Leopard gecko questions.

[Sitting_duck]

Is 83-85 ok for the hot part of the tank?

When you buy meal worms that are refigerated, do they have food in the containers they come in?

That's all I need to know for now. If anyone else has questions, feel free to post them here.

 

[acpart]

Is 83-85 ok for the hot part of the tank?

When you buy meal worms that are refigerated, do they have food in the containers they come in?

That's all I need to know for now. If anyone else has questions, feel free to post them here.

92 or so is the best temp for the hot part of the tank.
Some of the refrigerated meal worms are kept in wheat bran which provides some nutrition but not much. They will do better in a variety of unsweetened powdered grains with occasional carrot or other veggie scrap for moisture. If kept in the fridge they need to come out every week or so for 24 hours to warm up and eat. I have personally had better luck and less mealworm death by not keeping them in the fridge at all.

I have heard that some mealworms come packed in sawdust but have not seen this myself.

Aliza

 

[Sitting_duck]

Thanks for the response.

My friend who has a "normal" leopard gecko buys meal worms 1000 at a time, the ones you refregerate. He never takes them out though, and he's had his gecko for 3 years.

another question if you will.

If your using a UTH (under tank heater) is it okay if its placed on a towel? The bottom of it would be on the towel, then the top would be facing the bottom of the tank. Because my tank is on a towel. I hope that makes sense.

Do you leave the UTH on 24/7?

 

[acpart]

I leave my UTH on all the time because the geckos need belly heat all the time. It should have a thermostat or at least a dimmer unless you can be sure the UTH stays the right temperature on the hot side (I have found, for instance, that a zoomed mini UTH stays about 92 degrees in a 10 gallon tank with ceramic tile over it). The only problem with putting the UTH in between the tank and a towel is that the package does say that it's best to vent the heat. I actually put little wooden dominoes under each corner of my tanks to raise them about 1/2". You could do that too so it's not sitting directly on the towel.

Aliza

 

[GatorGirl286]

i would just recommend to your friend to take them out once in a while to gutload them for better nutrition. he's had it for three years so i guess he's no rookie, but i'm a vet tech, so i'm always recommending things to make the animals lives better lol. as for the temp on the hot side, i agree with everyone 90-92 is best, and yeah UTH on 24/7 for belly heat whenever they need it and to keep up the heat in the tank at night when its a little cooler.

 

[Sitting_duck]

okay thanks.


okay so on the warm side i was looking at the temps. I moved my thermostat thing and placed it laying down on the tile underneath the light. Now it says 100F. It's laying down "looking up" at the light. So does that mean the tile is 100F or the air temperature? either way how would I bring the temps down. I don't even have a UTH yet, I'm just using a lamp.

Note- When i stick the thermostat to the glass,it goes down to 85.

 

[GECKODUDE]

Thats how hot the tile is. You need to bring it down about 10 degrees.

 

[Sitting_duck]

how =/

 

[acpart]

Go to Home Depot or Loews and get a "lamp dimmer" which is really a rheostat. It's the same thing that makes your lights get dimmer when you move the control. The lamp dimmer costs less than $12. Plug your light into the dimmer and plug the dimmer into the wall. The lower you turn the dimmer, the dimmer the light will be and the less heat will come out. When your thermostat registers about 92 degrees, you have the dimmer at the right setting. If the air temperatures in your home change significantly, you'll have to callibrate the dimmer again. Eventually you will need a UTH with a thermostat and then you won't even really need the light.

Aliza

 

[GECKODUDE]

i use the zoomed 500r thermostat to get my temps right it takes a bit of tinkering to get the correct temp but it works.

 

[Sitting_duck]

okay thanks.

I think I rather just buy a UTH instead of a dimmer, then not use the light.