Temperature in hide.

Hey all,

Some great advice here, I done a little search to find the answer to my question but haven't really found much.

So I'm a first time owner and I've set my viv up reasonably successfully. When I bought my gecko I was told a "Cool hide" wasn't too important as they don't use them in the store I bought it from.

I've got a heat mat in my viv taking up a little under half of the viv and the thermostat reads 31c so actually runs between 29.9C and 32C. I've got a thermometer on that side directly on top of the substrate and that confirms the thermostat running about about those temperatures.

However, today when I was cleaning some faeces from in his hide I noticed that inside his hide seemed quite hot. I didn't wanna disturb him too much but was quickly able to use my digital thermometer and it read a staggering 39C.

No I imagine that is too hot right? I would guess the heat builds up in there and just can't escape. He spends all day in that hide though. So what should I do?

Should I reduce the temperature of that whole side to try and regulate the temperature inside the hide? Or,

Do I put in a cool hide just incase the warm side gets too warm and he's just sleeping there because he has no where else to hide during the day?

Or I guess my set up is suitable that I could put my hide mostly on the warm side but slightly on the cool side giving him the option to move around in there and find a cooler spot?

Any ideas/help you guys can throw on this one would be gratefully received from us both.

Welcome to GF. =)

Cool hides are important, and I would add one. Sometimes, a gecko's urge to hide can overcome its need to thermoregulate so it's important to provide places to hide so the gecko can regulate its body temperature.

Do you have a thermostat regulating the heat pad? The heat pad sounds pretty big and probably will run too hot without a thermostat. 39 C is definitely too hot.

When you say "substrate" does that imply some sort of loose material? Leopard geckos should not be kept on loose substrate due to risk of impaction.

Just some random questions to be sure everything is in order:
What types of supplements do you use to dust the feeders?
Do you have a humid hide?

Hey, thanks for the reply.

I do have a thermostat and since writing my original post I have moved it to be hidden under warm hide and that should hopefully drop the temperature in the hide.

I dust my crickets with Leopard Gecko supplements from Komodo, they came highly recommended I also have a small pot of Calcium Carbonate in the viv at all times.

I have a small area with some wet moss that makes a nice humid hide for the little fella.

Yeah, I use sand as a substrate, I know this is of much debate and I spent hours and hours looking into it. There are pro's and con's to it so what I ended up doing before setting up my viv was going to the place I was going to buy my Gecko in order to see what they used in their viv and they used sand so I ended up buying the same thing that they use. However, because some people write about the risks of using sand I have a "viv carpet" on stand by and should there be any signs of impaction the sand will be gone and the carpet in.

OK, I will invest in a cool hide as well, so thanks for that advice.

Moving the thermostat probe inside the hide should fix your problem. =) That's usually the best place for it anyways, since they spend most of their time hiding.

Hmm, I can't seem to find exactly what's in Komodo supplements. Is it calcium with or without D3? Does it contain any vitamins?

I would personally advise not using sand, especially if your gecko is young. Why take the risk?

I like to give people this link to demonstrate the risk taken by using sand. It doesn't always happen, but there is a risk. Don't scroll too far down if you are sensitive to graphic images.
http://geckoforums.net/f127-housing/103084.htm

Yeah, it has Calcium D3 and vitamins so he should certainly be getting all the nutrients that he needs.

I've moved the thermostat sensor and it has regulated the temperature a little better so thanks for that.

WOW! That's food for thought, I'll certainly think about how I go from here. So far he is eating well and pooing well so hopefully there is no impaction at the moment. Do you have a link or some info about what signs might show if impaction is happening?

Does it have vitamin A? Lack of vitamin A can lead to skin problems like really bad sheds and eyes problems.

The first signs of impaction are usually refusing to eat and not pooping, or only passing urates. In young geckos, you can sometimes see a black spot where everything is blocked up.

OK, thanks. I'll monitor him very closer and if there is even a sign that he's not doing right I will switch out the sand. I don't wanna do it right away as he's still really timid and I think removing him from his new home will stress him out a little too much.

The Komodo Leopard Gecko Booster, as previously mentioned comes highly recommend. It contains:

Vitamin A,
Vitamin D3,
Vitamin E,
Calcium,
Phosphorous,
Sodium,
Crude Protein,
Crude Ash (?),
Crude Fibre,
Oils & fats.

It's also Probiotic

So it's a pretty complete supplement.

That supplement looks good. =) Good luck and feel free to come back with more questions.