Gecko question?

[graceface]

I know this is about geckos and not bearded dragons, but I don't know where else to go.

My boyfriend just got a gecko and was using a black light and incandescent light. I told him to switch to a UTH. We got one from zoomed, the repritherm for our 30 gallon tank. We used bottle caps to elevate the tank a couple inches. I have an hde infrared thermometer gun, the one recommended on the newbie guide here. I measured above the tank 2 inches, and it's reading anywhere from 98-109 above the area where the heater is. This seems way too hot. Is there anything I can do to cool it down? It should be Round 85 right?
Thanks guys.

 

[zandi202]

Yup, it should be 85-90. What I did is I bought a dimmer switch at Home Depot, it's $10. The UTH plugs into the dimmer and the dimmer plugs into the wall. Hope that helps

 

[Taterbug]

You can also consider a thermostat on your heat mat. A thermostat will control the heat based on a temperature you set, so should the temps in your house go up or down, the stat will automaticaly adjust. With a dimmer you may need to periodically adjust it periodically.
They work the similar, mat plugs into the stat, the stat into the wall and a little probe goes where you measure the temp.

 

[graceface]

Thanks guys! Very helpful information. I think I'm going to go with the light dimmer for now.

 

[miranda2]

I use dimmers with all my cages. The only thing I suggest is to make sure you dont accidentally bump the dimmer and check temps regularly(better yet get a digital thermometer to put on the hot spot so you just need to walk by and check.

 

[lisa127]

I also use dimmers with all my cages. And I would suggest the basking temp on the heat pad be in the 90 degree range, not 85. That is a bit too low IMO.

 

[jarich]

First, what kind of gecko is it? There are vastly different requirements based on the species. Second, and this is very important, ALL heating pads/mats/rocks etc should always be on a thermostat. They can go faulty quite easily, which can lead to either a burned reptile or a burned down house.