Concern regarding reptil shelter 3 in one v.s plastic container for humidity

[blazingecko11]

For the longest time ive had my geckos use a plastic container with damp paper towel for substrate and misted the inside as well. But from I read about the repti shelter 3- in one, They made it specifically for moist hide as well as any other hide. But my question is, can this shelter hold humidity longer than a plastic container with paper towel? I have used sphagnum moss in the past and didnt really like it. Ive thought about eco earth but I was afraid of the loose substrate getting attached to the moisten shed and the gecko ingesting it. I know plastic and paper towel holds good humidity but isnt really appealing as far as looks, than again, they are pets and arent for breeding so id like it to have some sort of fancy look if you will, so anyone whos had experience with this repti shelter and would recommend knowing that geckos can have a proper shed from using this, can you please refer to me if i should buy it or not? and if it actually works?

 

[Muffins94]

I have the medium 3-in-1 and love it. I originally used Tupperware with paper towel and wasn't too impressed. It did the job, but I had to most it constantly. The 3-in-1 filled with either eco earth or sphagnum moss is the best way I've found to keep the moist hide moist almost constantly and keep the geckos comfortable. The hole is small enough to make them feel secure but big enough to squeeze in. The hole is in the top, which makes it hard for them to kick out any substrate in it. I haven't had a worry about them ingesting eco earth while shedding, it's not a very sticky substrate. Even if they did ingest some, it's very natural and could be digested. My gecko at times used to have shedding issues with her Tupperware hide and gecko hide, but hasn't had any with this 3-in-1. Overall I highly recommend it.

 

[blazingecko11]

Yeah I just bought it for my juvenile blizzard, and she doesnt really understand the point of it lol. when she gets too hot she'll come out and kind of observe the hide, go in it than comes out. Since i've had her, she's been using a plastic container with paper towel as a moist hide, but the actual container in which I mist dries out too quick and all thats left is just really damp paper towel. I like the idea of the eco earth because of how natural it is and also how it holds more moisture. The size I bought was the medium which I hope is big enough for her when she gets to adult size. But hopefully she'll get use to it enough where it'll be a must every time she feels the need to hydrate or shed with out a problem.

 

[Muffins94]

Mine didn't use it for awhile when I first get it, because she didn't understand what it was. Put her in it multiple times and she'll eventually get used to. Take away her moist hide periodically and put her in the new one. I have the medium for my 2 year old girl and she's about the size of a giant so any regular gecko should definitely fit in the medium. They like small compact spaces to hide as well.

 

[blazingecko11]

Will do! now, Since the moisten eco earth is dark brown and cold because its wet, will that alone create enough humidity for her to shed? without misting the inside of the top part of the cave/rock?

 

[Muffins94]

It should. I don't spray anything except the eco-earth. I find that since it's over the UTH, that the moisture tends to build up occasionally all over the inside. I haven't had any shedding issues with just spraying the eco-earth. I also only put enough to cover the bottom so it does block the heat, like inches of it would.

 

[blazingecko11]

Okay gotchya!, yeah When she gets a little bigger Im going to put her in the 20L and the under tank heater covers almost half of it, so part of the cave will sit up on it and then gradually heat up the hide so the moisture will build up better than where its placed in the current 10 gallon tank, which is pretty much on the other side of the tank. how often should i spray the eco earth?

 

[Muffins94]

I have an exo terra tank for mine, in which I use repticarpet. I cut out a portion big enough for the hide, and have it sitting directly on the floor on top the UTH so it will heat up properly. It's kinda bulky and I figured that could interfere with the heat conduction. Who knows if it does, put my probe reads around 85 air temp in the hide so it's warm enough. I spray mine daily because it's directly on top the UTH and dries out daily. I'm going to try adding to sphagnum moss to the eco earth and see how that works.

 

[blazingecko11]

Oh so I see you have it completely on top of the under tank heater, do you use a thermostat? or have the pad running full blast? cause that could be why it dries out faster

 

[Muffins94]

Completely on top, both my humid hide & dry warm hide. I have it on a thermostat set at 89.

 

[blazingecko11]

Oh ok, I was just wondering because from what I said earlier it'll be some what on top of the heat pad, and yeah I have a thermostat to so atleast I know to spray more frequently once shes in the bigger tank

 

[Muffins94]

Just test it out and see how long it stays moist for you. Juveniles shed a lot more so that's when you need to make sure it's moist and warm enough. My girl doesn't use it a lot so sometimes I leave it a few days dry.

 

[blazingecko11]

Yeah so far she has a 2 week shed period. shes supposedly a blizzard that went from grey, to brown, and now a yellow body, grey head and purplish tail.. I dont even know. Theres like 3 different blizzards and I dont know which one mine is haha:?

 

[Muffins94]

Aww, once she gets more sheds down it's easier to tell which you have. If that humid hide doesn work for you, you could always try the exo- terra gecko cave. Our male has one for his humid hide and our female has it for her cool hide. They are pretty nice and our geckos love them.

 

[blazingecko11]

possibly. Just a few minutes ago, She was laying outside of her hot hide cause she must of been hot or something, so I put her in the humid hide for like the 5th time today and she just jumped right out.. shes had enough I guess haha