my house is pretty cold. temps around 67 in my house and all i have is a uth in each of the tanks right under the humid hide. sometimes i touch the paper towel in the humid hide and their wet and pretty cool not warm. also, my 2 adult geckos really don't leave the humid hide and dont each much anymore. could this be because of the temps in the tank? i think it is. just want some feedback and any alternatives for heating the tanks. thank you
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0.1 High Yellow
0.1 Tremper Albino
1.1 Jungle Giant Tangerine Albino
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heating question, please answer
reptikh24
Jan 03, 2006 12:47 PM
Replies (2)
shawn20
Jan 03, 2006 01:01 PM
yea i had the same problem. what i did was bought a basking light, i leave that on all the time, it serves at a heat lamp at night, its red so it doesn't effect them because of being nocturnal. so i have my uth light on during the day set by a timer, and my baskking light is on all the time. also i have a under tank heater on the cooler side
my temps during the day are around 92 and at night are 76-80
Shawn
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0.1 Female Patternless Albino Leopard Gecko
1.0 Male Hi Tangerine Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko
Shelley1063
Jan 03, 2006 03:52 PM
First of all, how big are the tanks and what size UTH's are you using? The UTH needs to cover at least 1/3 of the bottom of the tank, but not more than 1/2. What are the temps on the top of the substrate on the warm side (not the air temp)? The temps on the warm side need to be between 88-93 degrees, and best kept near those temps 24/7. And yes, if the temps are too low your leos can stop eating. They need belly heat in order to properly digest their food. If they can't get sufficient heat they often times will stop eating.
If you are not measuring your warm side temps, you need to get a digital thermometer with a probe to do so. You can find these pretty cheap at Walmart, or check with your pet store. If your UTH's will not achieve the proper temps you can add overhead lighting for additional heating. The infrared (red) bulbs are the best for this purpose as they can be left on 24/7. Infrared bulbs have very little visiable light and will not interfere with a leos day/night cycle.
Generally you don't have to worry that much about the temps on the cool side of the tank. As long as your warm side is where it needs to be it seems the cool side falls within the 75-80 range which is recommended. It may be cooler at night, that is fine.
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