Digital thermometer/hygrometer combo, suggestions? Also online food suppliers...

I am new to BP.net and have been carefully reading over the care sheet. I have been surfing walmart.com, lowes and home depot looking for a decent rating on a thermometer/hygrometer combo but haven't found anything decent in the reviews. I want to make sure my BP has the right temp/humidity in his tank. I currently have a 40 gal breeder for him (although I have no intentions on breeding him) as the 20 gal that he came in was cracked and had tape alone the mesh top to keep him from escaping; I am assuming from the random pieces of shed I found on the glue. I got Buddy through Petco, he was relinquished not even 20 minutes before I got there. The manager said that if I wanted him, I could have him for free. I have no information on him regarding shedding, feed schedule (until I started one) or if he has been "popped" not that I care but I call him a him anyway. :D The only information they could give me was the size of f/t to give him and his age 2.5 years old.

I am looking for suggestions on what type of digital hydrometer/thermometer you have and can be picked up locally in Washington State.

I am hoping to find an online or local f/t retailer that I can buy his food from to avoid the high shipping costs. I currently pay 11.99 per box for 2 small/medium rats through PetSmart. Buddy is currently eating 2 small/medium rats every 10 days. Should I be feeding him every 14 days or is 10 days okay?

Not sure if this allowed but here is a url to my uploaded pictures of Buddy Hollie (Buddy for short). My daughter wants to know if he is a morph or not. She is certain he is a pastel lesser but is curious what others would say.

Thanks,

PD

Acu-rite you can get them at Walmart for $12. Welcome to Bp.net. As far as feeding 10 days is fine, I feed every 7 days.

The Accurite measures the cold side, hot side and humidity. They can be found at Walmart.

Your Bp can usually eat 10-15% of their body weight.

And no, that is a normal.

Pastel Lesser:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/29/je8e4e7a.jpg

Any particular model of Acurite that you can recommend? The acurite I saw had no sensors that hung down for regulating the temps, it just hang on the fridge like a magnet. Do I hang it in the center of the tank or no?

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Originally Posted by Bobbafett

The Accurite measures the cold side, hot side and humidity. They can be found at Walmart.

Your Bp can usually eat 10-15% of their body weight.

And no, that is a normal.

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You want this one: (sorry I don't know the model number)

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...nt/photo-3.jpg

It has a probe that goes on the hot side (directly over or under the heat source) and then you place the unit itself on the cool side as it has a second thermometer and humidity sensor (hygrometer) behind the screen

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_1532.jpg

Blue = second thermometer

Red = humidity sensor (hygrometer)

*Note*

I haven't ever seen this thermometer listed on Walmarts website but most walmarts have these in stock. (they are usually by the lightbulbs)

When buying frozen rodents the key is to buy them in large quantities. I buy 6 months worth at a time and save $250-$350 doing so. The rodents are much cheaper than buying local you just need to buy enough that the savings outweigh the cost of shipping.

The other option is to find out where your closest reptile show is. Most shows will have someone selling frozen rodents (no shipping)

Sweet thanks!

Personally I am not a fan of accurite they are quite poor accuracy (some are rated at 2ºC up or dow from correct... that is just under 4ºF) this is to far IMO. I also do not like having batteries inside the enclosures they can leak and have nasty out gassing when they do. I prefer a cheap thermometer for aquariums. They are poor accuracy but at a few dollars it is easy to buy a handful they can be tested against each other the average can be guessed to be reasonably close to accurate and the others discarded.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Mini-Aquarium...ht_2371wt_1165

This model is specd at +/- 1ºC twice as accurate as some of the accurite models.

Hygrometers in digital land are fussy rigs you ca see the sensor on Aaron's great pics it is a squiggly carbon pad. If ANY dust dirt or other junk gets on that pad it changes the accuracy. I used to use and test digital ones (cigar hygrometer test kits) and found they came ok (5% RH from accurate) and quickly became inaccurate (the worst I have tested was more than 30% off it had a damaged probe wire)

As a result of my frustration I spoke to a cigar aficionado I know and was pointed at the analogue cigar box hygrometers. I tested and have been using them and discovered that they are out of the box better than 2%RH accuracy and if they become incorrect a simple 'salt test' can be used to correct it. They seem to be unaffected by dust dirt and general junk.

http://www.amazon.com/Analog-Hygrome...rometer+analog

The total of the two is about the same price of the (in) accurite one so many prefer. If you follow my suggestion it is likely you will have accuracy greater than the any accurite I have ever tested.

I searched all over for thermometer/hygrometer that had probes but all they have are those wireless ones now. I do have a thermometer from HK http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-LCD-...item564f13ad66 which I had purchased a few months back for crafting purposes but I am thinking of using it in his tank.

My daughter gave me her thermometer from a reptile set up she isn't using right now. It looks exactly like the the first url that Kitedemon posted but it's from Zoo Med. She said it works great so I guess I will see.

