Heating issues

[rangosclan]

Okay, so this is kinda two fold. We have two tanks and my fiancee's nefew has one. the reason i am writing is because since we had to start running the air (just the fan) in the house we have had a terrible time trying to get the heat in their basking spots to get above 95 degrees in their basking spots. We are using a 160 watt MVB in the 1.5 year old male's 40 gallon short cage with an under tank heater and a 150 watt basking bulb in the 3 week old's 20 gallon tall cage with under tank heater and our nefew is using 125 watt MVB bulb in his 1.5 month old's 29 gallon tall cage. What are we doing wrong and what can we do to help the temps go up? Also, the 1.5 year old male won't eat his crickets today. he has had a bowel movement but won't eat his crickets, or his salad, is this probably because he's too cold? Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[Gail]

Easiest way is to increase the height of the basking platform. I use bricks or flagstones so I can increase the height by a inch or 2 at time. The other suggestion is to add extra heat with ceramic heat emitters. The two tall tanks pose a problem, when it time to upgrade tank size make sure to get regular ones and not tall ones.
You might also want to try a different thermometer, those bulbs really should provide enough heat.

 

[rangosclan]

will do, thank you