Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have set up my African fat tail's cage. I have peat moss for the substrate & have mositened the area around his hide cave so it will be humid at that spot. I have noticed though using my light bulb it does bring the cage temps to the lower 80's but inside the cave stays in the 70's is this a good temp for him as he is in his cave a majority of the time & I want to make sure I have his set up right.

Actually, according to most care sheets I've read, those temps are a little low. His humid hide needs to stay hotter than the rest of the cage, and the rest of the cage needs to stay at 82ish on the cool end to 90ish on the hot end. Mine tends to stay around 85 to 92, 97 in his humid hide (most easily made by cutting a hole in a tupperware container and putting damp peat inside and placing it on the hot end). This is a really good care sheet that I use at the bottom of this page, it will help you out. What I do to keep my temps this way is I use a 75 watt heat bulb and undertank heater (attached to the side of the terrarium because I do not have an open-bottom set up) on the hot end. At night, I change out the bulb and replace it with a 50 watt red bulb (they can't see red). This keeps temps between 78 and 83 at night. If you want to see a picture of my set up, scroll down a few posts and read AFT Pictures.
AFT care

I loved your site saw all the pics. Though I dont have monitors I particularly liked that small monitor the one that you took his pic in bathroom.
Does he stay small,what size tank is he in? he looks great. I just recently ordered the zoo med ceramic spot light holder you use to. Your chondro set ups are great to.
Lia