Nanci
Alien Lover
(This is probably just going to be a bunch of blah blah- me getting my strategy figured out- just warning you!)
A couple weeks ago I was checking temps in Inez's/Choco's condo. Inez lives on top, Choco on the bottom. The ZooMed 500R controls Choco's Small Zoomed UTH. Inez had a Small ExoTerra UTH. (They didn't match because the vivs were purchased months apart.) Inez's mat runs cooler, and she was experiencing temps in the low 70's on her warm side. So I bought her a nice new mat exactly like Choco's. And her temps went up to 104F! Toasty! So I investigated the placement of the stat probe, and found it up on the aspen. I tacked it down in the middle of the mat, removed Inez's carpet, and all was well. (I have no idea why I liked having carpet under the aspen- but it's all gone now!)
So last night I was checking on Zee. His Extra Small ExoTerra mat was ice cold (and this is why a permanent probed thermometer is so essential!) and Addy's vacant viv had her ZooMed Small UTH toasty warm. Addy's ZooMed 500R controlled both vivs. So I removed Zee's mat and gave him Inez's old Small ExoTerra, and watched the temps with a Fluker's thermometer last night. When I checked Zee this morning, his mat was 119F!!!!!! And he was on it!! Nice...(No, he isn't damaged.) I turned the stat all the way down, it wouldn't turn off! So I ripped everything out of Addy's viv, saw her ZooMed mat had for the most part peeled off the glass, moved the probe to Zee's house, tacked it down in the middle of the mat under the hide, and now I'm working on getting it dialed in.
Now Lila has a different stat- the $29 BAH100 from Big Apple Herp. Lila also has a permanent dual-probed thermometer, which always, always reads 84F in her warm hide, and room temp on the cool side. It doesn't have the annoying 10 degree swing that the ZooMeds seem to have.
So I had determined that I was going to buy some probed thermometers for Zee/Addy, the new rack, and one to replace Maizey's non-reading one. (He and Jake share a Herpstat stat, which has a temp reading, so I don't worry so much about not having a working thermometer on Maize.) I was thinking, while I'm at Big Apple Herp, why not just buy two more BAH100's and see if I can get nice consistant temps for Choc/Inez and Zee/Addy. (It's an off/on stat, not proportional, so I dont know why it is so much steadier than ZooMed).
But THEN I thought, ok, if I'm going to spend $30 (and this is why I should never be used to rationalize buying something for you!) on a stat, maybe I should spend $80 more and just have a nice Herpstat I will never have to worry about again and be done with it. Hey, I can even skip buying thermometers, that's a savings of $20, so it's like I'm only spending $60 more! (But I can probably only afford one at this time).
So off I go to the Spyder Robotics website, even though I don't have $220 for thermostats, I'm JUST LOOKING! And there I discover that Spyder Robotics will be having a Thanksgiving Sale, and the Herpstat and Herpstat ND will both be $10 off November 21-30!! (So that makes it like I'm only spending $50 more to get the best thermostat!)
Hmmm. Now I just have to come up with $200...
Nanci
A couple weeks ago I was checking temps in Inez's/Choco's condo. Inez lives on top, Choco on the bottom. The ZooMed 500R controls Choco's Small Zoomed UTH. Inez had a Small ExoTerra UTH. (They didn't match because the vivs were purchased months apart.) Inez's mat runs cooler, and she was experiencing temps in the low 70's on her warm side. So I bought her a nice new mat exactly like Choco's. And her temps went up to 104F! Toasty! So I investigated the placement of the stat probe, and found it up on the aspen. I tacked it down in the middle of the mat, removed Inez's carpet, and all was well. (I have no idea why I liked having carpet under the aspen- but it's all gone now!)
So last night I was checking on Zee. His Extra Small ExoTerra mat was ice cold (and this is why a permanent probed thermometer is so essential!) and Addy's vacant viv had her ZooMed Small UTH toasty warm. Addy's ZooMed 500R controlled both vivs. So I removed Zee's mat and gave him Inez's old Small ExoTerra, and watched the temps with a Fluker's thermometer last night. When I checked Zee this morning, his mat was 119F!!!!!! And he was on it!! Nice...(No, he isn't damaged.) I turned the stat all the way down, it wouldn't turn off! So I ripped everything out of Addy's viv, saw her ZooMed mat had for the most part peeled off the glass, moved the probe to Zee's house, tacked it down in the middle of the mat under the hide, and now I'm working on getting it dialed in.
Now Lila has a different stat- the $29 BAH100 from Big Apple Herp. Lila also has a permanent dual-probed thermometer, which always, always reads 84F in her warm hide, and room temp on the cool side. It doesn't have the annoying 10 degree swing that the ZooMeds seem to have.
So I had determined that I was going to buy some probed thermometers for Zee/Addy, the new rack, and one to replace Maizey's non-reading one. (He and Jake share a Herpstat stat, which has a temp reading, so I don't worry so much about not having a working thermometer on Maize.) I was thinking, while I'm at Big Apple Herp, why not just buy two more BAH100's and see if I can get nice consistant temps for Choc/Inez and Zee/Addy. (It's an off/on stat, not proportional, so I dont know why it is so much steadier than ZooMed).
But THEN I thought, ok, if I'm going to spend $30 (and this is why I should never be used to rationalize buying something for you!) on a stat, maybe I should spend $80 more and just have a nice Herpstat I will never have to worry about again and be done with it. Hey, I can even skip buying thermometers, that's a savings of $20, so it's like I'm only spending $60 more! (But I can probably only afford one at this time).
So off I go to the Spyder Robotics website, even though I don't have $220 for thermostats, I'm JUST LOOKING! And there I discover that Spyder Robotics will be having a Thanksgiving Sale, and the Herpstat and Herpstat ND will both be $10 off November 21-30!! (So that makes it like I'm only spending $50 more to get the best thermostat!)
Hmmm. Now I just have to come up with $200...
Nanci