What's the highest temp that is safe for a gecko? I noticed the hide area that is covered by cork bark gets a few degrees higher. The cork is trapping heat in the ceramic tile substrate, especially near the contact points where the wood touches the tile. when the overall temp is around 92F, these spots gets to a whopping 96F, sometimes even 97F!! Should I be worried about this?
Maximum temps?
- Thread starter gothra
- Start date
Golden Gate Geckos
Mean Old Gecko Lady
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- SF Bay Area
Although I don't necessarily recommend it, I have had geckos up to 98 degrees with no problems.
dragonflyreptiles
Resident PITA
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- Winston Salem, NC
I keep mine at about 92 but I have no doubts that it is not 100% constanst since I don't check them all day long and night and I really doubt that they have a constant temp in the wild.
Since I newly switched to flexwatt, I'm practically checking the temps with a temp gun every couple hours or so; that included picking up their hides and stuff to check every inch of their tank....if the occasional 96F hot spot is ok for them, I can stop dismantling their tank (my geckos are going to be relieved when they hear this...
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AHHH!!!! I'm going to go insane very soon. I have absolutely no idea why my temps are jumping so much!! One moment every spot is 89-90F; 15 minutes later, I have spots that goes up to 98F, and that's at an the open space! The location of the hot spots aren't constant either!! The ceramic tile, being a thermal mass, is suppose to hold and release the heat absorbed very steadily, well, that's what I thought; but why am I getting spikes all the time??
I'm getting all sort of temps within the one tank, ranging from 89F to 98F (heated area only); although the gecko has lots of cooler space to escape to, but I wish they could be more even. That's the reason why I switched from separate heat mats to one strip of flexwatt in the first place...@%&^$
I'm using 11" flexwatt, any idea what will cause such uneven heat distribution? Even within one single panel? If I didn't crimp the wires properly, will this lead to such problems?? I thought if I didn't connect the wires properly, the whole thing just won't heat up, please help. :dead:
I'm getting all sort of temps within the one tank, ranging from 89F to 98F (heated area only); although the gecko has lots of cooler space to escape to, but I wish they could be more even. That's the reason why I switched from separate heat mats to one strip of flexwatt in the first place...@%&^$
I'm using 11" flexwatt, any idea what will cause such uneven heat distribution? Even within one single panel? If I didn't crimp the wires properly, will this lead to such problems?? I thought if I didn't connect the wires properly, the whole thing just won't heat up, please help. :dead:
S
sacredcreatures
Guest
Well first off are you using a temp gun to check the temp? If so that might be why the different temps. Believe it or not if you point it to the area just a bit differently it reads differently at least mine does. Now temp guns are very accurate and if used correctly the temp is right on. I am not really good with words when explaining this so maybe someone else will jump in here. Another thing I have heard is to use the 3 inch heat tape. Now I guess it would depend on the size of the enclosure too. But I only use the 3 inch in my sweather box rack and heat rope for the shoeboxes rack. This is just my oppinion on my personal experience but I too had the same kind of questions once about my beardies tanks. The top of the cage where their branch was, was between 90-125 a few times so you need to hit the right spot to get accurate readings. I do not even worry about the gecko racks anymore as long as I feel the heat in there I am OK because they seem to thrive in the temp itis in their rack. Some go in the hide some on top and others in the paper towel rolls so they all seem happy. Good luck and try not to worry. Deb
Ok, I think I have tackled the problem. I moved the probe to the second most hottest spot in the tank, with Helix set to 92F, so that NO AREA in the tank will be over 94F. But then the areas that used to be at the right temperature range dropped to around 86F. I corrected that by rearranging their cage furniture to put their hides and woods over these areas to trap the heat there, so the floor temps could go up to the low 90s.
I'm so relieved that it finally worked better, I feel so bad that my geckos had to live with horrible temps in the previous few days! :drunk:
I'm so relieved that it finally worked better, I feel so bad that my geckos had to live with horrible temps in the previous few days! :drunk:
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