Hi, well this is my first full day with the my new gecko in his tank. He is about 6 months and and is in a 10 gallon with vita-sand substrate. I had the Under Tank Heater on from around 8pm last night to arond 2pm today. I also turned a 50w basking light on at 9am. it sits on the top of the metal lid. At 2 this afternoon the sand on the surface of the heated side reigisterd upwards to 110f. I got very worried and decided to leave the Under Tank Heater off for a couple of hours while I went to buy a timer to regulate the Under Tank Heater on off cycles. I wonder how much more the temp could have risen had I not adjusted it. making me very worried about leaving it on, un-attended while I am at work. I will be home all day tomorrow to monitor the temp all day, while using the timer on the Under Tank Heater.


-how worried should I be about these tempatures?
The cool side never toped 80, and he stayed in his hide in the middle of the tank. where temp. was arond 95

one more note, the Under Tank Heater is designed for 10-20 gallon, I'm wondering if I should have bought the smaller size for only heating half of a 10. Also when I added the substrate I used more than I now think is neccessary, could this excess sand retain the heat and cause the high heat?

worried about my little buddy

-travis

sorry I cant be of help but I also am in same situation. my air temps are 88 on hot side and 76 cool side in a 20 gal long and I bought the Under Tank Heater rated for a 10 gal and the surface temp over the repti carpet is 110f checked with a ir temp gun I use for my uromastyx. My Leopard is adult about 2 years old. im thinking of changing my substrate to some large pebbles of some sort.

Hi and welcome.

#1, get rid of that sand. Its terrible for them. Even though the bag says digestible, it will lead to your gecko getting impacted. I would suggest simple newspaper for now, since he is just a little guy. Plus, they aren't found in sand in their natural environment. They live in rocks and hard packed earth.

As for your temps, can you go for a lower wattage bulb? leopard geckos do not need special UVB light, you could switch to a 40 watt household bulb. Hopefully it won't get things that hot.

Have our care sheet. It should answer some questions for you.
Leopard Gecko Caresheet (Eublepharis macularius) - Reptile Information - Caresheets Database

As for pebbles, I wouldn't do that either. They can get eaten, cause impaction and your gecko will die. Read the caresheet, it lists many different substrates that are good.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

i believe he is talking about surface temp and not air temp. what is the correct surface temp for basking? same thing I want to know

yes I am reffering to "surface" tempature, i us a food grade digital themometer that has a long metal probe, some times I messure temp with it insereted to the bottom glass and sometimes only touching upper layers of sand.

so then 110f is ok for a surface temp. also if your not using a infra red laser temp guage then you are not getting correct temps. that probe u are using is supposed to be probed into something not just resting on it. your close but not as close as you may think.

You should never have an Under Tank Heater under more that 1/2 the tank. This allows there to be a cooler area to retreat to. Instead of a timer get you a thermostat or rheostat to control the heat of the pad. Trying to do this with a timer is going to be days of hit and miss adjustment.
Go get you a good digital thermometer with a remote probe. You need to know exactly what the temps are and as Urorex pointed out the thermometer you are using is not going to give you an accurate reading. Leopard Geckos are nocturnal animals so there is no need to have a surface temperature over 100 degrees! 95-100 will do just fine.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

thanks merlin I am going to go and buy a dimmer switch I can plug my Under Tank Heater pad into and then turn it down a bit to get that surface down to 90ish. thanks for the reply and here I thought they would be eaiser to take care of then my uromastyx. LOL

ur substrate could be appropriate depending on your geckos eating habits. sand is a big controversy, which, while some people wont liek this, means there are pros in spite of their cons. my gf houses her leo on calci sand, but every day we monitor feces, and so far we havent seen a grain. are we lucky? maybe. just be observant.


to ur question though, the rule is to offer a gradient. reptiles are very sensitive to head differences and will follow a warmth or run from it as they feel necessary. I have a red tail boa who is hatchling size (not age though....) in a 75gal and he can get up to 3" from a blackbody source around 100 deg, or can go all the way to the cold side which is high 60s at night. reptiles are very good about finding their comfort zone. what my GF does with her leo is sets the heat source at one far end of the enclosure and sets a tall hide right under it. so he can be on the cold side, under the hot side, or right under the thermal source if he wants. he has a wide spectrum to choose from

Please dont use IM slang when posting...ie "ur"...please type your.

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