Is 102 degree surface temp too hot?

[OneFishTwoFish]

Here's the situation. I have a young gecko. He is in a 10 gallon tank with the following setup:

- Repti-Therm UTH rated for 10-20 gallon tanks is stuck on the bottom of the glass on the right-hand side of the tank.
- Ceramic tiles laying directly against the bottom glass
- Warm-side and cool-side hides
- Round metal thermometer mounted on the back wall on the warm side approx. 1 inch above bottom of tank.
- Glass cylindrical (fish tank type) thermometer which I can move around and lay directly on the tile to measure temps.
- Metal dual-light hood on the top of the tank with a 75-watt black light on the left-hand side and a 60-watt white light on the right hand side (black light is on all the time and white light is only on if needed for viewing).

Now for the situation: The surface temperature of the tile on the left hand side of the tank is around 80 degrees with the black light on and only around 72 degrees with it off. The surface temp on the right hand side (the side with the UTH) is 102 degrees directly in the middle of the heated area and in the high 90s as you move out a few inches. The round metal thermometer mounted an inch or so above the warm-side tile reads around 89 degrees.

What are your thoughts about this situation? Is 102 degrees on the surface of the warm-side tile too hot? Is 72 degrees (if black light is off) too cool for the cool side? Is the 80 cool-side/102 warm-side surface temps just right?

Thanks for your help.

-Mike

 

[Jeremy Letkey]

The warm temperature is too hot. You need to get a rheostat or a thermostat to control the uth. I would also recommend that you turn off the lights. Then recheck your temps and adjust as needed. You want a hot spot of about 90 degrees and a lower temperature gradient from there. The cool side should be around 75 degrees.

 

[Mel&Keith]

Like Jeremy already said, turn the lights off first. You don't need them and without them on it may be enough to get your warm side down closer to where it should be. Definitely get a thermostat for the UTH!

 

[OneFishTwoFish]

Thanks very much. You pretty much confirmed what I already figured but as a noob I was starting to doubt my instincts. I came home for lunch today and noticed that Louie is spending all of his time on the cool side of the tank (still around 80). I will stop by the hardware store tonight and pick up a rheostat so I can install it when I get home from work. For now I think he's OK because he's smart enough to stay on the cool side. I figure in the desert where they come from there are probably times where the surface temp will hit 102 so even though it's not desirable I don't think it's fatal, right? I'm sure I'll have the warm side down to 90 by later tonight.

-Mike

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Keeping the warm side that hot can result on thermal burns, especially on the tail. I agree that you should see what your hottest temps are without any additional overhead heat/light.

 

[GroovyGeckos.com]

What kind of tile are you using? Sounds a bit hot w/ a tile, I know the uth heaters can get a little too hot, but usually it evens out w/ enough "substrate" above. Try to ad another layer of tile, or ad some type of insulator (clean dish rag, sand, gravel) underneath the tile you are using, in the meantime. If the temps are still too hot w/ the lights off, of course. I do not like the uth they sell, they are too hot, and often they do not sell adequate heating controlers in "normal" petsores, which can be a problem.:main_huh:

You want a temp of at least 90 dg., some people keep them at higher temps also, but not above 95 dg.

 

[acpart]

It's also good to check temperature inside the warm hide, especially if it's directly on top of the UTH. Heat can get trapped inside. I had a gecko who spent all her time in the hide, and while the rest of the warm side was in the 90's, under the hide it was 106 and she ended up with thermal burns.

Aliza

 

[OneFishTwoFish]

Thank you all for you help. I stopped at the store today and picked up a rheostat. I hooked it up when I got home from work and set it at around 60%. The warm side surface temp dropped down to around 76% after an hour or so. I'm slowly working it up now. Right now it's around 80.

BTW, the light is off.

-Mike

 

[david13]

sounds good

 

[david13]

just keep working it up til you get 90-92