Hot hide temp

[rockdaddy]

Hello Gecko Unlimited community,
I am very new to gecko owning.
I had a question about heating for my tank. Currently i use a heat pad on one side of the bottom of the tank to get one of the tanks ground temp to a little over 90 degrees. However the hide I have for that tank has a bottom, so if the leopard gecko was to use it (which he really seems to like it) he would not be directly touching the ground. This hide seems to get only to around 84 degrees, so I was wondering if this is ok for a hot hide? or should i swap it out for one that doesn't have a bottom so that he can hide but also heat up from the ground. I really enjoy this hide because it allows me to sneak a few peaks while he uses it, so if the hide does need to be hotter and there is some way to heat up the inside of it easily as an alternative to swapping it please let me know. Additionally for the humid hide should I have it on the warm or cool side of the tank. Thank you in advance

 

[acpart]

If you can, just put another hide without a bottom on the hot side so the gecko has a choice. I put the humid hide wherever I have room for it.

Aliza

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

A warm welcome to Geckos Unlimited.

I recommend that both the warm dry hide and the warm humid hide range from 88-92*F. A leo uses his humid hide not only for shedding, but also for staying hydrated. This usually means that both these hides sit on top of the heat mat. It's OK if the humid hide's temperature is a little cooler than the warm dry hide.

Here's a photo of my leo's enclosure. Her warm dry hide is located in the front left corner of this photo. That hide is a medium Exo Terra hide. Her humid hide is located in the back left corner and has a flat resin base. My leo ranges from 65-70 grams at about 9 inches long.

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Temperatures - A temperature gradient from warm to cool maintains your leo's health. Here's a temperature guide for all leopard geckos as measured with the probe of a digital thermometer or a temp gun (and controlled by a thermostat set at 91*F/32.8*C):

• Warm end ground temperature: 88-92 F (31.1-33.3 C) inside a leo's warm dry hide and his moist hide too!
• Cool end ground temperature: 70ish-75 F (21.1-23.9 C) Usually the cool end ground temperature matches the room temperature where the enclosure sits.
• no greater than 82ish F (27.8ish C) air temperature - 4 inches (10 cm) above ground on the warm end
• no greater than 75 F (23.9 C) air temperature - 4 inches (10 cm) above ground on the cool end

Leave the heat mat/UTH on 24/7. If you wish, during the night turn off overhead lighting/heating (~12 hours on and ~12 hours off) unless ambient room temperatures drop lower than 67ish*F (19.4*C).