Hey everyone. New guy here! Sure you guys get that a lot. I had a couple questions. I've been reading and studying, but sometimes you just gotta ask in your own words to get it straight; hope you guys go gentle on me for that, LOL. So we got a little new guy hatched in October for my daughter and she is loving it. Even I'm becoming more entertained by the little guy every day. (I'd post a pic if I could do attachments) Couple questions first...

So I know what my temperatures and everything are supposed to be, but I'm a little confused about heating pads vs air temperature. I have a pad on the bottom of the tank for the warm side. It's running right around 90* measured directly on the surface inside the tank. The air temp in the house (and thus up in the air in his tank) is cooler than what you see recommended. Is he still getting the warmth he needs from the surface? Do you need both requirements (heat the air and the surface with a pad)? Probably my biggest concern.

Humidity is too low. I know we need to work on raising that, and I've been reading up on things to do. Going to get a non-vented lid for half the cage and some fake plants we can keep distilled water spritzed onto for starters.

He's had one shed since ownership and it went fairly well. Soaked a couple times. It all came off and seemed to go as textbook except for about 3-4" of skin still on his neck starting just behind his head (his head shed just fine). Still hasn't come off good. Just keep soaking? He doesn't wanna keep his head low when soaking, thus making it difficult to concentrate on that part of his body to soften up that skin. Guess we'll keep trying.

I was surprised to learn about soaking up to an hour. Do you monitor and control the water temp during this time? Obviously water cools off relatively quick. Past soaks I have done what was needed to maintain that ~85* actual water temp.

Eating. Thanks to this forum, I learned that these guys can fast in the winter. Had no idea. But I'm gonna throw this one out there anyways... Tuesday, 5 Feb will be three full weeks without eating. Concerns? He had eaten well three times before he started fasting (and thus three times since ownership). Nothing has changed in his life to spark this; his environment, handling, all those types of things have remained unchanged when he was eating well vs now fasting--info in case it matters.

Even though he hasn't been eating, here's some info for you guys on this little guy. Including back when he was eating well, during shed, and now while fasting, his activity and mood has not seemed to change. In fact, our guy seems quite different from most information I read about these guys. He's active quite often, not shy at all, and never minds being handled. Very rarely does he go into or stay in his hide. He is handled just about daily. While I wouldn't label him a wiggle worm, he's very curious and adventurous outside his cage both when being handled or out on other surfaces.

Also as info, when he was eating, he's apparently not a striker. Feeding him fuzzies. We place them in the cage and he could care less. No interest at all. We made the decision to leave the food in the cage over night. Each time, we awoke the next morning to discover he had eaten successfully. This same routine worked for each meal and we thought this was just gonna be his style, up until the fasting started. Yes, I know about the threats of unattended rats, but also read that overnight is safe with fuzzies or pups.

Anyways, thanks everyone for your time and help. Hope I can get to where I can contribute and not be the new guy!