Uth below slate too hot?

[RedBeastMage]

I'm brand new to leopard geckos, and I've just gotten my first little girls. I had the tank set up a few days before I got them, and the temperatures seemed correct, 73-77 at the cool end, and 90-92 at the hot end (specifically in the hides). However, the day I got them (yesterday), the weather turned hotter and it've been getting close to 96-97 on the hot end of the tank (probe placed the floor of hot hide) with cool end near 80 (cool end echos my room temp usually). I use a 10-20g rated zoomed UTH under the far side of my 15gal, and the substrate is slate that has been fixed in place with a layer of foam insulation underneath it (1/4" layer). My concern is that the slate in the hot hide is dangerous to them with these temperatures. I tried buying a rheostat, but thats not helping much, as its been set to lowest for 6 hours now and the temp is only down by 4-5º (currently 92.2)

Aside from an expensive thermostat, what other options should I consider? I thought about adding a layer of shelf liner or reptile carpet to the slate on the hot end, to give some increased insulation.

Thanks for any input, I'm a nervous first owner and want to do whats best for these guys

 

[Olimpia]

Hmmm, a rheostat should have worked. I have a fairly "cheap" one and it still does the job. I think that if that's still not working another later between the slate and the heat pad should do the trick. Maybe a think layer of insulating foam would be the best option.

 

[rince]

Hi,
I still think that a thermostat is really the best way to go. A thermostat will allow you to keep temperatures steady and safe. A simple thermostat is around $80 and a proportional one is around $130. So its not like it would cost a fortune. You will have your thermostat for many,many years and I think a one time investment into stable environments should be worth it.
The next step below is a rheostat. A rheostat basically is a dimmer that you connect your UTH to. This will give you the ability to adjust the UTH's temperature.
A rheostat does not have a temperature probe and therefore has to be controlled quite frequently. Especially if environmental conditions change (room temperature gets lower in winter or something like that). A Rheostat can be purchased for around $30.
If you put isolation between your UTH and your geckos all you really do is waste energy ...

Kindest regards
Dennis

I'm brand new to leopard geckos, and I've just gotten my first little girls. I had the tank set up a few days before I got them, and the temperatures seemed correct, 73-77 at the cool end, and 90-92 at the hot end (specifically in the hides). However, the day I got them (yesterday), the weather turned hotter and it've been getting close to 96-97 on the hot end of the tank (probe placed the floor of hot hide) with cool end near 80 (cool end echos my room temp usually). I use a 10-20g rated zoomed UTH under the far side of my 15gal, and the substrate is slate that has been fixed in place with a layer of foam insulation underneath it (1/4" layer). My concern is that the slate in the hot hide is dangerous to them with these temperatures. I tried buying a rheostat, but thats not helping much, as its been set to lowest for 6 hours now and the temp is only down by 4-5º (currently 92.2)

Aside from an expensive thermostat, what other options should I consider? I thought about adding a layer of shelf liner or reptile carpet to the slate on the hot end, to give some increased insulation.

Thanks for any input, I'm a nervous first owner and want to do whats best for these guys

 

[RedBeastMage]

Hmmm, a rheostat should have worked. I have a fairly "cheap" one and it still does the job. I think that if that's still not working another later between the slate and the heat pad should do the trick. Maybe a think layer of insulating foam would be the best option.

The rheostat ended up working. I think it just took some time to let the heat that was built up dissipate before the rheostat controlling would do anything. I've had to ride the knob a bit since my room temperature went from 80 to 70 since monday.

A related temperature question, for my own paranoid worrying. The cool side of the tank is getting much cooler now, as low as 68-70 in the cool hide. If this is too cool, what can I do to remedy the problem, aside from changing my ambient room temperature, which I have no control over other then closing my window, which I did.

 

[puckett26]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Reptile-Thermos...0?hash=item518c33e1b6&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Go to that link. I bought that thermostat and after 24 hours it has lvled out and the temperature is only 1 degree off. Its only about $30 +shipping. It has a probe so its better than a rheostat and you can control 2 different things with it.

 

[RedBeastMage]

Wow, thats really nice puckett. I think i'll return my rheo for that. Very much appreciated!

 

[puckett26]

No problem, Im glad it helped! So many people helped me on this site it would be wrong of me not to try help others. I'm "PAYING IT FORWARD"