WTH heating issues

[Echo29]

So maybe I made a mistake and bought Exoterra heating pads? For giggles, I broke down and bought some digital thermostats today. I was surprised to find that the warm side of my tanks was above 100. My geckos seem just fine with that. What's odd is the cool side of my tanks is right where it should be, but yet my geckos spend all their time on the hot side. I always thought that my warm side wasn't warm enough and cool side was too cool. What should I do to fix this problem?

 

[Tony C]

You can get a thermostat or rheostat to control the temperatures, assuming your thermometer is accurate. 100+ seems pretty hot for an exo-terra, they seem to run a bit cool most of the time.

 

[Echo29]

I thought maybe the thermometer was bad, but I puchased two and both are reading the same in the tank. Your right I may have to buy a thermostat. I was wondering if thickinging the substrate would change the temp? For example, using reptile mat then placing slate tile on top. I still don't understand why they hang out on the warm side of the tank if it's that hot? I never see one of them in the cool hide.

To add to my confusion, I moved my main tank to the other side of the room to make room for the new tank. I placed the thermometers in each tank and plugged the heating pad on the new tank in and I left for for about 30 minutes to let the new tank come up to temp. I wanted to compair the temps before transferring one of geckos to the new tank. When I got back, my main tank was at 75 and the new tank was at 100. It took me about ten minutes to figure out that I had plugged each heater into two different wall sockets. One is controlled by the switch on the wall that was off. Did I mention how much I hate living in an apartment?

 

[jjasonn]

this happen to me too.. i bought a brandless heat mat 10w, when i place my thermometer on it.. it read at 100F.. I add some layer of cardboard on top of it.. so that the tank will be slightly cooler..

 

[sammer021486]

You have a couple of options. The first is to purchase a thermostat and the second is too add some layers to decrease the amount of heat getting through the substrate.

I run only exo-terra heat mats and as far as I know all of them are capable of putting out more then 100F.

I run 4"x5", 8"x8", 11"x17".

I know for a fact that my 4"x5", when unregulated hits 115F or higher. I have ran an 8"x8" unregulated and reached 115F too. Never ran one of my 11"x17" unregulated though.

 

[newfieb]

a cheap solution instead of a therostat is a lamp dimmer. you can buy them at wal-mart or home depot. they only cost about 10-12 dollars. Thats what i use. the only thing about them is you need to use a thermometer to watch the temp in the tank. You will need to manually adjust it when the outside temp changes. i have never had a problem with them.

 

[Tony C]

a cheap solution instead of a therostat is a lamp dimmer. you can buy them at wal-mart or home depot. they only cost about 10-12 dollars. Thats what i use. the only thing about them is you need to use a thermometer to watch the temp in the tank. You will need to manually adjust it when the outside temp changes. i have never had a problem with them.

That will work, a lamp dimmer and a rheostat are essentially the same thing.

 

[Echo29]

First off thanks for everyone's help. I never bothered to mention what I was doing. I have two juvies sharing the same tank. I figured it was about time to seperate them. One is growing faster than the other, the smaller one is getting less food, etc. I had an extra ten gallon from my days of breeding fish, so why not turn it into DIY project this weekend with my daughter. I got the idea from a post in here, sorry can't find it right now to give credit, to make a background and hides from pink insulation foam. We made a couple for fun. But I had a concern about it getting too hot. We went out and got couple of digital thermometers, and that's where everything went wrong. The hot side is way too hot. So what to do? I'm one of those ppl that needs to let my subconscious find the answer. So I woke up several times last night with different solutions. I figured it out after my first pot of coffee this morning. I had both tanks sitting on tables. Although each tank is supported by foot pegs, there may not be enough air flow. I have an extra tank stand in the basement. The wrought iron kind with the bottom open. Voila, Both tanks are now sitting with the heaters exposed to the open air and at 92 to 95 after several hours of monitoring. P.S. I will post pics of the DIY project, just as soon as I figure out how to charge my camera. My puppy found another cord to chew through. Any suggestions on how to fix that? LOL! Thanks again eeryone.

 

[Saphira]

I have the same problem with my uth's. I did buy a control.. it helps a little bit. I am still mightly confused most of the time however. The cool side of the tank stays about 70-75 and the warm side reads 98 or so... but the temps on the glass above the carpet still reads low 80s... I just guess that the temp is somewhere in between. Mine leo's like the hot side too...