40 watt heat emitter enough?

[fab]

My dad just built a new cage for my leo. Do you think that a 40 watt heat emitter is enough to keep temps up at night? The substrate is slate and the dimensions are 36"L x 18"W x 16"H. I only need the heater to add a few degrees, that's all. I'm going to be running the day light with a timer and thermostat that my uncle made. But the heat emitter won't have a thermostat. Is there a chance it could heat up too much and burn the gecko? Thanks.

 

[Mardy]

I would recommend getting an under tank heating pad instead, and see how your temperature goes with it. Ceramic heat emitter are often used to supplement heating, like if you live somewhere very cold and temperature drops below 70 on a consistent basis, then a heat emitter can help bring the temperature up a bit.

But it's important to have an under tank heating pad to provide your gecko proper belly heat. Belly heat is what leopard geckos need to properly digest food. They are not like iguanas and do not require basking light. In fact they are nocturnal-like (crepuscular) creatures, they prefer no basking light at all.

So I would suggest getting an UTH, test your floor temperature with a temperature gun or digital thermometer with probe, and see if you can hit proper temperature with the heating pad. If you can't, then get a ceramic heat emitter to supplement the heating needs.

 

[fab]

i know but the slate is a great heat conductor and it will heat up with the light from above and that will provide the belly heat. That's why I have the thermostat, to make sure she doesn't get burned. On top of that, there's no way a heat pad would penetrate through a layer of glass and slate. The one i have now just barely heats enough and I'm using paper towels.

 

[Mardy]

I use standard 20 gallon long glass tanks all with ceramic tiles, and the heating pad heats the tiles up to high 90's. It should work as long as you purchase the right wattage and size of an under tank heating pad.

But if you insist on using basking light, make sure you provide a lot of hides, shades, and such to allow your gecko to hide away from the light. Your gecko won't like the light, so don't expect it to bask like you see with iguanas. I should also mention that light is actually harmful to albinos and extremely bad for enigmas. So if you use light, make sure you have neither morphs.

I still think you can get under tank heating pad to work. Then you'd just need a ceramic heat emitter to supplement heating and get it to a comfortable 90-95 degrees.

 

[fab]

I will try out this way and if it doesn't work, I'll put a heat pad. thanks for the input.

 

[fab]

Plus is it bad if I have my gecko now under regular light? Could it hurt their eyes? I was also planning on getting a bell albino or an aptor at the reptile expo and now that you say that they're sensitive to light I'm reconsidering it. I could get a sunglow or a SHTCT.

 

[Mardy]

If you are going to get an albino of some sort, then definitely avoid using basking light. There have been studies of light damaging albino eyes, along with their lack of melanin in their skin, it's just not a very good idea to use basking light with albinos.

Light is doable, but honestly with leopard geckos being crepuscular / nocturnal-like, you know they don't like light. They avoid it. In the morning you open the blinds and let the sun shine through your window, they hide and go to sleep. So to use basking light, you are really forcing something onto them that they don't like. In order to use light properly, you need to put a lot of hides and fake plants to give them plenty of shades. And while creating shades and hiding spots, you need to make sure they get 90-95 degrees of belly heat. Of course you can also see how this is more difficult at night when you want to turn the light off, as ceramic heat emitter isn't very good at raising floor temperature to the 90-95 degree zone.

I'm not saying light isn't doable, but you are making this harder on yourself by not going with an under tank heating pad, and just supplement it with ceramic heat emitter if you can't achieve 90-95 degrees with just UTH. Your leopard gecko will be less stressed, it'll have a more comfortable environment with proper belly heat, I think it'll be more happy overall. Plus you then won't have to worry about getting an albino.

 

[fab]

Thanks for the replies, really informative. But I have one question. After all you said, I sometimes see my leo just chilling out of the cave in the day time right under the light. Not basking, just relaxing. Is this normal?

 

[Mardy]

It could be normal yes, but you gotta think about the gecko and think what choices it has if it wants to stay warm. Have you tested the floor temperature to see if the gecko can get comfortable 90-95 degree belly heat elsewhere other than the spot under the basking light? If not, then the gecko is simply there because it has to be, because it's where it's comfortable. It still doesn't mean it likes light, and that's another thing you'll have to worry about is how much the gecko lays under UV to stay warm. Too much can be harmful.

 

[fab]

In the setup i have now, the substrate is paper towel and there's a heat pad along under her hide on the hot side, with a regular 75 watt incandescent bulb on top. I'm pretty sure she has enough heat in the hide. I don't know why she does that?

 

[Mardy]

Are you testing your floor temperature with a temperature gun or digital thermometer with probe? You won't know until you really test it with a device.

 

[fab]

there's a thermometer. it reads 89F

 

[Mardy]

Is it a stick on thermometer? Or a digital thermometer with probe that tests the floor temperature?

 

[fab]

It's a stick on but it's like 1.5 inches from the floor.

 

[Mardy]

Well then you aren't testing the floor temperature, you have no idea how hot or cold it is for the gecko. Remember leopard geckos are all about belly heat. So it's very important to know just hot warm your terrarium floor is. It has to reach 90-95 degrees on the floor where they lay their belly on.

The stick on thermometer only tell you the air temperature, it's vastly differently from the temperature reading you'll get on the terrarium floor. Be it paper towels or tiles, you really need to know the temperature on the floor itself.

 

[fab]

but even if it's really close to the floor, doesn't that give a measurement thats in the ballpark of what the floor temp actually is?

 

[Mardy]

That's a negative, the stick on thermometer will only register air temperature, and it can easily be skewed by your basking light and your ambient room temperature.

 

[fab]

It doesn't matter now. I'm going to move her into her new setup in the next couple of days and I'll monitor the temperature in there. Do you think it would be safe to put a heat mat between wood and slate? Could that potentially be a fire hazard?

 

[Mardy]

It takes 350+ degrees to char wood, 500+ degrees to ignite, so yes it's safe. People who have wooden vivariums have no choice but to place the UTH inside the tank. Just make sure it's secure and that the geckos can not in any way reach the pad as the pad itself can get very hot. Also keep water away from the side where the UTH is.

 

[cricket4u]

It is very possible to add undertank heating safely in a wood enclosure. I'm sorry I cannot explain in detail because I have my other half who deals with the carpentry and electrical part. All I know is that he cut a hole and used plexi-glass. You should first have temperatures monitored and stable before moving her to a new enclosure. The wood should also be coated to avoid fumes and make easy to clean. Materials similiar to tub surrounds would be best.