[yayo4ya]

I am having a problem getting my temps to where I want it. I just finished setting up my tank for my 5 yr old(that was my excuse for getting it).

The background is my first attempt at making one myself. The substrate is sand with slate tile on top. The rocks to the left are just to cover the space between the slate and glass. The tank is next to a window that gets sunlight but not directly. The room is my son's bedroom in an partment building which gets heat pumped out all winter long and will be using an ac in the summer. I have a zilla uth on the right side of the tank. I bought two herpstat nd's to control temps for both the cold and hot side(too compensate for the uncontrolled apartment heat and ac).

I placed the herpstat probe on the tile above the uth and rested the hide on top of the probe. The herpstat read 90degrees which is what it is set to. however, less than an inch in any direction, and it drops down to 83degrees. Am I right in reading that the entire hot side of the tank should read 90degrees? Im thinking i need more of a aquare uth that will cover the entire bottom. I know i'll have to take of the new, current uth. I'm not sure if I could reuse it. I was thinking of getting a small one to use on the "cold" side to keep that at 80degrees.


Hopefully I can attach pics to this post. I have not purchased the actual gecko yet. I feel more comfortable if I can run everything for a week first to make sure everything is good. I also apologize for being so specific in details.



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[Yoshi'smom]

What kind of gecko are you planning on getting? It looks like it would do well for a leopard gecko. If it's indeed a leopard gecko you'll be getting, please read this care sheet. It should help answer all of your questions.
http://www.geckosunlimited.com/commu...12-update.html

[yayo4ya]

Thanks. It is indeed a leopard gecko i'll be getting. I actually just finished reading the link you just sent. I think im stuck on the uth being 1/3rd of the 20 gallon long. I have it going down the center of the tank from right to left. It seems like i just get a bigger uth so that it not only covers 1/3rd from right to left but also from front to back?

[Elizabeth Freer]

Originally Posted by yayo4ya

Thanks. It is indeed a leopard gecko i'll be getting. I actually just finished reading the link you just sent. I think im stuck on the uth being 1/3rd of the 20 gallon long. I have it going down the center of the tank from right to left. It seems like i just get a bigger uth so that it not only covers 1/3rd from right to left but also from front to back?

(: A great bedtime read!) Your UTH should cover 1/3rd the tank's length as well as near close to the full width of your 20 gallon long. Since that tank is 30 inches long, you will probably need to get the UTH sized for 20-30 gallon tanks.

The idea of establishing a thermal gradient from hot to warmish is to locate the heat sources on one end of the tank. Then the middle and the other end of the tank will progressively get cooler. Actually I have my heat on a timer which turns my heat off at night, 12 hours on and 12 off. The room where the tank is is kept no lower than 67 F. Leo does fine.

The warm end of the tank should be 92-95 F with the cool end of the tank in the 70s. Leos depend upon belly heat as well as air temperature to digest their food. Keep the moist hide on the warm end. This helps with shedding.

[yayo4ya]

Thank you both. So I ran out and got the uth for a 20-30 gallon tank. I have it running horizontally from the right side of tank to the middle. Because I'm afraid the cold side will get too cold, I put a small uth on that side just so I can keep it around 80 with one herpstat nd. I set the other herpstat to 90. Be ause it's now past 8pm, I have the herpstats set to 70 and 80. I'm going to let the tank run for a week to make sure the temps are steady. I think my son is about to accept he will just have an empty tank anyway

[Yoshi'smom]

You're doing great here! Lots of people don't even think about what type of environment that their gecko needs before they get it. Kudos to you for doing your research and getting your new family members tank all ready for him/her. This will ease the "settling into a new environment" phase so that he can be comfy cosy while he adjusts. No temp fluctuations and no messing with his house while he gets used to it! Congrats! I think you're on your way to becoming a great leopard gecko keeper!
I would bump up the floor temp on the warm side to around 92F. Leo's need that belly heat to digest their food. If the probe on your thermostat isn't already, make sure that it's on the floor on the inside of the tank right above the heatmat to get accurate belly temps.
Also be sure to post photos when you get your new friend!

[Elizabeth Freer]

Originally Posted by yayo4ya

Thank you both. So I ran out and got the uth for a 20-30 gallon tank.....I think my son is about to accept he will just have an empty tank anyway

Ha, ha, ha---patience, Son......How old is he?

[yayo4ya]

He is 5 yrs old. So at he has been pretty patient

So I woke up this morning to check the temps. On the right side hide, the herpstat read 82.5. The herpstat on the left hand hide read 72.3. Those seem fine to me. Hopefully when I get home they will read +10.

My few concerns now are if I were to move the herpstat prove an inch in any direction, the temps would drop down. Also, the ambient temp in the tank may be too cold, especially at night.

Also, as you can see, I'm using a reptile den in front. Since I plan on only having one Leo, I was going to stuff the top part of the den to try to make that the moist hide. This morning, it only read 70 degrees inside. I took of the outside cover and the glass felt colder.

[Elizabeth Freer]

Originally Posted by yayo4ya

He is 5 yrs old. So at he has been pretty patient

So I woke up this morning to check the temps. On the right side hide, the herpstat read 82.5. The herpstat on the left hand hide read 72.3. Those seem fine to me. Hopefully when I get home they will read +10.

My few concerns now are if I were to move the herpstat prove an inch in any direction, the temps would drop down. Also, the ambient temp in the tank may be too cold, especially at night.

Also, as you can see, I'm using a reptile den in front. Since I plan on only having one Leo, I was going to stuff the top part of the den to try to make that the moist hide. This morning, it only read 70 degrees inside. I took of the outside cover and the glass felt colder.

Ya know, when I read "5 year old" in your first post I thought the gecko was 5 years old . Glad you clarified this.

95 F is the upper limit of the hot area. Think you could set your herpstat for that. Then the surrounding areas would be warmer.

My female leo is about 8 years old. Her temp drops to 67ish at night. If you get a juvenile, you want to keep the lows higher.

Place the moist hide in the warmest area.

[yayo4ya]

Thanks Elizabeth. I apologize for so many questions. What is your ambient temps? I feel like I am ready to now actually purchase a Leo. I'm leaning more towards purchasing one online to have it shipped rather than going to one of the local chain pet shops. Any recommendations?