Is 30 Gallons Too Big Of A Tank To Heat Regulate? Help A Newbie :)

Jaune

New Member
Messages
5
Location
Connecticut
I am brand new to the lizard world and I'm trying to do as much reading as I can on the Care Sheets provided, but I still have a question.

I'm getting my 6 year old son an adult female Leopard Gecko for Christmas.

For a tank - I see that a long, low tank is best. I found one that is 36 x 18 x 12 for a reasonable price (as least I think so, $70).

My concern is - can I easily get the heat regulated correctly in that large of a tank? If I've got the heat pad on one side of the tank will that be enough for that large of a space? Do I need to get 2 heat pads?

Then do I use the 2 heat pads on one side of the tank so that that is my warm side and then nothing on the other side in order to have a cool side? Will 2 heat pads be too much?



I am well aware that it's going to be me doing the majority of the care for the animal. I have no plans to breed.
 

Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
You didn't say what size your heat pad is. The general rule is that the heat pad should cover 1/3 of the tank, although I don't think it's a huge deal if its a bit smaller. What you have is probably fine. I personally wouldn't use two.

The warm side should have the heat pad and the heat pad should be regulated by a thermostat or lamp dimmer. The floor temperature should be measured either with a digital thermometer with a probe or a infrared temperature gun and should be 90 F.

The cool side doesn't need anything unless the room gets below 65, in which you might use a low wattage ceramic heat emitter to raise the temps just a bit.
 

Jaune

New Member
Messages
5
Location
Connecticut
I don't have a heat pad yet. I wanted a bit more information prior to making a purchase.

So for the 1/3 idea the best would be for me to measure about that on the tank and then look for a heat pad which is close to the size I need vs what I was thinking that they are all one size.

I should have spent a bit more time looking at them when I was in the pet store!

I'm trying to get everything in place and set up prior to bringing the lizard home but haven't purchased anything yet because I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff that I don't need.
 

Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
You can measure if you want, but be careful. Bigger heat pads tend to be really powerful, so you will need a reliable way of controlling it or it could be dangerous. The other option would be to buy a heat pad labeled for your size tank (so it would say on it that it is meant for 30 gal). You'll still need a good way to control it but it would be a little less dangerous. The big ones can get really, really hot.

Kudos to you for being conscientious, getting everything together before getting the gecko, and asking questions!
 

Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
Unfortunately, that link is not working.

I have never seen a UTH with a thermostat built in. There is really no need. Buy whatever UTH you want and then buy something separate to regulate it. This is usually an on-off thermostat (they run around $30) or you could even use a lamp dimmer (around $7). If you choose a lamp dimmer, you will need to check the temperatures pretty frequently to make sure they are in the proper range. You may need to tweak it as temperatures change day by day and with seasons. I have 3 different things I use. For my leopard gecko breeding rack, I use a proportional thermostat (expensive), for my leopard geckos I keep in a tank I use an on-off thermostat, and for one of my snakes I use a lamp dimmer. They all work fine. The proportional thermostat is definitely most convenient, but is much too expensive for one gecko. I do have to tweak the lamp dimmer occasionally, but it isn't really that often. The on-off thermostat gets the job done, although it isn't always 100% accurate (which doesn't matter too much).
 

Jaune

New Member
Messages
5
Location
Connecticut
I guess where I'm getting confused is - say I get an lamp dimmer. How does that correlate to the temp in the tank? Since the light dimmer won't turn the pad up or down, just on or off, does that mean I should check the temp in the tank frequently at first so that I get a feel for regulate temps throughout the day and then set the dimmer to try to mimic that?

Same thing for a separate thermostat that I plug the pad into. How would it know to turn the pad on or off based on the temp inside the tank?

Sorry, this is probably glaringly obvious to those of you who know what you are doing, but I'm not understanding!
 

toothlessxo

New Member
Messages
5
Location
Wales
I'm not sure about dimmers but if they are anything like a thermostat then you will set the temperature you want it to be and a probe taped to the floor of the hot side will read the temperature and will turn the heat pad off if it exceeds that temperature and will turn it on if it should go below that temperature, therefore keeping it at the temperature you need it to be. I would recommend getting a temperature gun to go alongside it as it gives a more accurate reading and often it may be hotter than the thermostat says so you can adjust it accordingly. I'm probably a bit late as I see you are getting the leo as a christmas present but I hope this helps if you didn't already find your answer :)
 

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