Almost cooked my girl : (

I have a tank set up with a thermostat (probe under tank) next to my home office desk (two undertank heaters and a heat emitter on top).

This morning I noticed my girl was "out and about" in her tank which was unusual since it was daytime. Then I looked at the temps and OMG!!!!! 118 degrees on the cool side, and 97 degrees on the warm side! I freaked out and pulled her out of there, then pulled the plugs on the heating.

Turns out the under tank probe had gotten pulled out and fallen to the floor, so the thermostat stayed on! I do have cats in this room at night, it could have gotten tugged on. It is now firmly duct-taped into place.

Needless to say it freaked me out. She seemed fine when I pulled her out (though quite warm to the touch) , and she is back in tank/hide now. But could this have hurt her? No redness on her belly, however I hope this won't have lasting effects (brain damage or something) or make her ill.

Should I be concerned?

I'd keep an eye on her, but it sounds like you caught it in time.

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Originally Posted by Sonya610

Should I be concerned?

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Keep an eye on her for sure.... If you notice anything out of the ordinary I would definitely take her to the vet to have her checked out. 97 on the hot side is not incredibly bad. If she was on that side primarily she should be fine, it's a little warm but not deadly hot. I'm assuming from your post that you've checked her over for burns etc.... and as long as there is not any visible marks she should be fine but neurological damage could be a problem. Just watch how she acts and see if there are any marked differences. Sorry to hear about this BTW it's always scary when something like that happens!

Thank you for the responses. She was on top of her hide on the cooler (98 degree) side looking alert and annoyed.

Glad to hear she seems okay. I can imagine how scary that was. Now, I'm off to tape my thermostat probe to the UTH...

You would likely see symptoms right away if there was any damage. I think she will be fine. Good thing you caught it in time.