Regulating heat....

[Gecko4me]

Okay I noticed the UTH in my baby gecko's aquarium wasn't getting warm enough for him, so I added an overhead light. Now its too warm, so I'm trying to decide, should I buy a smaller bulb and hope that one works better (its not overly too warm, but about 100, so I need it to be cooler, but got the 75 Watt because that is what I have in my bigger aquarium, so will get the 50) or should I just buy a regulator (can you use one w/ a light ??) and regulate it that way???

Jessie

ETA, if I do go w/ the regulator, do I still need a thermometer to make sure its working right?? Also does it matter which digital thermometer I get?? I see them starting at a little over $6 and going up from there, so wondered which to get?? (On reptilesupply.com our local petstore doesn't have a digital thermometer for reptile cages)

 

[Mel&Keith]

You definitely still want to have thermometers. Rheostats and thermostats can malfunction so having a probe thermometer is very important. We use these and these Zilla digital thermometers and they work fine.

As far as your regulator, I would have it control the under tank heater. You might not end up needing the light. If you get a rheostat you will have to adjust it yourself. It works like a dimmer switch for a light. Lamp dimmer switches from the hardware store will work or you can order a "reptile specific" one from reptilesupply. A thermostat, on the other hand, switches itself on and off at a set temperature. Maybe someone who has used one of these controllers from reptilesupply.com can help you choose one. We use these Johnson thermostats. At $80 they're economical and work really well.

 

[pkrtech]

^ Do that, remove the lamp.