Back Heat = Bad Heat? [Big Pics]

[eyelids]

For about a year and a half I kept my non breeding leos in a 3 shelf 6 bin (15qt) rack with back heat... This was solely done because I could only afford an "economy" rack... I knew back heat was not sufficient to heat a 15 qt bin, but read a couple testimonies by people who have always used it and that was enough to ease my conscience... Now I put a question mark in the topic because any geckos in the rack that were raised on belly heat did fine... One gecko was raised from a baby in it and he never got over 44 grams... I figured he was just a long slender gecko...

So a few months ago I decided to cut way back and was able to move everybody that was left into one 7 shelf AP rack with belly heat...

Here is Tiger on 1/25/2008 @ 44 grams and just over a year old...

Tiger today after 4 months on belly heat...

He is on the same diet of mealworms and weekly crickets that he's always been on... Tiger has always been my favorite and it makes me so happy to see him being everything he can be!

 

[Paco]

Very interesting. I would like to see more input from others on this.

 

[goReptiles]

Wow what a difference.

He's a cutie.

 

[eyelids]

Thanks Whitney!

Very interesting. I would like to see more input from others on this.

Me too... :main_yes:

 

[fallen_angel]

So you're saying that the back heat stunted their growth? Was the problem that it wasn't sufficiently heated or that not enough heat escaped? I am using back heat, and one side is at 90 degrees, but the unheated side tends to only get to 82, and up to 85 at times. I was worried this wasn't enough of a temp. gradient.. ?

 

[Baker14]

Its that geckos need the belly heat that aid in digestion. Im not sure why it stunted his growth, but it seems to have affected him greatly. Like Michael showed, I would switch to belly heat if possible, since he has given results for why it is beneficial. Since ive never used back heat, I wouldnt have any personal knowledge of it.

 

[Mel&Keith]

We have to use back heat here because it's too hot for belly heat in the summer with smaller sized tubs and we've never had any problems. I'm sure it's just not enough heat since it tends to stay a little colder in Wisconsin than is does down here in Houston! Your ambient room temperature is (lucky for you) much cooler. Our A/C ran all day to keep the house at 79 degrees. Heat index was 100F outside.

 

[yellermelon]

Ive always used belly heat, to avoid this problem. I havent got anything against back heat really, heck Ive never tried it on my adult racks. I do use back heat with my hatchlings. But they are in such small confined quarters, belly heat is too much for there set ups...But for my 12 qt racks I use solley belly heat.

 

[eyelids]

And I thought it was hot here today... LOL...

Thanks for the input Mel and Chris!

 

[Ccrashca069]

Its seems it just depends on where you live. Thats a big difference Mike. I am glad they are finally growing how they should. I have only been using belly heat. I did think about those racks a few months ago but decided not to buy one. Its gets really hot here and really cold here so using belly heat controlled with a Herpstat has been a no-brainer investment and piece of mind for me. Well you also saw how well my hatchlings are doing with it as well

 

[eyelids]

Thanks for that John! Your babies are definitely doing well!

 

[paulnj]

looking good!

 

[eyelids]

Thanks Paul!

Btw, he's a Tang Bell x SHTCT het Bell cross...

 

[Ccrashca069]

He is awesome Mike. I am looking forward to some seroius Gecko shopping in September

 

[shadowx362]

No wonder.... Well before I even went in to geckos I had snakes so I bought a Boaphile rack(no Belly heat) Thats what I use for the adults, the babies get belly heated rack. My geckos on the boaphil eat great but never get huge like most of peoples and 3 adults are on belly heat and they seem to be getting bigger faster then the rest so your theory might be right

 

[KelliH]

Nah, I've used back heat on both my sweater box racks and my shoebox racks for years and years and never had any problems raising them up quickly to big boys and girls.

 

[fallen_angel]

We have to use back heat here because it's too hot for belly heat in the summer with smaller sized tubs and we've never had any problems. I'm sure it's just not enough heat since it tends to stay a little colder in Wisconsin than is does down here in Houston! Your ambient room temperature is (lucky for you) much cooler. Our A/C ran all day to keep the house at 79 degrees. Heat index was 100F outside.

We have smaller sized tubs as well, and it is also gets very warm here (Phoenix, city of the sun!), up to 115 degrees in August :main_thumbsdown:

We use overhead heating for our adult cages, but it also doesn't take much to get it to 90 degrees at the belly level. Our male who is 116.7 grams was only 30 grams when we got him.



I am very glad that your gecko is doing much better with belly heat, though!!

 

[Franks_Geckos]

I have noticed that some babies that are raised in my hatchling belly heat racks do not eat as much when they are put into the juvenile rack with back heat. I have also noticed that my adults eat better with belly heat than back heat. This could just be that the belly heat is distributed better on my particular racks relative to the size of the tubs. That is not to say that I haven't grown large geckos in the back heat racks, it's just that some adjust to it better than others, and I prefer the bottom heat (no matter whether it's heat tape or cable) given the results I have seen. I would not buy another back heat rack for Leopard Geckos again given the choice, although I think the back heat is ideal for Crested Geckos. I think it largely depends on your room temperature and the amount of space the gecko has to thermoregulate.

 

[DLS Reptile]

All I use is heat running down the back of my rack systems. My geckos thrive with this kind of heat. Most are 90 plus grams big and healthy. I think it depends on a lot of things. I use insulation to project the heat forward on my racks and it works great. My hatchlings also grow very fast under these conditions..

 

[PacHerp]

Michael, I LOVE that male, his color with those spots is really neat!

As for heat... I'm in super hot San Jose, California... so all my geckos are on back heat, and they do just fine. I have reptile basics racks, and they keep the heat contained very well. The back is about 94 degrees, and there is belly heat around 90-92 in the back of the 12.2 qt tubs.... no one has any kind of 'stunted' growth... but I guess it really does depend on where you live, and the temps...

again, that is one ROCKIN' gecko!