New Owner: Lots of Questions on CHE (will it melt plastic) and Temp

[Zwniana]

Just purchased a leopard gecko again. Owned one in college and love them. Must say she is adorable. Tank is all setup and I have already swapped it out for a different one. Now i have an Exo-Terra Terrarium that is 12x12x12 until she gets bigger.

I have a CHE (Ceramic Heater) 65 watt in a Fluker's mini dome and it is currently sitting on top of the cage. There is no way to fit it unless the edges of the dome sit on the plastic frame and i have noticed that the plastic is hot. Does it get hot enough to melt the plastic?
I have thought of getting a dome stand but don't think i will get the heat i need in the tank if it sits up higher, if i get a bigger bulb then the plastic will just get hotter.

I also have the CHE plugged in to a Hydrofarm but never reaches the temp since the CME seems to max out at 88 degrees. Hydrofarm is set at 89. Do i even need the hydrofarm as back up or can i return it.

The Temperature probe in the tank. is that safe to put or will the little lady bite it?

My night temp sits between 72-74 since it is summer so we are good here.

Other than that the little lady is eating about 2-3 crickets a day ( i have fattened them up first with some calcium, food, and water) and 1 or 2 meal worms. She also drinks some water.

Thank you for your help with this newbie

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GU! Ditch the CHE and get an under tank heater. For a 12x12x12 you can get the ZooMed mini for 1-5 gallon tanks. The CHE will dry out the air maybe more than you want. Use the hydrofarm, which I assume is thermostat, on the UTH.


Aliza

 

[logan1234]

You should get a under tank heater like acpart suggested. I feel like once you get to a bigger tank (20 gallon long or bigger) CHEs helps get the warm side temps up a bit IF they are lower than you want. Good for winter.

A couple questions I will answer/try to + some tips.

1. I had no trouble with my leo biting the probes for the thermostat or thermometers.

2. When you "gutload" or feed the crickets before you feed them to your gecko, I recommend feeding them collard greens with Zoo MED ADULT bearded dragon food 24 hours before you feed the crickets to your leo. If you keep crickets on large quantities at a time, you can just keep the food/collard greens in there 24/7. This is better than using just water, because it has much more nutrients.

Note: Are you using vitamins alongside with the calcium?

EDIT: Also, A welcome to GU!

 

[Zwniana]

Thank you so much for helping me get set up.
So i took your advice and i bought the under tank heater. Temperature on mat reads 90 degrees and in the tank in the cold area 80 degrees. Am I ok?

Also, where should the hydrofarm sensor be above the mat? in the gecko house area which sits on the mat or on the glass. What temperature am I trying to get.

 

[logan1234]

You should put the thermostat sensor/probe in the warm hide, preferably taped to a thermometer probe. The temperatures you should try to get is 88-92* in the warm dry hide, and room temperature on the colder area. Try to not get above 80 in the cold area hide.

 

[Zwniana]

Do i put it under the carpet where the warm hide is, or simply in the warm hide above the carpet.

 

[Zux]

Place it on the surface of the carpet.

I strongly recommend you get a cheap infra-red thermometer online (if you dont already have one) in order to verify surface temps, a digital probe, while excellent for ambient (surrounding) temperature readings is likely to be an approximation of true surface temperature, at best.