I have an analog hygrometer but it's currently stuck at 40% and won't move. It was a cheapo one from a local pet store nearby so I am thinking of tossing it and looking for something else. The amazon one reminds me of the broken one I got here right now.

I saw this sweet dual probe thermometer a while back but for the life of me I can't remember the brand name of it. It was something like $20 which wasn't bad when you're looking at a cheap one from Walmart.

Analoge hygrometers need a METAL face card and a calibration screw on the back. The junk from pet stores have neither. Cigar ones are far superior. They are super easy to check 'salt test' is easy and accurate. I have never had a digital one stay accurate for long they get costly replacing them every 6-10 months.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Personally I am not a fan of accurite they are quite poor accuracy (some are rated at 2ºC up or dow from correct... that is just under 4ºF) this is to far IMO. I also do not like having batteries inside the enclosures they can leak and have nasty out gassing when they do. I prefer a cheap thermometer for aquariums. They are poor accuracy but at a few dollars it is easy to buy a handful they can be tested against each other the average can be guessed to be reasonably close to accurate and the others discarded.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Mini-Aquarium...ht_2371wt_1165

This model is specd at +/- 1ºC twice as accurate as some of the accurite models.

Hygrometers in digital land are fussy rigs you ca see the sensor on Aaron's great pics it is a squiggly carbon pad. If ANY dust dirt or other junk gets on that pad it changes the accuracy. I used to use and test digital ones (cigar hygrometer test kits) and found they came ok (5% RH from accurate) and quickly became inaccurate (the worst I have tested was more than 30% off it had a damaged probe wire)

As a result of my frustration I spoke to a cigar aficionado I know and was pointed at the analogue cigar box hygrometers. I tested and have been using them and discovered that they are out of the box better than 2%RH accuracy and if they become incorrect a simple 'salt test' can be used to correct it. They seem to be unaffected by dust dirt and general junk.

http://www.amazon.com/Analog-Hygrome...rometer+analog

The total of the two is about the same price of the (in) accurite one so many prefer. If you follow my suggestion it is likely you will have accuracy greater than the any accurite I have ever tested.

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Bases on this exact recommendation previously, I use the same hydrometer/thermometer. I use magnets to keep the hygrometers in place. When I first got them I did a salt test on both and found before calibration both were off by 3% RH. I plan on calibrating every 6 months to ensure accuracy.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

The one I got from the pet store has a metal face on it but it does not have a metal screw on the back. What is this salt test you have mentioned twice now. I have lots of salt!

Sierra near by doesn't have a searching website so I went to petsmart/co - http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...AvailInUS%2FNo anyway that's the one I have.

Do you just glue the magnet on the back of the device or how would that work? I really don't want to stick suction cups inside since I know they are terrible for staying in place. I want something I can remove and magnets sound great. I was also thinking of using velcro...

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Originally Posted by PrairieDawn

Do you just glue the magnet on the back of the device or how would that work? I really don't want to stick suction cups inside since I know they are terrible for staying in place. I want something I can remove and magnets sound great. I was also thinking of using velcro...

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Nevermind, I found a metal hygrometer on eBay which has a magnetic back on it - bought that. I thought about using magnets on the digital thermo's but it might mess up the calibration going on inside so I am going to stick with Velcro. I like the analog hygro idea that was suggested over the accurite (no offense to anyone) due to all the crapulent feedback I read on the websites that sell them.

Thanks for being patent with me and pushing me in the right direction. I know I will be back in a few hours searching the site for more answers to my questions!

Anyone heading to the reptile expo in Oregon next month? I am wondering if I should go or wait until it's in my home town in May.

(tried to edit but took longer than 10 mins)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PrairieDawn

The one I got from the pet store has a metal face on it but it does not have a metal screw on the back. What is this salt test you have mentioned twice now. I have lots of salt!

Sierra near by doesn't have a searching website so I went to petsmart/co - http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...AvailInUS%2FNo anyway that's the one I have.

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http://youtu.be/d7Ap96SlGZA


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

Video says it all. It likely should not be used with digital units the salt is actually bad for them as I stated they are very fragile items that is the root of the issue with the digital units, fragile sensitive to dirt and junk.

martin82531 I am surprised yours were off that far. I bout two played with them torture tested them and check the calibration three of four times I found they were in 2% given the temp makes a % difference and such salt tests are really only expected to be in the 1% accuracy range.

The only issue I have had with them was the magnet. The supplies one is weak and I never place stick glue objects inside so I toss the sticky back bit and replace often need to re glue the metal disk. I personally use a rare earth magnet through the side of the enclosure.

Additional info on salt solutions they do vary with temp somewhat not too much it gives the exact error amount however unless you have a lab expect twice that rate and as much as a degree in temp error.

http://www.omega.com/temperature/z/pdf/z103.pdf