My Set-Ups, advice/criticism welcome!!

[Phoenix]

So here are some of my set ups, I'll tell you a bit about them, please tell me if you think I should change something, I am still learning!

So the first one, the smaller 20 gallon jungle looking one, is home to my older male. When I got him he was on calci-sand and I was told he has been on it for almost 8yrs of his life without a problem. As soon as I got him home with the set-up he lived in he started eating the calci-sand so I freaked and went and put tiles in that day, which he diddn't like too much but he's since gotten used to it. The hot side is on the left with his humid hide and I have the sand underneath to lower the heat a bit. He's really skittish and spends a lot of time hiding, and won't eat if im standing there watching, he was obsessed with his old humid hide that I bought for him so I took it out hoping it would make him more social.

The other one im still working on (30 gallon I think?), yes im changing the sand to tile the same color as the sand to keep with the beach theme. He came with his cage and the sand in it and I only got him a week ago, he is 2 1/2. It's the super fine sand so I can't see it hurting him until I go out and get tile. I put one tile in and a bunch of large pebbles in it to reduce the risk but I feed him crickets in a separate cage and his superworms on the tile so he dosen't get any sand in his mouth. The UTH is in the upper-right corner and is kind of small for the size of cage he's in, so I may put another one in? Would it ever be ok to put pebbles like that in a cage as permenant substrate? Other than that, does anyone have any ideas for a beach theme? Im going to try to make a fountain out of shells and river rocks to put in it.

My other tank is an oddlly shaped 3ft by 1ft tank and im thinking of putting a second level and making it hawaiian jungle themed

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

 

[thetrevsta]

warning you about the sand it may cause compaction

 

[Misstasha]

i know ppl that have had sand in their enclosure and haven't had any problems, but I know more ppl that have had sand in their enclosure and had MAJOR impaction problems... always better to be safe then sorry

 

[Phoenix]

I am going to put tile in his enclosure next week, should I put paper towel over top of the sand just to be safe? I have to keep the sand in there either way or it gets too hot, unless anyone has tried anything else to reduce the heat? Would love some other options. They only sell 2 kinds of uth in my area, rainforest ones which arent nearly hot enough, and desert ones which get waaayyyy too hot without some kind of barrier between them, I wish they had temperature controlled UTH

 

[LizMarie]

I am going to put tile in his enclosure next week, should I put paper towel over top of the sand just to be safe? I have to keep the sand in there either way or it gets too hot, unless anyone has tried anything else to reduce the heat? Would love some other options. They only sell 2 kinds of uth in my area, rainforest ones which arent nearly hot enough, and desert ones which get waaayyyy too hot without some kind of barrier between them, I wish they had temperature controlled UTH

Most people here control their heat.. with either a thermostat or rheostat/light dimmer. Thermostats are better because they are set to a specific temps and control themselves by turning on and off. Rheostat/Light Dimmers only control the power going through to the device and temps will change depending on on your ambient temperatures.

I don't know where you live but I find it a lot easier and cheaper to order online as opposed to trying to find the right equipment in a petshop that never seems to have exactly what you want.

Nice Set Up!

 

[Phoenix]

Sorry if this sounds really dumb, but how do you attach the thermostat? Do I use my UTH with it? I've never seen these in pet-stores before, well not the ones I've been to anyways. Geckos are the first non-mammal species i've ever kept so im still getting the whole temperature thing I've had cats, dogs, and horses my whole life, we put blankets on them when it gets cold LOL

 

[LizMarie]

Sorry if this sounds really dumb, but how do you attach the thermostat? Do I use my UTH with it? I've never seen these in pet-stores before, well not the ones I've been to anyways. Geckos are the first non-mammal species i've ever kept so im still getting the whole temperature thing I've had cats, dogs, and horses my whole life, we put blankets on them when it gets cold LOL

Don't worry you'll find almost everything you need to know on here. If you can't find it or your confused those that can will help that's why we're all here!

Well I have the BAH-1000 from BigAppleHerps. It's not the Holy Grail of Thermostats but it gets the job done, especially for me since I just have one leo. The one's that are the top notch ones are Helix, Ranco, etc. but those will run you about $100 a piece, they call these proportional thermostats which I'm really sure how to explain it but I don't think they turn on and off..

As you see there are 3 cords hanging off of it.

I plug my UTH into thermostat which has enough room for 3 Heat devices. In your case you can plug in both your UTH's but they should be the same make and model to both your leos get the appropriate temps. I then place the temp probe on top of my substrate (tile, paper towel, carpet, etc), plug the thermostat itself into the wall. Then i hook my thermostat to the side of the tank and turn the dial to the appropriate temp. It should be fine but you should always check your thermostat with a digital thermometer. Once your UTH reaches the set temp the thermostat will turn off and once it starts to drop it'll turn back on to maintain the temp.

 

[Phoenix]

Thank you so much! Im really going to look into that, problem is all my tanks are in different spots, maybe i'll just get it for the tank im having problems with for now until I get a proper shelf for them