depends on your UTH. As I said, you really need to get a digital thermometer and test it out. The UTH's I have in my gecko tanks are not that powerful, but the one in my uro tank does the job nicely. Again, you really need to get the digital thermometer so that you know what kind of temps you are dealing with, and if you need to boost them up.
Right...cool Thanks for the info guys. Will get digital thermometer sorted asap and work it out from there...you been very useful. 8) :lol:
excellent! Like I said, this site is a great place to gather information. I learned just about everything I know for each of my reptiles form the experienced people here! It is my favourite place to ask questions.
Ok..I got the digital thermometer...its one with a probe so i can place it anywhere.. It appears the UTH is working fairly well at night...although i may need something more controllable Temperatures during 'day' were: Basking = 120F Cold end = 84 - 92F Inside Hide (located in middle of tank) = 101F Temperatures at night: Inside Hide Min = 72F (temps outside the cage were 63F Min) I have an Aegyptus (sp?) Uro. Are these temperatures ok? Im guessing the most dubious one would be a Hide temp of 101F - Is this too warm? Could this explain why is happy to stay in the hide for the majority of an evening (4 hours before lights out) rather than wander about/bask? If this temp is too hot should i: 1) Place the hide in a cooler spot (although this means moving further from the UTH so may make it cooler at night) 2) Put the UTH on a ON/OFF Stat so its colder during the day 3) Put the UTH on a dimming Stat so its colder during the day 4) Put the UTH and Light the same dimming stat. 5) Ditch the UTH, buy a Night Heat Bulb OrCeramic heater, and place it on the same dimming Stat as the main Day bulb (with the day bulb on a timer). Im guessing number (5) is the ideal tank setup..but I dont want to spend money I dont have to though..although it would get rid of all doubt about temperatures...and the UTH Thanks Steve
OK...Ive been thinking about this all day... How about this for a setup Always on 100W basking bulb.. (or should i have a seperate dimmer Stat for this?) Hide hole at the cold end of the tank Ceramic heat lamp connected to a Day/Night Pulse Stat... so it can supplement day heat, and provide night heat. Set the ceramic heat lamps Stat to 70 night, 85 day at the cold end of the tank. Remove the UTH. This will ensure that on nights where my flats heating forgets to work...the tank should remain at a steady 70F at the cold end...where he will be sleeping. The only concern then is the main basking bulb.. should that be thermo controlled too?
Starts making ya crazy doesn't it? lol. You're not alone. I don't think you need a dimmer for the 100W basking bulb. As long as the temps in the basking don't get above 135 or so and he can get away from the high heat, you'll be fine. I'm not sure from the post, but he should really be provided 2 hides - one in the warm area and one in the cool. This gives him the option to thermoregulate, while still feeling safe. They sell thermostats for the UTHs so if you're still using that and think it may be getting toasty in his warm hide at night, you can just lower the thermostat and then turn it up during the day. If it makes ya feel any better, I found the heating issue the hardest thing to get right with my little guy.
Thanks mate.. Think the heat mat just isnt well suited to the tank/lizard. I think this is why he spends most of his time hiding in his hide...if its a nice toasty 100F he has no need to come out and play. I could get a simple stat for the heat mat...but while im going to that expense i may as well spend more and do it properly with a heat lamp. He seems fairly relaxed and calm, and so shouldnt need a high temperature hide..would have thought he would only need to hide when he wants to cool down and chill...?
yea, I dont have a hot hide either. Moe is really friendly and spends about an hour running around every night outside of the cage. He likes to spread out ..I mean really just flake out ...on his rock and bask so I really do not want to crowd up his tank with a warm hide. He has one hide over the UTH and another just on the tile, so I figure this is enough. I guess it depends on the uro though. He is in the reptile room also, which is restricted from all other animals, so it is a really quiet and secure room anyways.
