HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I need some help...lol
I bought 2 different thermometer at petsmart..1 when I brought my new friends home and another last week. Was hoping for a second opinion but huge fail

I forget the other brand but one of them is zoo med.
About $12 each..

The readings I'm getting are way off.
For the temp they are both the same. And I believe they are correct...it's the humidity I don't think is right.
Right now 1 reads 75% and the other reads 95%

Does anyone have a recommendation of a good but not crazy expensive thermometer?? And where I could get this? It's driving me crazy lol

Lowe's has Acurites. We use them and they work without fail for us. We make a "cage" for them out of craft mesh and hang them. Not the best pics, but you get a general idea. They cost about $14-$15.

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Xenocrab wrote: ↑

Tue May 21, 2019 4:48 pm

Lowe's has Acurites. We use them and they work without fail for us. We make a "cage" for them out of craft mesh and hang them. Not the best pics, but you get a general idea. They cost about $14-$15.

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Thank you very much! And I like this cage idea too

The Acurites are the way to go. Our Lowes has them near all the outdoor stuff before you head out into the gardening area. We never had any luck with the little ZooMeds gauges with the two probes.

I have a thermostat hooked up to my heater to control the UTH from overheating the tank. By placing the thermostat probe and gauge in different areas you can easily get a big variance of temperatures. 5-10 degrees from right next to the UTH to the front of the tank. Even from the substrate to the top of the tank will vary. I like to keep one gauge in one spot then move another gauge around to several places to get a good idea of the the "average" temperature in the tank. You may get readings like 87, 83, 78, 84 in different locations. It would be safe to assume you tank is averaging around 82.

Motörcrab wrote: ↑

Wed May 22, 2019 8:12 pm

The Acurites are the way to go. Our Lowes has them near all the outdoor stuff before you head out into the gardening area. We never had any luck with the little ZooMeds gauges with the two probes.

I have a thermostat hooked up to my heater to control the UTH from overheating the tank. By placing the thermostat probe and gauge in different areas you can easily get a big variance of temperatures. 5-10 degrees from right next to the UTH to the front of the tank. Even from the substrate to the top of the tank will vary. I like to keep one gauge in one spot then move another gauge around to several places to get a good idea of the the "average" temperature in the tank. You may get readings like 87, 83, 78, 84 in different locations. It would be safe to assume you tank is averaging around 82.

Thanks alot, I had no idea this would vary so much with different locations of tank. Learn something new every day here!

Gonna try to get to a Lowe's soon and pick one up. Also have to get some insulation for my uth

You can also calibrate your hydrometers.

I also got the accurite brand and when I calibrated them one was 7% off and the other 2, 3, or 5% off (too dry). It depends on the opinion of the buyer.

Oliviet#1 wrote: ↑

Mon May 27, 2019 7:32 pm

You can also calibrate your hydrometers.

I also got the accurite brand and when I calibrated them one was 7% off and the other 2, 3, or 5% off (too dry). It depends on the opinion of the buyer.

THIS! ^
Any hydrometer needs to be calibrated, even the Accurites. They can be damaged or knocked around during shipping which leads to improper readings. The ones you have now can usually be reset with a small screw driver if they are reading off.

wodesorel wrote: ↑

Wed May 29, 2019 2:24 pm

THIS! ^
Any hydrometer needs to be calibrated, even the Accurites. They can be damaged or knocked around during shipping which leads to improper readings. The ones you have now can usually be reset with a small screw driver if they are reading off.

I completely forgot about this thread, but you say there are certain accurite that can be reset? I plan to buy one this weekend FINALLY LOL. is there a specific model prefered?

Hermit199013 wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 14, 2019 2:17 pm

I completely forgot about this thread, but you say there are certain accurite that can be reset? I plan to buy one this weekend FINALLY LOL. is there a specific model prefered?

No, the digital readouts usually cannot be adjusted. You just have to remember and make mental adjustments for however much they are off. The ones you bought at Petsmart should be adjustable!

Ah ok, thank you for reply. I will go tomorrow and get a digital I've only heard the best from these. But my petsmart analog I guess they're called with the needle? They are so far off its unreal. I will calibrate the new digital I get as well.

That's because there are little springs inside that expand and contract, which moves the needle. If they ever got dropped or shaken (like during shipping) they need to be reset by calibrating the unit. It doesn't mean they are bad or broken, just that they are reading off at the moment. The digital ones can also be severely off right out of the package, but there is no way to reset them. Every hygrometer should be calibrated to make sure it is correct, and it should be checked every few months to make sure it keeps working right and they can spontaneously fail, and the digitals stay good for about two years. All you need is a plastic container and a bottle cap full of table salt. Mix a few drops of water to make the salt sticky, like sandcastle substrate, put it and the hydrometer into the container (a baggie puffed with air works, too) and let it sit for 6 hours. It should read 75%.