Oily/wet stain around his poop

[amsdadtodd]

I think I follow what you are proposing. Unfortunately, if I got it right, the UTH will really not be too effective. The Eco-earth would insulate the granite from the glass, which is conducting the heat. Glass is a pretty good heat conductor, eco earth is a horrible conductor, or great insulator, and granite is a marginal conductor. I think you can make a pretty scenic enclosure with these materials, but I hope you are prepared to manipulate things around as you dial in your temperature gradient!

BTW, the boa's ate quite readily today, they usually do, but it took a while to get them settled down before I could move them back to their tanks. One of them was so tweaked up that he tracked on a bird that flew by over the window and got no closer than 20 feet! Consider this warning early, keeping herps is an addiction! If you get more leo's, then who knows what will be next!

Todd

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

I heard that eco earth retains heat really well. I want the setup to look great and at the same time to be functional. I don't want my gecko to burn his feet, eco earth should stay just warm. I understand I will have to adjust some things, because it won't work perfectly right from the beggining.

Don't worry about it, I don't have enough space for more reptiles :lol: Maybe one more Leo in future if it turns out that Mr. Spanky is Mrs. Spanky. How many reptiles do you keep?

 

[amsdadtodd]

I have four leo's, two boa's, a corn snake, and wide array of tropical carnivorous plants in my herp room full time. My first boa lives with my daughter but is a frequent long term guest here as well. I will be growing the collection, but not until after I move to South Carolina, probably in the spring. I had been hoping to get out of Rhode Island before another winter hits, but that doesn't seem to be coming together at this point...

Todd

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

South Carolina would be a good place for your plants, especially D. muscipula.
I have been growing cps for some time too. I have VFTs, some species of Drosera, Sarracenia.. I have just one small Ping left, I just can't keep them alive. :?
Lots of reptiles you got there. I'm not too much into snakes, but another Leo would be nice.

 

[amsdadtodd]

Seeing as how that's where they are from, yes it will be ideal. I have some really cool nepenthes (tropical pitchers) also, they are the most challenging. Everything else can live outside for at least another weekend here before I have to bring them in, except for the local drosera's and sarracenia's.

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

I have 2 Nepenthes too, but they are really small so I don't even count them. I have all my Drosera's inside, they are doing here much better. Sarr's on the other hand prefer being outside. They have grown some lovely pitchers this year. Temperatures will drop below 5°C next weekend? If not, I would leave them outside.

 

[amsdadtodd]

I meant the local drosera and sarracenia will stay outside all winter. The trops and warm temperates are all coming in as it cools off, next weekend is just a guess, but around here it could be anywhere from then until Thanksgiving!

 

[kholtme]

I used sand under my tiles at first, but didnt like the fact that if i had to access my heat mat for some reason i would have a mess turning my tank over. I cleaned it out and used a thicker layer of paper towels, no problems with heat getting above the tiles. I think a thin layer of eco earth would be fine. As for my roaches, i use a lamp for heat. I have it aimed at the side of my dubia bin and it has no problems upping the temps. For my red runner roaches, i dont have any heat on them, my room temp is about 75, and the breed to fast for my one gecko anyway. I use Purina Layena Sunfresh Crumbles (chicken food) for my dry food, and then throw in some random fruit or veggie about twice a week for moisture. No spraying or anything. I have very little die off in my dubia bin, I havent had my red runners long enough to say if the few that die are from old age, or improper housing. But babies are popping up everywhere in both colonies.

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

I will try the heat rock. Electricity in my garage is really pricey, so 5W heat rock will be more acceptable. They might be around 50°F in the garage at the moment, so heating is a must. I don't plan on spraying too, but I will try those dragon herbs and some veggies. Thank you all for the info, I will let you know how is my colony doing (and of course post some pics of the new terrarium).