Thermostat?

Is a Ranco an Okay thermostat for an 8 foot strip of 3 inch flexwatt because it is the on off mode?

or a johnson?

Either one. I'm getting Johnsons.

i have a herpstat:)

I have a herpstat and a ranco.....both work great....no complaints here :D

Is this a good tempgun and humidity gun? http://www.beanfarm.com/cgi-bin/stor...&ppinc=search2 also I am going to get a johnsons control for the flex watt. where should I put the probe?

I've never seen a temp gun that reads humidity too.. interesting.

would you say its good or no?

That cooper thermo/hygro does not get its readings from an infrared source. You put the pen in the cage and it takes a reading.. They make a laser hygrometer but it runs about 900 bucks dealer cost..lol. No way..lol.. As for the flexwatt and thermostat. You can use any thermostat with flexwatt..

.....I use this temp gun: http://www.mgreptiles.com/Raytek.html ....I do not know what I would do without it :)

matt would that be good for at least taking the humidity?

also what do you use to measure humidity?

i got a temp gun from the tempgun.com folks at the narbc show. Cheap unit but works great, small handy size.

Sure it woudl work to take your humididty readings.. I use the flukers thermo/hygro

this is a good place for a temp gun. http://harborfreight.com/ i had one when i was doing RC racing. i had to make sure my engines didn't get to hot.

Justcage i just ordered the flukers thermo/hygro. it says to put it half way down the cage in the description. does it mean for a snake? or should it be closer to the bottom?

for tempguns i'd stick with names like fluke,hart scientific, raytek (owned by fluke), amprobe,uei,cps, and cooper. these names have been around and make alot tools for the hvac industry. for humidity the ones from walmart for 15 bucks do great! remember tempguns read surface contact temps and those can be different than ambient air temps. your ambient air can be 80 and your surface temps 77,78 and vice versa in different parts of the cage/tub. i have alot of thermometers (laser,thermocouple,pen type) from working in hvac and to be honest i use the ones from walmart alot they can be a couple of degrees off but close enough for our purposes. to get less than 1 deg. true accuracy you need a thermistor or thermocouple type thermometer and fluke makes the cheapest i've seen at $169.00


vaughn

For what it's worth, I don't use temp guns at all. In my opinion, a spot temperature taken by a temp gun that says 92 degrees on the "hot" side is worthless if at night when you're sleeping that "hot" side drops to 86 degrees.

Get a $15 digital thermometer that records high temp and low temp. Once a week, clear the settings and leave the enclosure alone for 24 hours. After 24 hours, check the temps, THEN check the HIGH and the LOW. If you're doing it right, they should all be the same.

Use the temp gun to entertain your friends. ;)

And if you have a temp gun and you love it, good for you! ... Don't let some schmuck like me ruin your party. :D:D:D :twisted:

-adam

...i guess when you have so many ball pythons that you can't keep them at your house....you loose the opportunity to wake up at 2 am and check the temps with a temp gun :)

Do you keep a digital therometer on every rack....or just 1 per room? or do you just go with the thermostat temps?

hey daniel i only have a 10x10 room with 7 different stats and around a dozen different thermometers in various racks/cages. since all my racks are on proportional stats like helix and herpstat, temp problems aren't really something you deal with alot. the quality of the stats maintains the correct temps 24/7, you still have to setup/check with some sort of thermometer but the proportional stats really do a fine job!


vaughn

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

...i guess when you have so many ball pythons that you can't keep them at your house....you loose the opportunity to wake up at 2 am and check the temps with a temp gun :)

Do you keep a digital therometer on every rack....or just 1 per room? or do you just go with the thermostat temps?

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You'd be surprised at how many nights I am at my shop at 2am! This is only a part time gig for me, so I do my best work at night. ;)

I keep 4 or 5 thermometers mounted on the walls around each room and then I do "spot" checks on the racks every so often. It's as easy as throwing a digital thermometer (I have about 20 spares) in an empty tub for 24 hours. But for the most part, my room temps are precisely controlled and I let the helix's do all the work for me. As long as the room temps are stable, the rack/heat tape temps are perfect!

-adam

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Originally Posted by justcage

Sure it woudl work to take your humididty readings.. I use the flukers thermo/hygro

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where do you find these?

also the reason I dont want to get thermometers as I am getting 5 more snakes and then I will have a total of 7 snakes that are mine well say 8 because one is my sisters.

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Originally Posted by amg20102006

where do you find these?

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http://www.mgreptiles.com/FLUKERTHERMO.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amg20102006

also the reason I dont want to get thermometers as I am getting 5 more snakes and then I will have a total of 7 snakes that are mine well say 8 because one is my sisters.

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Um what?

I thought you where talking about a temp gun. But I said the reason why I dont want regular digital thermometers because I would have to buy 5 more and it would be cheaper to get that humidity gun and a temp gun from proexotics.com .

even if you have a temp gun you still need to have temp meters for your racks/enclosures that are "always" on. If you can't afford the right equipment you probably should re-evaluate getting more snakes. Having just a temp gun that only gives you readings when you remember to check is NOT sufficient you need tstats to controll all your heat elements and temp meters that are always showing you the temps.

