Is This Normal?

[clemsonguy1125]

Hey,
My gecko comes Tuesday and ive been rushing to make sure the temperature is good. My substrate is paper towels. I started out taping the probe to the paper towels but realized that the paper towels were not touching the heater/glass. So i started putting a slight weight on the probe and now the temperatures are higher. I turned it down but now its about four degrees hotter in the warm hide than on the heater outside the warm hide. Is this normal?
Thanks

 

[ggg111]

Remember the geckos are going to be on top of the paper towel, which is on top of the glass, which is on top of the heater. So, you want your probe to be on top of the paper towel, where the gecko will be laying. So, underneath the tank the heat might be 100' but by the time it goes through the glass and paper towel the gecko might only be feeling 85', so always just measure on top of the paper towel. Its hard to get it exact... maybe use a longer piece of tape to hold it down? I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as its warm when you put your hand down. Inside the hides someitmes it warms up more because they are covered and the heat stays trapped which is fine. You can experiment around if you want but it sounds like you are doing everything just fine! Remember to share your pictures of the little guy! Have fun

 

[clemsonguy1125]

I will i was measuring on top of the glass and paper towel, outside the hide its 95 inside its 98 and on the cool side its 75. At night the temp drops to about 85 to 89 so i think it goo.

 

[tlbowling]

Your question was answered exactly in the last post, about trapped heat in the hide vs. outside the hide, so yes it's normal to have the temps vary like that. I know a lot of people use paper towels, but I dont like using them, the feeder bugs or worms get underneath, and I was always afraid my gecko would crawl underneath and be resting right on the hot glass...so I really like using tan shelf liner, or tile. It's so easy to spot clean, and looks SO much better, paper towels are OK in breeding racks, but for a display tank those 2 other options are much better. And I keep unscented, hypoallergenic baby wipes right next to the cage for easy spot cleaning

 

[clemsonguy1125]

Thanks I will change to tiles when the gecko gets a bit older. Shes only 3 months now. Ok thanks, I was just a bit worried about 99 degree heat in the hide