Help!! Thermometers doing my head in.

[dpfb]

Im in abit of a dilema. Im trying to setup a stack using ceramics but all the temperatures are different, So i thought id check the thermometers by putting them all on the same basking spot. Now to my suprise they were all different, all 12 by a few degrees. So i spent £25 on 2 exo terra and theres a 1.5 degree f difference betweem them. What can i do. How do i know if any are right? 2 of what i use are ebay fridge ones that flush mount and 1 says 27.3 and the other says 33.6. And they keep sticking aswell. What does everyone do? Should i stop spending and just guess.

[Morgan Freeman]

Are they dial thermometers? They're pretty unreliable.

[dpfb]

nooo, i wouldnt ever use them, these are all digital display with the probe on the end of the wire type.
just as unreliable it seems

[Gaboon]

What brand?

Exo terra's wont take a knock.

[erewegoagain]

This one was recommended to me and it seems pretty good, you just take a reading from whatever surface you want: TN2 laser guided Infrared Thermometer

[Garko]

Hi Neil; the variations you are seeing is because you are using uncalibrated thermometers, which is why they all read differently. The only sure way to get a totally accurate measurement is with a calibrated thermometer which would probably cost £50+. To be honest the 1.5 degree variation between the ExoTerras is not bad for an affordable thermometer; they are probably accurate enough and I would use their readings in preference to the cheaper ones. In the natural environment reptiles will encounter temperature variations within a range depending on a number of factors (weather, altitude etc) - if you are obtaining a value in the middle of that range you can't go far wrong imo.

[dpfb]

ok, fair enough, the cheaper ones are coral life and the such like that.
i think i might invest in a decant infared one this month instead of another boa.
is that one above a calibrated one. where would i find one.
thanks for that

[Garko]

Hi Neil - before spending £££'s on another thermometer it may be worth contacting ExoTerra and asking how accurate their thermometers are. They should be able to quote +/- degrees accuracy and this is why there's the difference in the two you have tried as they will manufacture them within these tolerances (I hope...). If for example they quote +/- 2 degrees, if your thermometer is indicating 30oC then the 'real 'T could be either 28 or 32oC, and you could get as much as a 4 degree diffrence in reading between two different ExoTerra's placed in exactly the same spot. As most reptiles will be perfectly happy in a range of temps - and this is what they would experience in the wild - I would think that the readings from your ExoTerra's placed in the substrate or on the basking spot will be accurate enough. The IR thermometer looks very handy for measuring surface temperature - they are used by plumbers to balance radiators - although I doubt if it is calibrated or accurate to more than +/- a degree or two. As long as there are warmer and cooler areas in the viv within the range recommended for that species, I think the reptile will find a spot that suits it's temperature requirements.