Hey everyone, now that were smack dab in the middle of summer my apartment gets HOT. will this cause a problem? I have sobe in a 10 gallon tank and about an hour ago the temp on hot side read 96 degrees which is good, but what im worried about is he has a ten gallon tank and im fairly certain that there isnt a good enough gradient... any suggestions?
My apartment is HOT
- Thread starter Geck-oh
- Start date
M&S-328
New member
If you cannot get any fans/ac to cool down your house/the room you keep your gecko in, then you need to AT LEAST find a small fan and aim it directly at the side of the tank that is your established "cool side".
Also, make sure that the cool side of your tank is kept shaded, so prevent as much heating as possible.
And be sure there is a constant supply of fresh and cool water for your leo.
But you do not want to let your leo get too hot. if it overheats it can get really stressed out - and if the heat/stress is too high, your gecko could die of overheating/heat exhaustion.
The absolute BEST thing you can do is invest in a few good fans or at lease one good ac. when you are using those, if you find that your hot side is starting to cool down too much, just use your gecko UTH (which of course should always be on) or overhead light to give it the extra boost of heat.
Also, make sure that the cool side of your tank is kept shaded, so prevent as much heating as possible.
And be sure there is a constant supply of fresh and cool water for your leo.
But you do not want to let your leo get too hot. if it overheats it can get really stressed out - and if the heat/stress is too high, your gecko could die of overheating/heat exhaustion.
The absolute BEST thing you can do is invest in a few good fans or at lease one good ac. when you are using those, if you find that your hot side is starting to cool down too much, just use your gecko UTH (which of course should always be on) or overhead light to give it the extra boost of heat.
Pokeefe88
New member
What does the cool side read at? I use a 20 gallon long tank to have a well established heating gradient 94 on the hot side and 84 on the cool side give or take and I always check with a temp gun if I feel worried about the temps. If you use a thermostat then you can set the temp at say 91-95 and not worry about it as long as the cool side is in the lower 80s
TheOneBlueGecko
New member
This may a bit of an obvious thing and you have probably done it, but turn off the heating things in the tank like the UTH if you have not yet. Also if you really need to cool things down placing a cooling pack or a damp paper towel on the tank can help, I do that with my crested on occasion.
Riverside Reptiles
Administrator (HMFIC)
If need be, turn all of your heating devices off during the day. This is where a thermostat really pays off as it turns your heating devices on and off for you as needed so that you don't have to worry about your gecko over heating. A small price to pay for the safety of your animal.
Lenewen
New member
I second the suggestion of a fan for the cool side to keep it cool enough, but only if the cool side gets over 86 degrees regularly. A fan may be hard to use for temp regulation though...unless you hooked it up to a thermostat that turns it on when it gets too hot?
As Ethan said, a thermostat does all the work for you in regards to heating the tank perfectly, AND its a small price to pay for your beloved pet. Mine cost me $25 on Amazon and I had it in 2 days. I encourage it for your lights/UTH at the very least.
As Ethan said, a thermostat does all the work for you in regards to heating the tank perfectly, AND its a small price to pay for your beloved pet. Mine cost me $25 on Amazon and I had it in 2 days. I encourage it for your lights/UTH at the very least.
eliquidmatt
New member
One of my smaller viv's was giving me a headache when it came to temperature gradients. The hot side was at 93 degrees but the cool side was only ever 3 or 4 degrees lower. The best method I found was to wire up a small fan actually inside the enclosure! I now have a small PC fan running 12 hours a day 
I removed one of the standard plastic vent's from the top back corner of the viv and found that a 12v PC fan sit's in there perfectly connected it up to a 12v socket adaptor, plugged in a timer and job done.. fresh circulating air all day long. There is no way the gecko can get anywhere near it by the way, it's situated 18 inches up the back wall of the viv with nothing below it to climb on
Hot side still reads 93 degrees floor temp and cool side is now at 80 - 82 degrees
I removed one of the standard plastic vent's from the top back corner of the viv and found that a 12v PC fan sit's in there perfectly
connected it up to a 12v socket adaptor, plugged in a timer and job done.. fresh circulating air all day long. There is no way the gecko can get anywhere near it by the way, it's situated 18 inches up the back wall of the viv with nothing below it to climb on Hot side still reads 93 degrees floor temp and cool side is now at 80 - 82 degrees
My living room gets up to 89 on really hot days (that's the ambient temp, not the temp in the cages). On those days, my leopard geckos hang out on the cool side and also in the lay boxes which double as humid hides. They do just fine, though I can't compare the temp on the "cool" side of a 20 long with that of a 10 gallon. On the other hand, the crested gecko and gargoyle gecko spend these days downstairs in their basement "condos".
Aliza
Aliza