08-13-2010, 11:53 AM
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discere et docere
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Louisville Kentucky
Posts: 627
Classified Rating: 0% (0) |
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What you are seeing is quite normal.
Your gecko has an isolated area of heat which it has decided to use.
If a proper thermal gradient does not exist the gecko will continue to be isolated to this area.
Because every situation is different, the temperature a vivarium is located within being the prime factor here, you will need to work at figuring out several things prior to determining how to correct the issue.
Map the vivariums internal temperatures, this will give you a picture of what your gecko is experiencing or has available to experience.
The areas that are too low in temperature need heat, it is that simple.
The more area you cover with heat sources that are controlled by t-stats or dimmers the less random the temperatures will be and the faster they will correct should the surrounding temperatures fall.
In the above paragraph I mentioned the plural of t-stats or dimmers, you may want to use several, each one monitoring and adjusting a particular area of the vivarium. Keep in mind that dimmers don't monitor or do any automatic adjusting thats up to you.
When a vivarium is located in an area where the temperatures are close to optimal the less complicated heating will need to be. A vivarium located in a room where the temperature is kept at 65degF is more of an issue to properly heat than one that is maintained at 75degF.
In almost every case I have delt with, more heat source coverage combined with several t-stats corrected the issue.
I've had people balk at paying for what was needed to keep the environment at the optimal temperatures, and to that I can only say "the choice is yours, this animal requires xx to xx temperatures to live and prosper, if you aren't willing to provide them the animal will not do as well as it could, and may die because of your choice". Please dont take that statement as an insult, I intend it to be rather blunt in cases where people are not willing to do what is required to properly care for their animals. In no way am I suggesting you are not willing, you are here asking for help so I assume you are willing. I make the statement here for those who read this that are not willing and so they will know what to expect.
The fact of the matter is that setting up a proper environment is the single most costly and difficult one time portion of keeping reptiles, the maintenance portion, and general care are fairly low cost aspects of the hobby which are parsed out over time. For example I keep Kirtland's Snakes, my initial setup costs were right around $275.00 for the first 10gal aquarium. The set-up is very basic, 3 ranco on/off t-stats, 3 sections of 4" wide flexwatt, an exo terra light unit and a couple low buck lights, the 10g aquarium, a water bowl, several hides, and a roll of butcher paper, (I would like to add a herpstat humidity control to the mix, but at this point have yet to do so). On average I spend more on lizard and gecko set-ups with their additional enclosure size requirements, and in many cases breeding being my goal additional incubators when I add a species. The snakes eat worms, only worms, and these are plentyful on my property, so for me food is nearly free except for collecting time.
The great thing about going all out from the start is that down the road, care is so much more simple, health issues are nearly always eliminated and with that expensive vet trips are all but a thing of the past. Your focus can now be on the wonderful critter you maintain, and not on worries about will it eat or be warm enough, or any of the other issues and problems that seem to come up on a daily basis with owning these exotic pets.
You seem to need more heat coverage, and should consider some form of heat control device.
Sorry for the overly long rant,
Maurice Pudlo
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