Leo won't go on his heat mat

[GeckoGirl3]

Help! My humidity in my Leo tank is too high!

Hi, lately my leo tank, humidity, has been quite high. It hasn't harmed my Leo yet but I am scared it might. The humidity in the daytime is mostly around 50% and the at night can get to around 55 or 60%. It is summer time around here and has been raining most of the week. I have tried multiple methods to fix this already. A rice bag, a smaller water dish (on the cold side) and a warming lamp. To figure out how high my humidity is I use an analog hydrometer. Which I know they say is inaccurate. I am getting this changed to 2 digital ones soon.

Thanks for the help!

 

[acpart]

I don't worry about the humidity. I'm in New England with no AC. In the summer, the humidity can be quite high the room. In the winter, with the forced hot air heat, the humidity is really low. In the wild, leopard geckos may spend a lot of time in caves and crevices where there is a more humid micro climate. I recommend not worrying about it. It's not like you're misting them every day or anything.

Aliza

 

[GeckoGirl3]

I don't worry about the humidity. I'm in New England with no AC. In the summer, the humidity can be quite high the room. In the winter, with the forced hot air heat, the humidity is really low. In the wild, leopard geckos may spend a lot of time in caves and crevices where there is a more humid micro climate. I recommend not worrying about it. It's not like you're misting them every day or anything.

Aliza

Thank you so much Aliza! After all, it has been raining all this week. Today my humidity did go down to 45%! I do have a cold ish home so I made sure to use a space heater to up my heat.

 

[GeckoGirl3]

Hi! Today I installed a new heat mat for my leo. It is working great and is set on 92 degrees Fahrenheit. I have a thermostat and the probe is beneath his reptile carpet, reading 92 degrees.

I have always had a humid hide and he stays inside it. He is not shedding, and I leave it dry until he sheds. He just likes it because it provides a lot of privacy. I placed him into his warm hide to see if he would like the heat, but he didn't seem to notice it was there.

I used a thermometer to read the temp on the carpet and it read 85 degrees. Should I turn the thermostat up higher?

 

[Hilde]

GeckoGirl3, I've merged your two threads, "Leo won't go on his heat mat" and "My humidity in my Leo tank is too high" into this one. They're both about the same gecko, and possibly related problems, so it's easier to keep track of everything.

 

[acpart]

Wait a few days before turning up the heat. I've found that those mats can take up to 2 days or so to reach maximum temp.

Aliza

 

[GeckoGirl3]

Ok! Thanks again Aliza!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi! Today I installed a new heat mat for my leo. It is working great and is set on 92 degrees Fahrenheit. I have a thermostat and the probe is beneath his reptile carpet, reading 92 degrees.

I have always had a humid hide and he stays inside it. He is not shedding, and I leave it dry until he sheds. He just likes it because it provides a lot of privacy. I placed him into his warm hide to see if he would like the heat, but he didn't seem to notice it was there.

I used a thermometer to read the temp on the carpet and it read 85 degrees. Should I turn the thermostat up higher?

Hello ~

Please relocate the thermostat's probe. Place it on top of the carpet and underneath the warm dry hide. That's what your leo feels when he lays there. It's a good idea to tape the probe of a digital thermometer to the thermostat's probe to verify the thermostat's settings.

The humid hide is another place for a leo to hide. Usually the humid hide is kept right on top of the heat mat and moist close to 24/7. A leo uses that hide to stay hydrated as well as for help shedding. IF your room humidity ranges upwards from 50% and greater, a humid hide is less important for a leo.

Are you meeting these temps?

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).

 

[GeckoGirl3]

Thank you Elizabeth! I meet the air temps most of the time (sometimes 80 on the warm side) and my only other problem is that my heat mat is continuing to peel off the bottom. I stuck it on hard, but during the night my heat mat is almost all the way off his tank. How can I fix this? And also, it is kinda hard to warm the ground temp in the humid hide. My heat mat only covers around 1/3 of my 20 gallon. Inside the warm hide and a little bit in front of the warm hide. Usually it's in the 70's in his humide hide.

~GeckoGirl3

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thank you Elizabeth! I meet the air temps most of the time (sometimes 80 on the warm side) and my only other problem is that my heat mat is continuing to peel off the bottom. I stuck it on hard, but during the night my heat mat is almost all the way off his tank. How can I fix this? And also, it is kinda hard to warm the ground temp in the humid hide. My heat mat only covers around 1/3 of my 20 gallon. Inside the warm hide and a little bit in front of the warm hide. Usually it's in the 70's in his humide hide.

~GeckoGirl3

You're welcome. If you have a 20 long: 30 x 12 x 12 inches tall, the best heat mat you can buy is an 11 x 17 inch Ultratherm heat mat. Those heat mats are TOPS!

You are placing the thermostat's probe in the wrong place. It needs to be placed on top of the carpet and underneath the warm dry hide.

Ground temps are crucial for digestion! They must be met all the time. If ground temps are not met, your leo will not be able to digest his food. That will result in impaction. If the air temps are too warm, they will dry out your leo's eyes.

The heat mat needs to be exchanged for one that sticks.