About Herpwise
Herpwise (sqtsyc.com) is a small set of free tools that turn "work it out by hand again, then go looking it up again" into "fill in a few boxes, press one button". The site currently holds 30 tools. The site is about: The right answer,not a guess. Everything runs in your browser: no sign-up, no login, nothing you type is uploaded.
Who it is for
Three groups, mostly. First, people who already have the numbers and simply do not want to re-key them into a calculator every time - someone drafting a budget, or an operator who needs a rough figure to align with a colleague in the next ten minutes. Second, people preparing for an exam, an interview, an application, or a document they have to submit, who want a way to test "what if I change this number". Third, teachers, coaches, and leads who need to explain a rule of thumb rather than hand over an answer.
Whatever group you are in, the position of this site is the same: it puts the reasoning in front of you instead of making the decision for you.What a tool returns is a reference value computed from the inputs you supplied. Before you act on it, you still check it against the source material, the situation on the ground, or the official guidance.
How the tools are built
Every tool has an explicit, reproducible method: what goes in, what formula is applied, what comes out. The logic is not hidden - the full calculation is visible in the page source. That buys two things. The result can be checked by somebody else, and if you think a number is wrong you can follow the formula to the step whose assumption does not hold, instead of choosing between trusting it and not trusting it.
Because all of it runs locally, the amounts, durations and ratios you type never leave the device. That matters most for the inputs that describe your own situation.
How the content is held to a standard
Every page has a floor it has to clear: enough body copy that it is not just a form with a button; at least four questions answered, with the three things that actually decide whether a tool is used well written down - how to use it, where people go wrong, and when it does not apply. Where a page states a specific number, a price, a fee or a rule, it says "check the official source" and gives you a route to check it yourself, rather than inventing a number that looks plausible.
Instructions, the verdict labels and the computed result are kept separate. Instructions tell you how to use the tool, the labels qualify what the number means, and the result is the number. Mixing those three is how a conclusion drawn under one set of conditions quietly turns into a general rule, and it is a mistake we keep going back and fixing.
What this site does not do
It does not give medical diagnoses, medication doses, legal opinions or investment advice. The tools help you frame a question better or get the arithmetic right; the conclusion still comes from a qualified professional or from the official source. For outdoor, diving, wildlife, protected-area and border situations, the site provides safety checklists and official contacts only - it does not provide decompression tables, does not certify any depth or weather as safe, and does not explain how to work around regulations.
What changes over time
Tool pages get reviewed: does the logic still hold, is the reference data still current, are the stated limits still true. When the premises of a tool change, the wording on the page changes too, rather than leaving a stale conclusion in place. If a page does not match what you are seeing in practice, the contact details in the footer are the way to tell us.
What is on the site
- Bioactive Plant Safety Checker - Searchable database of 40+ vivarium plants with toxicity, humidity fit and root stability scores.
- Body Condition Score Visualizer - Silhouette-based BCS for snakes, lizards and tortoises — pick the closest visual, not a number from memory.
- Calcium + D3 Supplementation Scheduler - Outputs a dust/gutload rotation that adjusts to your UVB strength — not just 'every other feeding'.
- Calcium-to-Phosphorus Ratio Analyzer - Analyzes a diet mix (insects + greens + supplementation) and surfaces the Ca:P imbalance.
- Egg Incubation Calculator - Outputs species temp, days-to-hatch, and egg weight loss target — with weekly check-in reminders.
- Enclosure Size Auditor - Outputs minimum footprint and height with species-specific enrichment room flags.
- Feeder Insect Nutritional Comparator - Side-by-side protein, fat, Ca:P ratio and moisture for 8 common feeders — not a single-number ranking.
- Feeding Frequency Schedule Generator - Weekly feeding plan with fasting days, by snake species, age and season.
- Feeding Response Recovery Plan - For snakes that refuse food — outputs a graded re-feeding plan, not panic advice.
- Gutload Recipe Builder - Outputs a 24h or 48h gutload recipe tailored to your insect species — not a one-size list.
- Hatchling Setup Checklist Generator - Outputs a species-specific first-week setup with enclosure, feeding, and vet-check items.
