UTH too old??

[Kwaynebb]

I purchased two LGs Saturday and I am currently housing them in a 20g long aquarium with an UTH. It is a tank a friend gave me that he has had for about 5+ years. I should first say that I know I have already messed up and put in the calcium sand (I will be replacing with stone) which I think may be restricting heat from the UTH. I am just curious if these heaters can get old. This one does not seem to get very warm even without the sand in the aquarium. If y'all could help me out on that it would be great.

Also if anyone could point me to a credible source for LG husbandry that would be greatly appreciated. I am not much of a surfer on the web so if you could supply me with a link I would appreciate that greatly.

 

[abrahamavelar]

well first of all make sure u have the right size and it usually takes a bit to fully warm up

 

[Pinned27]

Yea make sure the UTH is suitable for the size tank you have. Im not familiar with sand since it harmful to the geckos but i would think if you have a good layer in there it take more to heat it up. Whats are your temps reading? You could also add a piece of aluminum foil over the UTH so its sealed against the glass (what i did) and it gets my temp up and then some.

 

[abrahamavelar]

+1 also if u r using sand how much sand u using

 

[Jayme]

As long as the UTH and its cord aren't damaged I don't see a problem with using it. Get a digital thermometer with a probe to measure the temps. If they're hotter than 95 degrees, you'll need either a lamp dimmer or thermostat to control the temperature, and if they're lower than 90 then perhaps it is too old to use after all.

Here is a good start in your information search, but reading this alone won't be enough. I've been intermittently obsessively reading about the care of geckos and anything possibly related to it for 3 years now, and I'm still learning new things all the time.

And it's fine you don't like surfing on the web much, that's no problem. This forum has tons of information in its threads to keep you occupied for a while. Just use the search function to look for specific keywords, or flip through the pages, you'll learn a lot. If you go really far back though, be wary of outdated information.

Also this thread on sterilization and disinfection is a good read and important stuff to know too.

 

[Kwaynebb]

Now that I have the some of the sand cleared out it is working better. I'm getting up to 93 on the floor during the day and 85 at night. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the room they are in and the 20 degree nights we have been having. It should be warming up soon around here so hopefully I can keep it in range.

My smaller female is eating like a champ and has been since I put her in but the larger of the two has not attempted anything. I separated the, and left the larger one in the original tank so that I would not add more stress to her but she still has not taken a bite. I have tried mealworms, crickets, and dubias. I have colonies of each so I have every size there is and she has not taken anything.

Granted it has only been 10 days since I got her, but I have never had a herp be so stubborn when it came to eating. This gecko thing is all new here she is active at various times day and night and has been seen on both hot and cold side. I have read all I can about geckos not eating and it seems as if I have everything working as it should. I am just assuming this stubbornness is due to the acclimation process but if y'all have any further advice please share.

Btw the sand is going away so please do not smite me