Slate temperature?

[Moppel]

Hi there, I just asked about this in another thread, but I was worried it'd get buried there, so I thought about asking here too, since this seems to be the proper category for this.

Okay, we just switched to slate from regular carpet (people carpet), and from a dome heat lamp to an under tank heating pad. I have the pad under the tank on one side, then a thin layer of repti sand, and then everything covered with slate. I set it all up about 20 hours ago, and now the slate around the pad is nice and warm, but the other side is cold. Is that supposed to be like that? I have a 20 long tank, with a zoo med pad for 30-40 gallon tanks, since the smaller ones were way too small.

Apparently the temperature by the pad is 85 degrees, I don't know about the cold side.

Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks!

 

[OnlineGeckos]

The warm area on the slate surface should be 89-95 degrees. If it's only at 85, then it's too cold. You could give your UTH a bit more time to heat up, as it can take up to 2 days for the new UTH to fully heat up. But if you still can't get the temperature right, you may want to consider taking the sand out and see if the temperature gets better. The cold side of your tank should be cold, usually between low to high 70's is ideal (pretty much your room temperature). Your gecko will thermoregulate by itself, so they need that temperature gradient.

If you live somewhere that gets very cold, and you find your tank's temperature dropping below 70 on a consistent basis, or just need to warm up the warm side more to the ideal temperature, you could use a ceramic heat emitter. They'll emit heat without light, allowing you to use them during day & night.

 

[Moppel]

Awesome, thank you! I don't know how reliable the 85 degrees are, it was measured with a regular thermometer laying on the floor, but with the velcro side down. I had to order one of those laser thermometer thingies, and it will be here today. I can't wait. Then I'll know for sure.
Your explanation was extremely helpful, thank you!! We live in Colorado, quite high, and it can get quite cold here. We usually keep the room temp around 72 degrees as we like it rather cool.

 

[Moppel]

Okay, I just got the infrared thermometer in the mail, and I tested both tanks.

The cold side in both tanks is an average of 75 degrees.

The warm side in the male's tank is 110 at the hottest spot, which is right under and around the house.
The warm side in the female's tank is 104 degrees at the hottest spot, also right under and around the house.

Is that too hot? They both seem to enjoy it, even the male has been sleeping in his house a lot today, which he usually doesn't do. But I don't want them to hurt their feet.

I guess the cold side is pretty much perfect. And when I swiped the laser across the tank, there was a very nice gradient from cold to hot side.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Yup the cool side of the tank is fine, but the tile being 110 and 104 is definitely too hot. The best way to regulate the UTH temperature is by hooking it up to a thermostat. Something like a Hydrofarm thermostat will do just fine for you. This will allow you to set a high/low temperature so your UTH will always stay within 89-95 degrees, which is much more ideal for your leopard geckos. This hydrofarm thermostat works very well, has high ratings & reviews, and is about the only low cost thermostat that gives you digital readings. Pretty much it'll give you peace of mind knowing your UTH won't malfunction and gets even hotter than they are right now, causing burns to your geckos.

 

[Moppel]

Thank you again! Do you think they'll be okay until I get the thermostat? They won't lay on it if it's way too hot, will they? The really hot area is very small.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

They should be fine for now. If you need to reduce their belly heat right now, just take a couple sheets of paper towels, fold them a couple of times. Wet them a bit and lay them on the hot spot. Test temperature after, you should get a lower temperature.

 

[Chessie]

The thickness of the sand beneath the UTH also changes the amount of heat transferring to the slate. Your set up is almost identical to mine. I also have a substrate beneath my slate, but it is about 1/4 in or maybe slightly less than that. I just removed some because my heat was too low. Now it is perfect inside the warm hide. Try adding a little substrate if you need to cool it down until your thermostat arrives.