Cool side ambient air temps climbing...

[RBJersey]

I was kind of afraid of this but as we had some unseasonably warm weather in the northeast over the weekend, the room where I have my enclosure was of course warmer.
Over the winter months the warm side air temps remained at 80 degrees and the cool side air was almost always at 75 degrees or less. This with a an overhead day/night bulb as well. Temperature in the room was around 73 degrees F so makes sense.

Now, I run the overhead lights on dimmers so I can kick them down. Currently UTH is on a dimmer as well but I have a Hydrofarm therm on order. Over the weekend the room elevated to 78 degrees so of course my tanks temps were elevated as well. ~83 warm side air but about 80 cool side. I even put my home AC on (in April!) but its generally a "warm" room on a hotter side of the house. I can't change this. My question of course is how you control cool side air temps if the ambient temp in room is warm??

 

[Completeleopard]

One way is to improve ventilation, is there a fan you could put in your room near the cage? Does the light have to be on to provide light or is the tank near a window, if there is window try turning off the light

 

[RBJersey]

Fan is a good suggestion and I did try that. Issue I had there is that even isolating the fan to blow towards the cool side (I should mention I have a medium long ExoTerra enlsosure so there is slight elevation of the enclosure off the surface of where it sets) I was dropping the temperature of the UTH as well as air was flowing under the tank so..I ended up dropping the hot side surface too much. As far as the lighting goes, the room does not have great natural light coming in plus I keep sun shades over the windows as like I said, room gets hot afternoon sun. I have lights on dimmers however so I was dimming it to almost off just to give the leo a photo period..

 

[cricket4u]

Fan is a good suggestion and I did try that. Issue I had there is that even isolating the fan to blow towards the cool side (I should mention I have a medium long ExoTerra enlsosure so there is slight elevation of the enclosure off the surface of where it sets) I was dropping the temperature of the UTH as well as air was flowing under the tank so..I ended up dropping the hot side surface too much. As far as the lighting goes, the room does not have great natural light coming in plus I keep sun shades over the windows as like I said, room gets hot afternoon sun. I have lights on dimmers however so I was dimming it to almost off just to give the leo a photo period..

Hi,

It's only going to get warmer. If you do not have central air, you will need an ac unit with a built in thermostat. This is the only way to control the room air temps from exceeding. I would think having a fan blowing at their enclosure can cause temp fluctuation. It will certainly at least dry out the tank some.

 

[Hilde]

If you do not have central air, you will need an ac unit with a built in thermostat.

I don't have central air, nor air conditioners, yet all my geckos make it through the summers quite nicely, even the Rhacs. Some have been with me almost 20 years, never a sign of heat stress without air conditioning.

If it's going to be over 80°F, I only use the UTH for a few hours per day. If it's over 90°F, I don't use the heaters at all. Even mid-90s isn't bad since it does cool off in the evening and at night. A few times we've been over 100°F, so I put ice packs on the screen lids, covered with a small styrofoam box to direct the cool air into the enclosures. For enclosures that don't have screen lids, I put the ice pack in a plastic ice cream tub and place it inside the enclosure where it won't fall over onto a gecko. Sometimes I've added a few tiny holes halfway down the side of the tub to let some cooled air escape, but that's not necessary. The ice packs only need to be there for a few hours during the hottest part of the day.

It's quite possible to successfully keep leopards without getting all techy, modifying the house, and going broke in the process.

 

[cricket4u]

never a sign of heat stress without air conditioning.

I have, in leopard geckos and several other lizards for example trying to find an escape route on the cool side. The second that I cool it down, they stop. This is why I provide it, not because I'm rich(which I'm not).

 

[JIMI]

I've been having the same issue. We used to have an ac unit. Too bad my dad gave it away... I'm hoping to resolve the issue by providing a longer enclosure with adequate ventilation. If that doesn't work then it looks like I'm going to have to find an ac unit. The temps here are quickly rising. Time to go garage sale hunting...

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I've been having the same issue. We used to have an ac unit. Too bad my dad gave it away... I'm hoping to resolve the issue by providing a longer enclosure with adequate ventilation. If that doesn't work then it looks like I'm going to have to find an ac unit. The temps here are quickly rising. Time to go garage sale hunting...

JIMI ~

Did you see Hilde's suggestions on post #5 /\ right on this thread about reducing the length of time an UTH is on in 80ish + weather and further suggestions what to do if the temperatures exceed 90*F?

