Temperature and gecko preference

[Juno]

HI! New to the forum. Our family has had a juvenile gecko, named Juno (not sure how old) for about 4 months. All seems to be well. S/he (not sure of sex) eats well (about 10-12 small crickets daily), poops every 2-3 days, and is shedding every 3-4 weeks. Nice fat tail. As I'm sure most will agree, s/he is such a wonderful addition to the family! I can't get over how much everyone (except our dog) enjoys her as a pet!


We have a 10 gallon tank. 4 hides (1 moist hide on the cool side). UTH and light (alternating day and night lights) on the warm side of tank. We have a brown reptile carpet (no sand) as substrate.

here is my question (and perhaps it's no big deal): Juno, more often than not, sleeps on the cool side of the tank. The temp on that side runs between 75-80 degrees and there is no UTH on that side. The warm side of the tank runs about 88 degrees. I have worked on bringing the warm side temp up because I read that it should be more like 90+, but it seems that she doesn't prefer it to be warmer.

Should I be concerned? Is it okay for her to be sleeping on the cool side all the time? On occasion she sleeps in her moist hide, but she'll kick out the moss that I have in there (BTW: should we be using something else? I always remove it when she is eating so that she doesn't accidentally ingest the moss) Is there anything that I should be doing differently with the moist hide?

As I mentioned, she seems healthy so I guess that I don't have any real reason to be concerned. Just checking in to see if this is typical of geckos or if I should be figuring out ways to get her to sleep on the warm side too (for digestion).

Thanks!

 

[indyana]

How are you measuring the temperature? 90 F should be the floor surface temperature, best measured with a temperature gun or, in a pinch, a digital temperature monitor with a probe.

 

[Juno]

I have digital thermometers mounted to the wall on each side, but no probe. I have been reading other posts and realize that I should get one with a probe...or perhaps a thermometer gun. I haven't seen the gun before. is one better than the other?

What should be the temperature of the floor on the cool side, or does it matter?

 

[Neon Aurora]

Here is a link to a good temp gun. It's discounted because it is not commercially packaged, but is exactly the same as the commercially packaged ones.

PE-2 Infrared Tempgun

The temperatures on the cool side don't need to be anything too specific. 70-80 is fine, they just need to be able to regulate their body temperature. I try to avoid letting them get below 65. Sometimes that happens in the winter, so I use a space heater to keep my entire reptile room at a reasonable temperature, but that is only because my reptile room is cut off from the heating system of my house.

 

[Juno]

Thank you BOTH very much! I just got the temp gun and MY LORD, the surface on the "warm" side was hot! 95 degrees! I am so grateful for your suggestions because here I was trying to warm up the right side bc my other thermometer (on the wall) was registering 85 degrees and I thought it was too cool. And Juno has been lethargic the past few days, probably b/c of my tampering when I shouldn't have been.

The mat that I bought was for a 10 gallon tank. Do know how I can bring down the temp of the mat? I seem to recall someone (maybe on another site, don't remember) mentioning that they had a plug to moderate the temperature.

Also, we found a reptile vet in the area and we decided to take Juno in for a wellness visit and to find out the gender and age.

 

[indyana]

You need to regulate any heat source with a thermostat typically. The best thing to do is get a thermostat that has a temperature probe. You stick the probe on the warm side floor and then set the temp dial to the right temperature. A few decent but lower-cost brands that you can buy online are Hydrofarm and Big Apple Herp.
Amazon.com : Hydrofarm MTPRTC Digital Thermostat for Heat Mats : Plant Germination Heating Mats : Patio, Lawn & Garden
Amazon.com : NEW DIGITAL CHIP - BAH-1000DC Reptile Thermostat With DC Chip Technology : Pet Habitat Thermometers : Pet Supplies

After you'd have the thermostat regulating for a day, you may find you need to tweak the dial to get the exact right temperature on the floor (as checked with the temp gun), so you can adjust the dial as necessary to get it just right.

 

[indyana]

Also, 95 F isn't too bad. I usually aim for keeping the floor between 88 and 92 as the thermostat cycles the heat mat on and off. Be aware that you will see the temperature vary up and down a bit once you get it hooked up to a thermostat.