air temp?

[cjam]

Ok so today I got a thermometer that sticks on the wall for my tank. I have had a digital probe on my hotspot but I didnt know what the air temp was. I have a heating pad on it but no light. The hot spot is 95 so thats good. But the air temp is at 70 degrees. Do I need to get a light for the tank or is that ok? thanks

 

[cjam]

bump

 

[Gregg M]

Cjam, I am so glad you brought this up... Your hot spot is perfect, however, your ambient air temps are low... This is just the type of thing that makes leos stop feeding... This is the exact reason why so many people have issues at this time of year...

You want your ambient air temps in the 80s... What you can do to bump your air temps is something as simple as using tinfoil to cover 1/4 to 1/3 of the screen cover... I would even cover the whole thing... This will bring you air temps up... You may not need a light...

I have been saying for years that ambient air temps are just as important a belly heat or basking temps... For some reason it does not seem to catch on in the leo community... Maybe because internet caresheets never touch on the importance...

 

[Haligren]

I'd DEFINATELY agree with Gregg. Tiamat seems much more active and has more of an appetite now that I've fixed her air temps. (They're usually in the eighties on the warm side, and high seventies on the cool.)

I live in a basement and it was difficult trying to get the temps right so I enveloped my tank in that tinfoil/bubble wrap stuff you can get at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Here's a pic;

Uh, the sides got cut off in the pic, but I have one layer of the stuff on either side of my tank, and another on the back. There are three layers of it underneath the tank - which keeps my UTH at a toasty 95 degrees. The top part has holes cut in for the moonglow lights and those are mostly what keeps my air temps stable. During the night however, I shut off the weaker of the two; the one on the left so that air temps will drop slightly.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[cjam]

awesome. thanks thatll help me out alot. ill try out the foil and if that doesnt work ill get a lamp. thanks again

 

[cjam]

ok well i covered about half the tank but the temp isnt going up. Im going to cover the rest of it and if that doesnt help ill just get a lamp. thanksa again