Cool There's just so many different combinations of things i could do, that it starts to get confusing. I could just move the heatmat to the cold end, and put it on a stat, so that it only fires up at night..but im not convinced thats such a good plan. So it can have a cold end hide, ceramic heater on a day/night stat at the hot end, next to the basking bulb. if he starts hiding for too long at the cold end..i'll get him a second hide. Im just guessing he spends ages hiding as its at a nice 100F ambient temp which is so high he neednt bask.
lol, yeah, too many options! I adopted moe a a rescue. Before him, I was a gecko girl, and I had finally learned enough about them to consider myself capable of caring for them and to set their tanks up correctly. Now I am starting all over again! I personally love the UTH under one his cool hides, b/c this allows him to be warm at night if he so chooses. However, my UTh doesn't get any warmer than about 89 or 90, and he cannot directly touch it. If I were in your situation, I would personally save the money and just sandwich the UTH btw two tiles, and attach a 10 dollar dimmer from a hardware store to it. The night temps at 63 are a little chilly, mine fall to about 73, but I am not sure if 63 is too low...keeping in mind that spring is coming and they will warm up, and that the UTH provides him with a warm spot to get toasty...hmm, what does everybody else think, is 63 too cold for ambient night temps?
NIght temps were about 70 in his Hide... It was my actual room that was 63.. was showing that the UTH must be working to be getting those temps Im tempted to leave the tank as-is then. Do people think that a daytime hide temperature of 100F is ok.. as long as there is a cold end to the tank that is about 86 during the day? Today is the first time i have been home during the day, and he is sat basking close to the hot end with his eyes shut. I tried to feed him by hand and he didnt run away. But he wouldnt eat either. His basking temp is 119F at the moment so things sound fine. Think i will leave the thermometer probe in his hide to monitor how it goes.
I think that steve meant that it was 63 degrees outside of the tank in his apt but it was 72 degrees inside. If I read that wrong, then yeah 63 degrees would be too cold for the Uro. I think it's recommended not to go below 70. I have a hide that stays around 95 and a hide that is around 82 (daytime). I notice that he goes in between the two throughout the day and in between baskings. The warmer hide is the one that has the UTH on a thermostat. At night I turn off the lights and turn the UTH down. I think jay has a good idea with the tiles but if you don't want to use a UTH and have the cash, then the ceramic heat emitter is a perfectly good option. Told ya it got confusing. lol
lol Guess we were posting at the same time. It sounds to me like you're fine. I would just keep checking the temps for the time-being to make sure you have a good average. I think as long as he can get to an area where he can cool down, 100 degrees is fine.
The ceramic heaters i have seen are like circles of something with a lightbulb connection. Is that correct? Should i place it at the hot end of the tank..and if so will it warm the cold end enought at night (i.e. do they spread heat through the tank ok?) Sorry for the 100000's of questions..but u guys are saviours 8)
Yeah, that's a ceramic heat emitter. I've never used the ceramic heat emitter but I was under the impression it worked the way a bulb would. I place all my heating stuff at one end of the tank and that does the trick for me. However, I have a separate bedroom for all of my reptiles where it's probably normally 75 degrees. 63 degrees? That's pretty chilly lol. The only time I even need to use the UTH is in the winter when it can get drafty in the house. No problem at all on the questions. I asked just as many. I thought it would be smooth sailing bringing in a new lizard. I have other reptiles and have been through it all before a million times but with these guys...yeesh. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I would read a new care sheet or a new thread, and all my hopes would be smashed lol.
lol, yeah, reptiles is right, I was in the exact same boat when i took Moe on, I thought, hey just another reptile, but these guys are a lot of work (but worth it all of course). thanks for clearing up the temp misunderstanding (duhhh, maybe I will learn to read someday, lol). ceramic heat emitters are just like light bulbs, but they only give off heat, not light. They can give off a lot of heat though, so a dimmer or thermostat is often required. If you were to use one, then I would put it on the hot side, as they kick out quite a bit of heat - enough to bring the ambient temps up and still allow him to thermoregulate. However, it looks like the temps are pretty good as they are, so as I said before, for now, I would personally save the money. I would still do the tile thing though, just to keep him from burning himself by coming into direct contact with the UTH, but sounds like you are working everything out. The digital thermometer was the best move you could have made! Now you can become temp obsessed, a term recently introduced to me by reptiles4me, but a condition I fear that I have been suffering from for quite some time. I think there is a support group out there somewhere lol
oh... here is his cage. He spends most of the day out and about. But goes to bed in the hide in the center at about 5pm.. The heat mat is under the rocks etc covered by thin board.
