UTH & a red light???

[garygecko]

I installed a UTH for Gary (3-4 inch new leo) today and have a few questions. So far I think he likes it. At first he crawled up the inside edge of the hide, but later I found him with his head hanging out a hole asleep. Before the UTH with the light we never saw him at all when the light was on.

- Should the warm hide be on the UTH or next to it? I have it about 1/3 on it and he stayed in it during the day, but when the sun started coming into the room he moved to the cool hide. I wonder if it got too hot? I put a strip thermometer next to the hide on top of the UTH and it has read from 90-95 today.

- The air temp stays pretty low if I just run the UTH. I have a two light fixture that has a blue night bulb on the cool side and I replaced the day bulb with a red heat one (40W). I've been running the red one today and the temp on the wall on the hot side is about 83. I usually run just the blue one at night as even with it the temp gets down to 70. Should I use the red light during the day? I also have a dimmer so I can lower it if it is too much heat.

- The local store has never gotten the thermometer with a probe in stock so I am going to order online. Any suggestions on where to buy and/or brands? And do you recommend the kind with a shutoff or is that necessary? Gary is in a 20g long that is sitting on the little feet that came with the UTH and then on top of tiles I set on the furniture to protect it. I didn't want to do a stand as I wanted it high enough that curious little hands couldn't reach all the way into his home.

Gary is eating more and more. Last night he ate 9 little crickets! I'm hoping the higher temps with the UTH and removing the bright light will be healthier for him. The temps with the light were never above about 85.

Thanks for all your help!!!

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Until you have a probe thermometer, your measurement is ambient temp, not surface. It's probably warmer than you think. ZooMed makes a digital probe for under $10, available at any of the big chain pet stores. Gex don't care about air temps, its the surface temps that matter. They move to the cooler side when they're warm enough. Belly heat helps their digestion. That could be why Gary is eating more cuz it feels good If there could be little hands getting in the tank, get some metal clips to lock the top. Accidents happen and gex are injured or escape. Better to be safe than sorry

 

[garygecko]

Both the big box stores near us have been out of them for over a week and the little store doesn't carry them. I'm going to call around in the morning. I can go further on Saturday and get one quicker than mail order if I can find a store with one in stock. He has seemed a lot happier overall today. He spent most of the day in his warm hide with his head resting on one of the little holes in the wall. Then when the sun came in that side of the house he moved to the cold hide - his first time in that one. And he ate at least 10 crickets tonight. I'm going to switch to the blue light tonight and see how that goes. It doesn't give off much heat, just enough to keep the air temp in the low 70's. He likes to lay on top of the cold side hide near that light in the evening. I checked the inside of the warm side hide and it was just warm, so I don't think it is too hot with the light. Once I get the probe thermometer I can tweak it.

I'm lucky with my tank. It has clips that the kids can't open and a hot light on top that they know not to touch. The height of the tank is an added reassurance. Plus when we feed him they can stand on the stool and help shake the crickets in, pour water into the dishes and change out the moist box with some help and without being able to actually reach Gary. I over heard a discussion about getting a really small leash so they could walk him down the street..... We talked about the fact that they can't touch him yet and they seem to get it, but just in case they can't reach him anyway even with the step stool.