Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My new pacman frog should be here any day now and I'm trying to get my tank setup just right. I bought bed-a-beast substrate and have it in there about two inches thick. I have a water bowl with some flat river rocks in it so he can get in and out. A big fake bush to provide some cover and security, and one small round rock in the corner just for a little added flare. I have a full screen top with a UV light fixture on top, which is positioned on one side (over the water bowl) to provide one lighter side and one darker side. I'm using dechlorinated water for misting and in the water bowl, and the only concern I have now is the temperature.

Everyone that I've seen that has a successfull growing pacman has their tank anywhere from 81-85 degrees. I bought a under the tank heater (UTH) and placed it on the side of the tank opposite the water bowl. I have a 10 gallon tank so I bought the 10-20 gallon UTH (Reptitherm brand). It says it takes a minimum of 6 hours being active to be able to get an accurate temperature reading. It's warm to the touch and the inside glass is warm, but the cage temperature is only 75 degrees. I could get it to 75 degrees with the minimal heat my UV light emitted.

I'm about to claw out my eyeballs trying to get this tank setup right so I don't let another frog die, but of course everyone I ask tells me something different. As a matter of fact today I asked about it at a pet store here and the guy told me to put it underneath the tank, going against everything I've been told about heaters for pacmans!

Should I buy a 30-40 gallon size UTH or is this thing gonna take longer to heat up or what? I just cannot buy a new light or heatlamp because I've already spent all the money I can afford trying to get this thing setup, I've changed I don't know how many times...

Is there anyone that can offer any suggestions or tell me what's wrong?

UTH arent the best for pacman frogs or any frogs that require warm air. The only choice you have is those red,black incandescent bulbs for night heat and daylight bulbs for day heat.
They warm up the air and are easily just used ontop of tank screen cover, Ceramic heat emitters are to hot and dry up the cage in hours but the incandescent bulbs with misting here and there still retain humidity in glass tanks.
UTH dont heat up the air and since pacmans dig in to escape heat they are unnatural. I imagine some UTH can burn a pacman to .
I keep my frogs with only overhead heat. UTH never worked out tho great for snakes.
A 50 watt bulb will heat up the air in your 10 gallon you might even need to use a temp control that reduces the electricity to lower the bulbs output.

Ok, well unfortunately I won't be able to take the UTH back since it's already stuck to the side of my tank so I'll guess I'll have to eat that money. My UV light has two 9 watt bulbs that put out 18 watts total (duh) and I guess that isn't enough. I have a regular screen top and the light fixture I have works out, but I guess I have heard that those night and day bulbs work best.

My question is how do I get a fixture for it that sits on top of the cage? I've seen the bulbs at all the pet stores around town, I just don't know what kind of fixture to get to put on a screen top. The light I have now is came in a really convenient housing that just sits on top of it. So now I have a few more questions.

1) Do I need to get a regular aquarium hood?
2) If so, are they able to hold two bulbs?
3) Do I need a 50 watt day bulb and a 50 watt night bulb too?
4) Which side of the tank should I put which bulb on or does it matter?
5) Is it possible you could post a link or something to a site that gives an example of these?

Sorry for all the questions, it's just that I lost a pacman a week or so ago and I can't figure out why, I'm taking all precautions that I can this time around, so thank you very much for the help.

You use a regular screen top and just lay a dome light ontop of it with the type of bulbs you need.
I will send you links to what I use as I dont know if forum rules allow links to products.