Hi all
Right now I am using that basic zoo med yellow digital thermometer. I have had it since I got my beardie and I know for a fact I need a new thermometer. I need one (or 2 or 3 haha) that can measure the basking spot, and ambient temperatures in my tank. I need the BEST recommendation whether it's from amazon or a specific store. Links and pictures are helpful too I don't mind!
Yup, temps guns are great because you can measure any spot in the tank with a single (and cheap!) thermometer. The ones Cooper listed are great. Probe thermometers work well too, I just prefer the temp gun :wink:
Non-contact thermometers are good when used properly , BUT they are limited to giving ONLY surface temperatures AND are prone to user method errors such as Specular Errors, no measuring close enough to avoid the thermometer seeing cooler or hotter backgrounds and they are subject to error because most are precalibrated to an emissivity e = 0.95 ( e for iron / steel ) , other materials can have very different e values.
Probe style digital thermometers are more versatile , being able to measure air temperatures, surface temperatures and subsurface temperatures very precisely ( +/- 1 deg C) and you can set them up and see the temperatures at a glance. viewtopic.php?f=75&t=236884&p=1819658#p1819658
I use probe style digital thermometers (like the Ebay one) and also use a Non-contact laser thermometer , simply depends on what I'm interested in measuring and if I want to see the temperatures at a glance with zero effort.
The combination will work well. You can secure the probes in place and glance at the basking and cool side temps that way and if you want to measure outside the tank or anywhere around the probes you can do so quickly with the gun.