Lower substrate heat?

Booba5185

New Member
Messages
13
Location
MO
Hey everyone,

I was wondering what options I have for heating the bottom of my tank. For now I have heat lamps, and Steve (the gecko) seems to be liking it.

I built fake rocks with foam\grout, and made a piece to cover the floor of the tank, as well. I do have some reptile carpet cut into sections on the floor, but I'm not sure what I could do for heat. I'm pretty sure that the foam would either melt or not transfer heat to the other side (it is originally insulation, after all).

Should I just stick with the lamps? I've check temperature and everything seems to be good, Hot hide is 87-90*F, cool hide is lower 80s during the day and mid 70s at the end of the night (There's a daytime light). Here's a pic of the setup, if it matters at all:
zX8laja.jpg
 

DaStos208

New Member
Messages
29
Location
US
I would get rid of the floor piece and replace it with reptile carpet, they come in lots of colors and im sure ull find one you like. If the caves/rocks are made out of insulation/foam as well, then I would get a smaller heat mat and put it in an area of the cage with no foam. BE SURE TO GET A THERMOSTAT, a heat mat without one might get too hot! They are pretty cheap on amazon. That way you can create a smaller "hot spot" that is slightly hotter than the rest of the hot side, so she can sit there to digest. But, to be honest, as long as she doesn't spend all her time in the hot side trying desperately to get belly heat after a meal, you don't need a UTH.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
If you're able to maintain decent floor temps for the day and a good portion of the night, then you may be fine. It never hurts to get a zoo-med heat cable and try it out to see how that affects the floor temp. If there is a problem, you could use heat cable along the back or side wall to add heat.

Aliza
 

Booba5185

New Member
Messages
13
Location
MO
So far, so good. Steve has been spending a lot of time in the hot hide, but he does roam around at night and spent today in the cold hide. I picked up an IR thermometer today and the "rocks" under the lights are over 100*F. The floor of the tank is 110+*F during the day, I'll check it tonight. Not sure I trust this thermometer, but if it's right, is that too hot for the floor?
 

skellie

New Member
Messages
17
Location
NC
No that isn't too hot. It might be unnecessarily hot but Steve will just move away from that spot if he starts to overheat. Just make sure that he has cooler areas to go, down to mid 70's. If you want to easily adjust the temperature with a lamp, you can get a fairly cheap and adjustable lamp stand and raise it a bit. Avoid the type that stick to the side of the enclosure, the kind with a base that slides underneath the enclosure work a lot better.
 

Booba5185

New Member
Messages
13
Location
MO
I have the 250w lamp on an old ceiling fan light dimmer (it's what I had, lol), so I can adjust the heat that way. After I posted, I turned it down a bit to where the 110*+ areas were down into the 90s. He seems to be coming out of his hides a bit more, and was laying down on some of the spots that were pretty hot before. I think I'll let him try this out a bit and see how he likes it. If he keeps laying in the hottest spots, I'll go ahead and turn up the heat a bit more.

Thanks for the replies!
 

Visit our friends

Top