Would my UTH be better like this?

[lbanta]

I turned my tank over today and looked at the uth I have there. It covers almost a third of my tank all the way over to the left side of my tank under my warm hide. I looked up the sizes and it must be a small 6 by eight. Wish I had bought a little bigger one. Well I decided to turn it to be lengthwise on the tank, so it still covers most of the floor of my warm hide but continues out a little ways under the moist hide. I did this because she spends so much time in the moist hide and as it is colder in the house now with Winter coming on I didn't want her to get too cool. Do you think this will work better?
I drew this out the black rectangle is the UTH the red is the warm hide the green is the moist hide and the blue is the cool hide.

 

[lbanta]

I guess I am gonna switch it back.

My moist hide is drying out with it this way.

 

[Conched]

Yes, the moist hide should be on the warm side.

 

[mecoat]

What is your substrate in your humid hide? I've found that 1 wet paper towel dries out too quickly, but 2 stays moist until the next day. Can you try wetter substrate, or more?

 

[hmarie186]

You're probably going to have to re-wet them every day. I have eco earth in T's cage because he has a nasty habit of digging up paper towels and eating bits. I spray it down everyday still, just like the paper towels in Edgar's moist hide. I use 3 half sheets folded up and I make it a bit wetter than normal, but not actually standing water in there. The warm and moist hide need to be fully on the warm side, and preferably some ground floor as well. Honestly, I would get a different pad. What size tank do you have? The silly recommendations on the pads are never accurate. I go by inches and aim to cover half the bottom.

 

[Andi]

I'm in the same boat. I also wish I had bought a larger UTH, but I have pretty much the same set up for both of my Leos. Hot hide about 90% directly over the UTH, and Moist Hide about 60% directly over the UTH.

I don't know if this is good advice or not, but I generally like to have the Moist Hide warm enough so that the moisture will actually condense on the top and sides of the hide. Not a lot of condensation of course, but enough to reassure me that it's warm enough (especially in the cold months). You can always double check w/ a probe as well.

You may even want to considering pulling the Moist Hide a bit further off the UTH if it's drying out that quickly.

 

[Conched]

Try sphagnum moss. Holds moisture very well. I only wet it once a week. It has anti bacterial properties ad well, it does not get moldy.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

My moist hide is drying out with it this way.

Hi lbanta ~

How has this been going? You have mentioned switching your 6 x 8 inch UTH back to its original position. Is it one of those stick-on ones?

If so, I have copied e-mails from Zoo Med to me right on post #43 following my Leo Guidelines. Zoo Med says not to reuse their UTHs, that the internal wires could get damaged in the transfer.

Those heat mats without adhesive (Ultratherm and Flukers) that one attaches with heat resistant aluminum tape CAN be reused.

 

[lbanta]

I am folding several white paper towels up and making sure I spray it down every day really well and it stays moist. It definitely is starting to dry out by evening when I feed and clean tank.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I am folding several white paper towels up and making sure I spray it down every day really well and it stays moist. It definitely is starting to dry out by evening when I feed and clean tank.

You might find it easy to just thoroughly wet the towels under running water and then squeeze them dry.

How's your UTH acting since you've relocated it?

 

[Andi]

I am folding several white paper towels up and making sure I spray it down every day really well and it stays moist. It definitely is starting to dry out by evening when I feed and clean tank.

to be safe, I would double check the temps in the moist hide. It may be a bit too warm. I also use paper towel and it will dry out, but not that quickly.

 

[lbanta]

I taped the probe down to my repti carpet and it reads much higher. Really too high almost 100, so I have ordered a thermostat to control it and take the temp down a little. I stopped turning on the mini zilla red light cause that just added more heat. Vastra spends most of her time in the ziplock container. When I pick her up she is not cold, so that's good. I started putting down a little square of paper towel in the corner she uses for her potty and it is working great. She potties on it and I throw it away. She seems to be on a little growth spurt. She is eating at least four or five good sized crickets each day and has gained 15g since I got her two months ago. She weighs 43g now. She is 7 or 8 months old. Not sure. She is pretty sweet. I sure love her!