Check-in: how am I doing?

[Leo]

It's been about a year and a half since I got him. Moist hide, water bowl, bathroom corner, calcium cap, warm side with under-heater, paper towels, risers on every corner of the tank. I taped the temp probe directly to the heat pad for a more accurate reading, as per your excellent suggestions. I've set the stat to 96 F which I know is high, but I reckon that some heat is lost through the glass and layer of paper towel. He eats semi-regularly, though less than I would like. Fat, healthy-looking tail. He is extremely picky about calcium or Repashy plus and definitely prefers naked Dubias (I try not to indulge him too often). The roaches I had shipped to me recently are enormous and most likely keep him full; in the future I'll probably buy smaller roaches that he can fit his mouth around a little better. So how does it look? I keep the heater on in my place around 68-70 F, but that's only in the colder months and only when I'm inside.

 

[indyana]

He looks pretty good from what I can see in the picture.

If you're looking to make a few improvements, you could get a temp gun to more accurately check the exact surface temperature and set your thermostat accordingly. Also, he might have fun with an additional hide or other furniture to climb around.

 

[Leo]

He looks pretty good from what I can see in the picture.

If you're looking to make a few improvements, you could get a temp gun to more accurately check the exact surface temperature and set your thermostat accordingly. Also, he might have fun with an additional hide or other furniture to climb around.

Thanks for the tips! He used to have a third tree hide, but I took it out when he used it to jump out of his tank when I wasn't home and I had to tear apart the whole house to find him! I could have just used the lid that came with the tank, but I also took out the hide because the 20 gallon is kind of small and if there's too much stuff the cockroach will be able to hide before he even has a chance to stalk. But I'll think about it if you think it's a good idea.

Temp gun's been on my list, do you recommend a particularly accurate one for a college student on a budget?

 

[indyana]

The Pro Exotics (PE) brand is considered very good, and you can get those for ~$30.
PE-2 Infrared Tempgun

Also check around online for sales. I know Amazon carries a lot.

Zoo Med also puts out one for around $20. If you look at non-reptile ones, you might be able to find something for a bit less, but I've never used any of those.

 

[JessJohnson87]

I found a temp gun thing at Harbor Freight for $20, it works great and is pretty accurate considering its a Harbor Freight one. You can always add some sort of wood in there and I agree about adding the other hide, I usually have to take some of mine out when I feed roaches to.