More secure hide

zak.payne

New Member
Messages
26
Location
Minnesota
I currently have a clear Tupperware bowl for a warm moist hide and a half log warm dry hide, would it be wise to perhaps get a different hide that is more secure? My little guy seems to be doing a lot of time inside his moist hide so I'm not really sure. Floor temps are about 90 and air temps throughout the whole tank are around 72. Maybe I just need to warm up one side more to get a more active gecko?
 

DrCarrotTail

Moderator
Messages
3,590
Location
Ridgewood, NJ
Geckos prefer small tight dark hiding spots. If they let light in and don't actually let him "hide" they aren't ideal. I'd try to find some that let him get into the dark or even make some yourself :)
 

laurahlove

New Member
Messages
410
Location
Florida
Moist hides aren't really supposed to be on the warm side, more of in the middle. You should have one warm hide, one cool hide, and one moist hide. :) but yes, I've found that my geckos don't like the log hides, they'll do anything not to be in them really. The ones at my work will even hide under the paper towel rather then the log! I would suggest making sure you have 3 separate hides, and that they are all very secure for him :)

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zak.payne

New Member
Messages
26
Location
Minnesota
Good to know about having it more towards the middle of the tank. Should I get a moonlight bulb then so that some heat will spread over and cover the moist hide so it says humid? Then place a hide right over the heat pad?
 

laurahlove

New Member
Messages
410
Location
Florida
Heat doesn't necessarily kept it humid; you have to mist it. What do you have in it? Paper towels? Moss? I would recommend moss, its the easiest to keep moist. The moonlight bulbs aren't necessary as long as your temps are steady and where you want them to be.

Yes, you want one right on the uth. That's how they digest their food properly is through belly heat :)

Just make sure you get a third one for the cool side for when they get too warm and want to cool off. The moist hides are generally more for helping with shedding. :)


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Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
I disagree that just misting will keep a moist hide humid. It all depends on where you live. For example, I live in New Mexico, really as dry as you can get in the US. If I had my moist hides away from my heat source, it would just be a hide with some wet substrate at the bottom, no moisture actually in the air. I've had shedding problems in the past when I didn't use any heat for the moist hide. For my more tropical species, I have to mist several times a day because the air inside will be dry within two hours. I see that Zak.payne lives in Minnesota, and I have no idea what the air conditions there are like, but it's something worth thinking about.

Since I use tubs, I only have two hides: moist and cool. When I used to house in tanks, I always had 3 and think it is a good idea if you have the space. I keep the floor of the moist hides at 90, and they seem to do well with it. No shedding problems, excellent eating habits. Now the only issue I have is what to do for layboxes during breeding season, but that's beside the point.

I guess my point is that you need to adjust your set up to fit where you live. Sometimes it changes things a little.
 

Ink'd Out Geckos

New Member
Messages
77
Location
Tamiment, PA
My geckos actually prefer to lick the water off their moist hide. Some of my bigger ones don't even have a water bowl just because they're sloppy and like to walk through the supplements right after they walk through the water bowl. So I did away with some of the water bowl and just spray down my moist hides every other day depending on how dry the paper towel inside gets. The water droplets that accumulate in the moist hide do the trick though. I use opaque ziplock containers with dark lids. Those are cheap and do the job even if it's not pretty to look at.
 

laurahlove

New Member
Messages
410
Location
Florida
I disagree that just misting will keep a moist hide humid. It all depends on where you live. For example, I live in New Mexico, really as dry as you can get in the US. If I had my moist hides away from my heat source, it would just be a hide with some wet substrate at the bottom, no moisture actually in the air. I've had shedding problems in the past when I didn't use any heat for the moist hide. For my more tropical species, I have to mist several times a day because the air inside will be dry within two hours. I see that Zak.payne lives in Minnesota, and I have no idea what the air conditions there are like, but it's something worth thinking about.

Since I use tubs, I only have two hides: moist and cool. When I used to house in tanks, I always had 3 and think it is a good idea if you have the space. I keep the floor of the moist hides at 90, and they seem to do well with it. No shedding problems, excellent eating habits. Now the only issue I have is what to do for layboxes during breeding season, but that's beside the point.

I guess my point is that you need to adjust your set up to fit where you live. Sometimes it changes things a little.

Right, but you do live in the driest part of the US. Depending on where Zak lives in Minnesota, it could be fairly humid where he lives already. I live in Florida, so no problem with humidity here.

So, its really about how humid it is already. I wouldn't recommend using a bulb, but that's just my opinion. As long as your temps are steady like I stated earlier, you should be fine with just misting it. :)

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Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
Yeah, I'm not sure how humid Minnesota is. I've never been there. It's just worth thinking about. I also don't recommend bulbs. When I housed in tanks, I used two UTHs; One under the warm hide at 90 degrees, and a smaller one under the humid hide to make it just warm enough for evaporation to occur. It doesn't take much when the heat comes from underneath instead of above. I'm not saying this is necessary, this is just what I had to do to keep my geckos healthy where I live. So if it does become a problem, it's an idea. =) Laurah is probably right, though, that in most places just misting will do the trick, although I imagine(don't really know) that the air is drier in the winter in northern places where it gets very cold.
 
Last edited:

laurahlove

New Member
Messages
410
Location
Florida
That's a good idea. Or just buy one of the longer, slimmer heat pads might work too. :)

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