Heating help please

[Geckoman120]

So my UTH gets way too hot and I said okay i won't use it then and got a heat lamp for my gecko. It's been two weeks since i did that and everything is fine. But a lot of people say that i need an UTH for "bellyheat". But my lamp works fine and I don't want to spend money on a thermostat or anything like that. So is there any way I could adjust the temp of my UTH without a electronical divice?

 

[MSMD]

You could try a rheostat rather than a thermostat. I believe you can find one cheaper than most thermostats. I don't know of any other way to control the temp otherwise.

Yes, belly heat is definitely ideal for leos.

 

[Crazygecko]

yeah belly heat is kind of needed for Leos since it helps them with the digestion of there food. Where over head heat doesnt help nearly as much.
Thermostats arent really to pricey if you look around. I believe zoo med has a really nice one that isnt to pricey and has a nice little heat probe.

 

[acpart]

The leos will get some belly heat from the heat projecting down on your substrate (depending on what your substrate is. I figure tile or rock might be best for this) but the problem is what happens at night when the light goes out.

Aliza

 

[hondawingsfly]

you can do it for $20, $10 for a lamp dimmer (rheostat) at home depot and $10 for a digital thermometer with a probe, then you can dim the power to the heating pad and get it right around 90 degrees...of course when you do this you will have to monitor it often because the temp will fluctuate with temperature changes in the house etc.

 

[Rejoice in the Lord]

I am using an a-life 1000 thermostat. It isn't terribly expensive, and it works really well!

If you don't want to invest in a thermostat, the lamp dimmer switch is the next best thing to try.

One last possibility would be to keep adding layers of substrate over the heat mat in your leo's tank until it reaches the right temperature.

It will be important to have a good thermometer to measure the substrate temp with any of these options. For these last two, you will need to be especially vigilant in and pay close attention on a daily basis to what the temps are. Any time the temp in your house changes, so will the temperature in the tank.

 

[Homerx]

Bell vs Back

I have heard this argument for years. I have never had a UTH and have never had an ill gecko. In the wild geckos get heat from rocks that have been heated FROM ABOVE (the big ball in the sky). What I do is place a rock under and red spotlight that is on a dimmer, it heats the rock the leo lays on the rock and gets both belly and back heat. This method also raises ambient air temperature which is good for those of us that have winter climates. UTH's do very little if anything to help ambient air temps. I have happy geckos from this method. Good luck.

 

[acpart]

I have heard this argument for years. I have never had a UTH and have never had an ill gecko. In the wild geckos get heat from rocks that have been heated FROM ABOVE (the big ball in the sky). What I do is place a rock under and red spotlight that is on a dimmer, it heats the rock the leo lays on the rock and gets both belly and back heat. This method also raises ambient air temperature which is good for those of us that have winter climates. UTH's do very little if anything to help ambient air temps. I have happy geckos from this method. Good luck.

That is a good point. I was wondering about that. If it works, go for it.

Aliza

 

[jblayza]

Try using a piece of ceramic tile on the same side as your lamp, and like homerx stated the heat from the lamp will heat the tile and provide both belly and back heat.

 

[blizzard]

my uths were getting warmer than i wanted i actually went to carpet and cut out where the uths are and put sand in the cut outs and dulled the heat all is good now.