Could he have burned?

[t04jas]

Hi,

I'm kind of worried that my gecko may have been burned. He's on reptile carpet with 3-4 paper towels in under it and a zoo med UTH stuck to the bottom of the tank. I also have a rheostat (lamp dimmer from home depot) connected to the UTH. I took the hide out tonight while cleaning, and when I put it back in it must have been covering more of the area above the UTH than it was before. I went to wash my hands and when I came back the temperature in his hide was over 100 degrees (102-103, I can't remember exactly), could I have burned him? This is my first gecko and I'm really hoping he wasn't harmed by these temperatures. Will he act differently if he was harmed by the high temps?

 

[IonBaller07]

I dont think 102 is enough to burn them, I will admit it at one point I mistook which bulb was in which lamp and I ended up with a 100watt bulb over a UTH and the temp got to 117, I was almost crying because I thought I killed them, but they were actually still on the warms side of the tank still. Needless to say I turned off all the heat and pulled the only one I can catch out of the tank. Anyway there was no burns on them, externally at least. Lesson learned. :main_thumbsdown:

 

[t04jas]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I'm hoping he's okay. He ate a couple of mealworms this morning so at least he's still got his appetite.

 

[leonut]

He should be fine. It would take a lot more then a few minutes over a uth that's a little hotter than normal to burn a leo.

 

[t04jas]

Thanks, he seems fine now, although he did spend most of the night outside his hide (which up until now I have only seen him come out of to eat or visit his toilet corner). He's back in there now, hopefully he'll have something to eat when supper time comes.

 

[DLS Reptile]

Remember your body temp is 98.7. 102 deg is not enough burn them.

 

[daveim]

That happened to my leo when I was trying to find a bulb that would be hot enough. I came home with the temp at over 100 degrees. The only change in my leo's appearance or behavior was that he started coming out more often.