- Basking Heat Gradient Designer - Outputs four zones — basking, warm, cool, night — with species-specific safety caps.
- Heat Source Energy Cost Calculator - Compares heat mat, ceramic heat emitter, basking lamp and radiant heat panel — at your local kWh rate.
- Humidity Range & Shedding Predictor - Outputs day vs night humidity targets with a stuck-shed risk score for the species.
- Insect Size Picker (Gecko / Dragon) - Eye-distance rule plus weight check — flagged separately so you know when they disagree.
- UVB Lighting Placement Calculator - Distance, mesh, and bulb type — outputs a target UVI at the basking spot.
- Live vs Frozen-Thawed Cost Calculator - Compares real bulk prices, wastage and energy — not just per-item cost.
- Day/Night Photoperiod by Latitude - Outputs a realistic day-length schedule based on your latitude and the species' native range.
- Power Outage Emergency Planner - Outputs heat-pack count, insulation plan and risk-by-duration for your specific enclosure.
- Quarantine Protocol Builder - Outputs a dated, itemised quarantine plan — equipment list, observation log, vet-check milestones.
- Reptile-Safe Plant Database Search - 40+ vivarium plants with toxicity, humidity fit and edibility — searchable by light and species.
- Salmonella Exposure Risk Score - Scores your handling and cleaning routine against salmonella guidance — not a generic warning.
- Shedding Difficulty Predictor - Inputs humidity, hydration and stress — outputs stuck-shed risk and intervention thresholds.
- Snake Prey Size & Schedule Calculator - Girth-based prey width plus weekly rhythm — with regurgitation-risk scoring.
- Substrate Risk Auditor - Scores impaction, mould and humidity risk for 12 common substrates against your species.
- Tail Drop Probability Predictor - Scores handling, environment and stress factors for tail-autotomy species.
- Travel & Transport Carrier Size Calculator - Snakes (coiled), lizards (head-to-tail), tortoises (shell length) — separate models per species.
- UVB Tube Lifespan & Replacement Tracker - T5 / T8 / Compact degradation curves with mesh-blocking factor — not a calendar-only reminder.
- Reptile Vet Cost Estimator - Estimates typical US vet costs for common conditions — with severity tiers and a 'what to budget' summary.
- Reptile-Safe Water Treatment Dosage - Outputs conditioner dose for tap, RO, and rainwater — including the chlorine-chloramine distinction.
Questions
Do the tools need an account or a payment?
No. Every tool on Herpwise is free, needs no account, and works before you type anything personal. The numbers you enter are used by the calculation on the current page and are gone when you reload.
Can I treat the output as a final answer?
Not on its own. A tool returns a magnitude under the conditions you typed in. It does not include what it costs to act, what might change while you act, or how the other side behaves. Before spending money, signing, or promising something to a third party, check the result against the source material and the official position.
What is the most reliable way to use these tools?
Follow the order given in the usage section: get your figures onto the same basis first, fill in one field at a time, then calculate. Checking that every unit matches the thing you are actually measuring catches more wrong answers than any other habit, and it takes about ten seconds.
My number does not match what I expected. What should I check?
Three things: that the units agree, that you have not left an optional field blank and accepted its default, and that you recalculated after editing an input. If all three are fine, the likely explanation is that your basis differs from the one the tool assumes - the limitations section on each tool page says what it covers.
Will the pages stay available?
We try to keep them, but the premises of a tool, the reference data and the outside world all move. Pages get reviewed and corrected as that happens. If you need to keep a result long term, take a screenshot and record the inputs you used.
Scope and limitations
This page describes what the tools on this site are built to do. A common mistake is to read a short explanation and treat it as an official specification 鈥?it is not. Every tool here is a calculation aid: it works from the numbers you type in, and it cannot verify whether those numbers are correct, current, or appropriate for your situation.
Where this stops: the tools give you a number and the reasoning behind it. They do not replace professional advice, and they do not know anything about your specific case. Where a decision carries legal, financial, safety or health consequences, check the relevant official source before acting on anything you read here.