more tank questions

ok, so I'm working on tweaking Nag's tank to get the setting in tank correct.

If I have an under the tank heater on one side, is that supposed to be on the hot side or on the cold side?

And how about the water bowl in the middle, or on the hot side?

If the water bowl goes in the middle, do I put the heat lamp above the water bowl?

I got another hide as well, so I put one hide on each side....where does the wet hide go? (the guy atr the pet store said to get a bowl and put some sphagnum moss inside and put the lid in it, and then cut a hole in the top for Nag to hide when he needs more moisture, but I'm not suite sure how to pull this off with everything else that needs to be in the tank?

HELP! LOL

well the uth should be the hot side since it heats. be sure the hot side temp doesnt go over 92 and the lowside temp below 80. you really should get another hide that isnt a humid hide, cause if one side is too hot or too cold he may go to the humid hide and stay in there and he could get sick. thw waterbowl should be about between the warm-side hide and the middle under the light.

I have 2 dry hides right now. what i am pondering is, should I put in both dry hides AND a wet hide or one wet one dry?

leave both dry and if you really think you need it one wet. put the wet one on the warm side so it actually creates good humidity.

another question please....

I think I have too much substrate in my tank. I have about 3 inches on one side falling down to about an inch and a half opn the other side.

Did I overdo it, and if so how much/little do I need?

you should probably just evn it out. i think most people who use something besides paper towels and newspaper put about an inch of substrate.

About an inch of substrate should be plenty. If it's really deep, your UTH has to work a LOT harder to heat it.

Yeah, thats kind of what I thought too. I have way too much bark in the tank. I wasnt even sure my uth was even working, till I just checked it out this evening.

so I did find out that I do have pine bark in Nag's tank. I have some aspen I think its called, and i should take out the pine bark and replace it with the aspen, right?

Yes get the pine out of there ASAP.. it is toxic to reptiles. Aspen is good.

ok....I really apreciate the advice...especially the quickness I received answers today.

I'm gonna go and redo his tank, and see how t hings go.

one last thing I just remembered. i heard someone say they used plexiglass on top of the tank to help keep the moisture in. the guy at the pet store said I can use plastic wrap as well. will this actually work, or will the radiant heat melt the wrap?

plastic wrap will work fine.

excellent

one last thing tonight, I think.

how do you clean out a tank if you dont have mites and such.

I had pine bark, and am cleaning it all out of the tank, but I dont want to use any cleanser or anything if it will be harmful.

so...plain water or dishsoap?

I think dishsoap would be a good idea to get any residual pine oils off the glass. Just rinse it really well and let it air out a bit afterwards. Should be fine.

excellent!!

Thanks folks. I truely apreciate the help...especially so quickly.

I am off to finish Nag's tank before it gets too late.

thaks again!!

if anyone is still here, if I am using aspen shavings, should I mist it to help retain moisture, or is a not so good if they get wet?

i used to mist aspen to boost up the humidity. IMO repti-bark works better for retaining humidity though.

ok...I ran into another question.

my fiancee says "any reason not to use tin foil instead of plastic wrap".

so will it work or not? any thoughts?