 

[JIMI]

Yes, I did. I actually wrote it down so I could try that out. I'm still quite the newbie though so I feel a bit concerned about shutting off the UTH and possibly causing my leopard gecko to become ill. It's a newbie thing. :roll: Thankfully, the weather hasn't gotten that bad yet. But we do frequently get days during the summer where the temperature exceeds 100 F and for some reason my room gets the hottest. When that time comes maybe I will just shut off my CHE.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Yes, I did. I actually wrote it down so I could try that out. I'm still quite the newbie though so I feel a bit concerned about shutting off the UTH and possibly causing my leopard gecko to become ill. It's a newbie thing. :roll: Thankfully, the weather hasn't gotten that bad yet. But we do frequently get days during the summer where the temperature exceeds 100 F and for some reason my room gets the hottest. When that time comes maybe I will just shut off my CHE.

Right now, and always (unless your room temperature is less than ~67*F at night), it is fine to shut off the overhead dome entirely at night. You may wish to put it on a timer?

What temps are the room, your room, where the leo's vivarium sits?

Recommended temperatures for all leos regardless of size
88-93 F (31-34 C) ground temp at warm end inside the warm dry hide
no greater than 85 F (29.5 C) air temp - 4 inches above ground on the warm end
no greater than 75 F (24.5 C) air temp - 4 inches above ground on the cool end

Leave the UTH on 24/7. Can turn off overhead heating at night unless the ambient room temperatures are particularly cool during the night.

Then you will have a temperature drop during the night.

 

[JIMI]

Elizabeth~

I just answered your questions on my thread (Is this enclosure too large for a Super Giant?). I don't want to hijack this thread

 

[cricket4u]

Yes, I did. I actually wrote it down so I could try that out. I'm still quite the newbie though so I feel a bit concerned about shutting off the UTH and possibly causing my leopard gecko to become ill. It's a newbie thing. :roll: Thankfully, the weather hasn't gotten that bad yet. But we do frequently get days during the summer where the temperature exceeds 100 F and for some reason my room gets the hottest. When that time comes maybe I will just shut off my CHE.

They need a temperature gradient at all time, so you definitely do not want to turn the UTH off.

Look at the consequences of overheating below. I have heard of other sad stories as well very similar to this one.

Effects of extreme high temperaure exposure on Leopard Geckos - Page 3

Please note: It does not have to be over 100f, Anything over their PBT which is 86f for extended periods of time can cause some serious damage.

 

[RBJersey]

Thanks for all the feedback. I do in fact have central AC in my house but since it was only April I didn't think I needed to put it on! I did in fact run it eventually but the room is still a "warm" room due to the fact that my central AC isn't zoned so there are some rooms on the second level of my house that stay pretty warm. Unfortunately one happens to be the room my leo lives in. Even setting my central AC to like 69-70 degrees, this room almost never cools down to below like 77-80 degrees in the heat of summer. I know this isn't too extreme and the tank will never get to over 85 degrees on the hot side realistically but I was primarily worried about the decreasing cool zone as you really can't decrease it much lower then the room's ambient temperature unless like was mentioned I intervene with fans ect..but this opens up a whole new can of worms. Maybe I'm worrying too much about this?

 

[Completeleopard]

Not quite sure but 77-80 should be OK as long as its cooling down at night!

 

[JIMI]

They need a temperature gradient at all time, so you definitely do not want to turn the UTH off.

Look at the consequences of overheating below. I have heard of other sad stories as well very similar to this one.

Effects of extreme high temperaure exposure on Leopard Geckos - Page 3

Please note: It does not have to be over 100f, Anything over their PBT which is 86f for extended periods of time can cause some serious damage.

I will be getting a second thermostat to ensure that the ambient temps in his tank do not exceed 85f and I'll continue to leave the UTH on 24/7. Thank you, Cricket, for that insightful link. That is truly sad and I do not want that to happen to my leo! I will also look into finding an ac unit if I find that the central ac in my house is not doing enough to keep my room cool on those hot days. I found a portable ac unit on Craigslist for a great price. Maybe that would work?

 

[cricket4u]

I will be getting a second thermostat to ensure that the ambient temps in his tank do not exceed 85f and I'll continue to leave the UTH on 24/7. Thank you, Cricket, for that insightful link. That is truly sad and I do not want that to happen to my leo! I will also look into finding an ac unit if I find that the central ac in my house is not doing enough to keep my room cool on those hot days. I found a portable ac unit on Craigslist for a great price. Maybe that would work?

It should work, as long as you buy it for the recommended room size.