complete shedding success!!!!

[Atticus]

Well our first shed took place without a hitch. My baby is now all shiny and very healthy looking. I now have another ?? . I have atticus in a 25-35 gallon tall tank. I have a heat light on the top and a heat pad underneath his hide. I think the pad is getting too hot for him. It is a zoo med brand. Would it be better to just put a human one with thermostat control. I really dont think he is really fond of alot of heat. he seems to find the coolest spot of the tank and stay there most of the time. Any and all feedback will be appreciated.

[green_man]

How are your temps sitting?
The prob with the zoo meds is they stick to the bottom of the enclosure. There is no room for air circulation and it does tend to get too hot...

edit: not to mention zoo meds are more expensive, and only have one setting.

[Atticus]

My temp is usaully around 75-85 I live in the very hot desert. so late in the day we have to turn the pad or the bulb off because it gets so hot in the room he is in. I have my temp gauge on the side whare the bulb is. Should I move it?? Also humidity is kept above 55% all the time we have to spray and soak alot because of living in a extremely dry climate.

[green_man]

That doesnt sound to hot. To tell ya the truth it souns a hair too cool which is odd with you using a zoo med and a bulb. What kind of thermometer are you using?

[JLC]

You can continue to use the UTH that you've already paid for...just get a thermostat to hook it up to, or at the very least, a dimmer switch (rheostat). If you haven't already done so, you should raise the tank up a bit so that the UTH is not resting directly on the surface beneath it. There must be room for air to circulate. Also, get a reliable digital thermometer that can measure the temps on both the hot side and the cool side of your enclosure. Keep one of the probes from your new thermometer directly over the area where the heat mat is so you will know if it's getting too hot.

[JLC]

PS - And congrats on the clean shed!! That's always a relief, I know!

[Atticus]

Just one of those strip ones that changes colors with the temps. But as the day goes on and it heats up outside the temp can raise up to 95-100. Thats when we turn one of them off but I like the idea of a switch that will do it automatticly so if I am gone Im not stressing about it.

[green_man]

The problem with the stip thermometers that stick to the glass is the arent measuring air temps, they are messuring the temp of the glass. They arent terribly accurate. I would recommend heading to wallmart and picking up a digital thermometer with a temp wand. They are much more accurate. I bet you will find that your temps are a lot different then what you thought.

edit: they are pretty cheap too. 15 bucks I believe. Well worth the investment.

[JLC]

I've got this thermostat hooked up to my UTH and it works very well:
http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_...at_924105.html

And you DEFinitely need to get a new thermometer. That little plastic strip can't measure the temperatures any more accurately than you can with your own hand. Check out Walmart for their dual thermometer/hygrometer. It's very reasonable and will do lots of things for you. It'll measure the temps on BOTH sides of your tank at the same time, which is important to know. And it'll also keep track of the maximum and minimum temps reached over a period of time...so you can check and see if the tank got too hot during the day, even if you weren't there to watch the readings.

[Atticus]

Thank you for your help Judy and Jeffrey By the way my name is Sherry Im off to walmart to get those things before I have to go to work.