Nixiemaiden
Hatchling Member
Ok so my house is usually kept at between 70 and 75 degrees and Pouncey's basking spot was always between 100-110 degrees. I usually check his temps a couple of times a week (he is in a 20 gallon long until Christmas when I get him a bigger tank so there isn't a spot to keep a probe thermometer in there.).
Anyway it got really cold here a few nights and the temp in my house dropped down to 65 so I turned the heat on so it wouldn't get below 70. Well the problem is that it gets really hot during the day so the temperature inside the house was up to 79 degrees.
Pouncey has been acting strange the past couple of days. He has been spending a lot of time in his hide and he had a lot of undigested worms in his poop. At first I figured it was because he is getting ready to shed his tail and two back legs but then yesterday he was acting the same way. I took his hide out and put another basking rock in there (the one he usually has doubles as a hide) and then he just hung out underneath his hammock. I measured the temp of his basking rock and directly under the bulb it was 127! Less than an inch away it is only 100.
I am just wondering if there is something wrong with my bulb (zoomed 50 watt about 8 inches above basking spot) or if the extra 4 degrees in temperature can seriously raise it 17 degrees over. I don't really have a lot to work with here since it is a pretty small tank and I don't have a way to put the light higher up. I also don't know if it is safe to use a dimmer because I have everything set on one of those strip timers.
I turned the AC back on and got it down to 75 again but won't be able to measure his temps until lunch time so his light will have been on for a few hours by then.
Anyway it got really cold here a few nights and the temp in my house dropped down to 65 so I turned the heat on so it wouldn't get below 70. Well the problem is that it gets really hot during the day so the temperature inside the house was up to 79 degrees.
Pouncey has been acting strange the past couple of days. He has been spending a lot of time in his hide and he had a lot of undigested worms in his poop. At first I figured it was because he is getting ready to shed his tail and two back legs but then yesterday he was acting the same way. I took his hide out and put another basking rock in there (the one he usually has doubles as a hide) and then he just hung out underneath his hammock. I measured the temp of his basking rock and directly under the bulb it was 127! Less than an inch away it is only 100.
I am just wondering if there is something wrong with my bulb (zoomed 50 watt about 8 inches above basking spot) or if the extra 4 degrees in temperature can seriously raise it 17 degrees over. I don't really have a lot to work with here since it is a pretty small tank and I don't have a way to put the light higher up. I also don't know if it is safe to use a dimmer because I have everything set on one of those strip timers.
I turned the AC back on and got it down to 75 again but won't be able to measure his temps until lunch time so his light will have been on for a few hours by then.