stil check it makes a big difference

One thing to consider is the snake sitting on top of that paper towel. The surface where the snake isn't sitting might be 85 in my tubs, but if I move a snake off a spot and shoot it with the gun, now we're at 90 or 91 even.

Something else to consider, especially with paper substrates that are prone to trapping air in weird ways.

For those who are using temp guns.. do you even bother with a thermometer? I don't feel like my therm is really getting an accurate read.

Bear in mind that your BP is fully capable of moving the substrate aside at any point and coming in contact with the higher temps. Do not raise your thermostat setting to the point where the glass/plastic is too hot.

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Originally Posted by MrLang

One thing to consider is the snake sitting on top of that paper towel. The surface where the snake isn't sitting might be 85 in my tubs, but if I move a snake off a spot and shoot it with the gun, now we're at 90 or 91 even.

Something else to consider, especially with paper substrates that are prone to trapping air in weird ways.

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I'll have to try that: moving her off and then measuring the temp right at the spot where she was sitting.

It did occur to me that the air between the paper towel layers was warmer because of the insulating effect of the top layer, but either way, it throws off the usefulness of the thermometer probe quite a bit.

More experimentation to follow!

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Just thought I'd re-visit this topic and share some info I was told by a reputable breeder I purchased a bp from. We talked about rack temps and our temps were within a degree or so from front to rear in general, but he said he is mainly concerned with a range of about ~10F hot to cold side and measuring the actual body temp of the snake in 3-4 places. He finds a body temp of 85-86F is ideal. If you give the snake a 10F range in the tub, it will regulate it's body temp accordingly. 82F- 92F is about where I'm at on average from cold to hot side in my racks. Most of my snakes are sitting around 86F- 86.5F since I've started checking body temps.

If you chase rack temps you will go nuts. Check your rack temps right as the thermostat kicks on... that should be the coldest your rack is. Then check it just as the thermostat kicks off.... that should be about the hottest your rack gets. You will find a variation of ~3-4F just in thermostat cycling.

I always use a IR temp gun just because you never know.

I know this is an older thread, but I was searching around becuse I just picked up an IR temp gun myself.

I too was surprised to find differences. My acurite thermometer wasn't too far off, which is good news. Both it and my IR gun were reading the UTH temp of about 90F.

The problem I found with the temp gun is that there is a wide range of temperatures within the UTH. Some areas read as low as 86F and others closer to 96F. Most of it though was right around 90F. It wasn't even like the center was warmer. One of the edges to the right of the cord was reading the higher temps.