Ideal Cage Supplies

Okay so I have decided that once I get home I am going to get an aquarium stand with a canopy deal and I was thinking about how to set up the various temp/humid monitors.. I was just wondering if you had three hundred bucks to blow on measuring devices (thermometer for each side, hygrometer, thermostat) what would you get? (I dont' have three hundred bucks really, I'm just curious as to what is good)
so far I have looked at...
the Electronic BAH - 1000 thermostat from Bigappleherps.com
any comments on this?
also...
the Big Apple Herps dual location digital thermometer w/memory
(it's a two probe two digital display thermometer deal)
also...
The Big Apple Herp thermometer/hygrometer (each with own probe)

has anyone heard of / used any of these products? I would like to get a really good thermostat that won't burn out my stuff if possible and I hope to have my digital meters mounted on the cage stand so I don't have to shine a light in the cage at night to see temps.. so i need everything to have a probe...
any really good thermostat anyone has heard of?

oh yeah... also if you stick something on the glass on the inside of your aquarium what do you use so that it doesn't leave marks badly, but can be taken out when you need to clean? I've been thinking about suction cups but I think they would fall off a lot

do you think the more expensive one is worth it? Just curious on oppinions...
expensive one - http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_...ts_921100.html
Other one - http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_...at_924105.html

I dont use a thermostat, dont think I need one really, cause I dont mind having to manually adjust temps since I am home all the time. I use a temp gauge that shows inside and outside temps, along with humidity (bought at Walmart- for less than $20), the probe side is for the cooler side. Mine is in the tank, I just got a huge set of suction cups and modified them to sit on the back of the device so it sticks to the back of my tank but can be taken off later without any problems, my bp's climb on it too, and have yet to separate it from thier tank.

I've got the less expensive thermostat from BigApple...it's ok. I think I probably could have gotten the same effect with a rheostat and thermoter probe because I monitor the temps pretty closely myself as it is.

I also have their dual-probe thermometer w/ memory. It's a disappointment. You still have to have the whole unit in the cage because the cords for the probes are pretty short. But other than that, it works well enough. I won't buy another one, though.

I also discovered that Wal Mart has a MUCH better combo thermostat/hydrogometer with the same memory capability. So it measures humidity as well as indoor/outdoor temps. The only difference is that it only has one probe. The "indoor" temp is measured wherever you set the unit, and the "outdoor" temp is wherever you place the probe. But the cord on that one is MUCH longer and easier to work with. I highly recommend this one, even if you do have to have the unit inside the tank.

You can also look into a "temp gun"....it's a device that you "point and shoot" to measure temps on any given surface. Their prices range anywhere from $25 - $100. I've never tried one, but I've never heard of anyone regretting the purchase.

And I think that's all I have to say about measuring devices...but if anything else comes to mind, I'll post it. :)

thank you guys very much... i was wondering the length on the probe cords

I'd engineer a PCI card for your computer with a breakout box with multiple probe outlets so you could octopus 'em to multiple cages and capture temperature/humidity readings. Damn I'm ambitious. And likely thwarted since there's probably already something like that out there.

Man Smulkin if you ever start breeding I bet you could make some brilliant products to sell as well... that PCI card is a great Idea... personally I'd be thankful if someone would develop a three probe two thermo and one hygro digital deal with jumbo digital screens and the three probes that's all I want in life!! With cables long enough that I could stick it outside of the cage and push a light button on it to read it at night. I'm going to start a new thread on products we would develop if we could haha that could be interesting.

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

I'd engineer a PCI card for your computer with a breakout box with multiple probe outlets so you could octopus 'em to multiple cages and capture temperature/humidity readings. Damn I'm ambitious. And likely thwarted since there's probably already something like that out there.

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Hate to break ur bubble, but the temp generated by the pc itself would cause an error :wink:

We have a wood-burning stove that had a thermostat to controll the fan...guess where it is now :D it's been hijacked and used for my viewing lamp.

I'd say the 32$ one is fine. I got a similar one from the petstore and it seems to do the trick. I'm not home all the time and sometimes go on vacation, so I feel a lot more comfortable having one.

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Hate to break ur bubble, but the temp generated by the pc itself would cause an error

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How so if the recording end of the probe is way outside the PC (say a 20'+ line)? Heck I could splice a CPU fan with a thermal probe, extend it and use the FAN3 pinout on the mobo and run it clear over to the enclosure and that alone would poll temperatures independent of the case. I bet one could even design those probes to be wireless (IR) at a higher cost and get rid of even more cabling mess . . . but what would I do without cabling mess . . . I would feel so . . . incomplete . . .

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Originally Posted by Smulkin

I bet one could even design those probes to be wireless (IR) at a higher cost and get rid of even more cabling mess . . . but what would I do without cabling mess . . . I would feel so . . . incomplete . . .

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LOL ... spaghetti cable syndrome has you in its clutches! I've seen wireless thermometers at WalMart, so it probably would be a pretty straightforward matter to have that data captured by the pc rather than the base unit, but I think the ones I've seen were RF instead of IR, so it would require a hardware add-on.

never seen the need for a thermostat. never had a temp problem with heating pads.

Hehe - in any event working at a hardware level to engineer something like that is a little beyond me - if I knew how to do that I'd likely be designing graphics cards.

I should mention it to our resident genius here. If it interests him, he might be willing to give it a shot.

Actually I have a rheostat. Since the temps in my house are constantly the same, it's all I need. It keeps my temps steady. The heatmats alone get WAY too hot; I could not imagine not having at least a rheostat or lamp dimmer.