Gecko Hiding under water bowl for entire day. Help!

[David Akuna]

Hi there! Just joined the forum as I have recently adopted my first leopard gecko (and first reptile at that) and I have noticed that her water bowl is built to be a hide as well. She used to spend most of her time asleep in her warm hide, but lately she only hangs out in there, asleep most of the time. Heating was previously a concern, but I got a 100W heating bulb (ceramic) and that brought the ambient temp on the warm side to around 87F. I know that's a bit lower than ideal, but I live in CA and my house is not well insulated, and the house is around 70F during the day and 67F at night. Her water bowl is on the cool side. The substrate is some sort of organic coconut mix that I was gifted along with the terrarium.

Any idea why she could be spending so much time under there? I'm going to sift the substrate there to check to see if she is laying eggs (they would be duds), if that is even a possibility. She is relatively new but is very tame. Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[acpart]

Actually, 87 is a good temperature for the floor. It's a bit high for ambient temp (though since I live in New England and have no AC, ambient temp in summer is sometimes in the 90's but not all the time). I'm assume she's spending so much time in the hide under the water bowl because it may be a bit hot for her.

Aliza