I love my temp gun from pro exotics. I do have a couple of digital thermomoters laying around.. but none in the cages right now (snakes love to take them to their water dishes) I have one out in each herp room to monitor the ambient temps, and when I clean cages I use the temp gun to check hot spots.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TekWarren

even if you have a temp gun you still need to have temp meters for your racks/enclosures that are "always" on. If you can't afford the right equipment you probably should re-evaluate getting more snakes. Having just a temp gun that only gives you readings when you remember to check is NOT sufficient you need tstats to controll all your heat elements and temp meters that are always showing you the temps.

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Exactly....

In my 'snake closet', I only have one digital thermometer/hygrometer (for monitoring the ambient temp/humidity). I have the lil' rack running off a thermostat and I watch temps everywhere with the tempgun. I think that is enough control and monitoring of temps.

A digital thermometer in every enclosure in a thermostat controled rack system is a bit overkill...IMO. But with no thermostat, I would have thermometers everywhere.

If the rack is set up properly and the thermostat is at the correct temp, the only thing that should cause a fluctuation of temps in the reptile enclosures is the temps of the room. Room temp fluctuations are killing me right now. I have the little space heater set to 80 deg. but it must have a +-5 deg variance.....cause my temp gun and thermometer both read 76-78 deg at night when the bearded enclosure is off. I am even considering 'sealing' the closet off with some type of insulation now...any suggestions would be appreciated :)

There is no thermostat is play:) Thats the problem..lol.. For you closet I would line the walls with Reflectix. You could even put it on the dragons cage...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amg20102006

well say 8 because one is my sisters.

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None of my snakes are my sisters, but I do like to play video games.

-adam

You don't need to keep digital thermometers inside the snakes cage.

Get yourself a thermostat and let it do the work, then, every so often, throw a digital thermometer in a random cage for 24 hours and check the HIGH and LOW set temps (make sure you clear it first) ... this helps keep your thermostat "honest" .... when you're done, remove the digital thermometer until next time.

-adam

Sister from another mister and a brota from anotha motha

I do kinda like what adam has said. I have the tstat set but I also keep an external temp sensor on one level of my rack so I can easily and consistently see what the actual temp is that is put out by the flexwatt. I also have another temp sensor at the front of my rack to give me an idea of what the cool side temps are at. I will toss in a dig temp meter in a tub once and while to do checks and use a temp gun for individual tub temps/checks. Aside from that I also have general room temp and humidity guage.

I will have one to through in a cage to check for 24 hours and one to measure the room temps. I will also have a temp gun and a humidity gun. I will run the flexwatt on a dimmer.

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Originally Posted by amg20102006

I will run the flexwatt on a dimmer.

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Ouch.

-adam

yep...ouch....

for a rack setup you will definately need a thermostat...anything less and you are just asking for trouble.

its not a rack. . . I will have them on a table. do you think I should just hold off on the snakes and get the rack built and everything then get some snakes?

definately get the rack done and setup first. then you can go shopping and fill the tubs! lol if you're going to keep alot of bp's, then racks are they way to go, setup with heat tape and a proportional stat will be a breeze to maintain and better for your animals.


vaughn

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Originally Posted by kavmon

definately get the rack done and setup first. then you can go shopping and fill the tubs! lol if you're going to keep alot of bp's, then racks are they way to go, setup with heat tape and a proportional stat will be a breeze to maintain and better for your animals

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I couldn't agree more :) ....and it is fun to have extra tubs in the rack to fill too...my rack is full now with the new additions and I kinda miss daydreaming about what I could put in the empty tubs :O

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

my rack is full now with the new additions and I kinda miss daydreaming about what I could put in the empty tubs :O

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Hey Daniel www.nsreptiles.com :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amg20102006

I will also have a temp gun and a humidity gun.

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They dont make a humidity gun

I use dimmers now, but I'm fed up with them and I'm switching to thermostats.. worth the extra money!

where can I get some good racks online at a decent price?

Go to the link that justcage just posted.. they have good racks at great prices.

not to rain on your parade and it sounds like your choosing to do the right thing now...but what is the rush to "get a bunch of snakes"? Definately need to have the setup FIRST and the right equipment. It sounds like your making good decisions now but in earlier posts it sounded like you where kinda jumping into things that where not well thought out. Not to offend...again sounds like your on the right track now.

If your wanting to save money building a rack is pretty cheap, if you don't have the know-how it shouldn't be hard to find someone who can look at a few pieces of plywood and invision the finished product...like my step father whom I recruited to help me build my first rack.

I was jumping the gun before. do you think the herpstat 1 is good? also what are some other good proprtional(sp) thermostats that arent to pricey?

There are 5 units available in the states
Herpstat 109.99
Herpstat II 239.00
Helix 129.99
Herppower 119.95
HCS 299.99

do you think the herpstat works good?

i use the helix and the herpstat both. both work great, helix has been around longer. i had one problem with one herpstat, i'd like to say though it was handled and fixed very quickly and professionally, no problems with my other herpstats or helix's.


vaughn

please dont make an all of a sudden move in buying a ball python without having the proper set up thats what i did and i regret it. My ball python is doing great now though. I just bought a herpstat2 because of my future breeding wants i also bought a flukers humidity reader and i am going to buy a rack from nsreptiles