Hello,

I have some mixed feelings about the temps and humidity I am getting and I hope somebody can give me some advice.
I am trying something and I am not sure which is better. It's a little experiment, but I am doubting what to do with the result.


The situation:

My exo terra is 30x30x30 CM, not a permanent enclosure but temporary, Kermit will be getting a larger tank when the Time is there, for Christmas perhaps.
When Kermit has grown out of it.

Heating
I heat by UTH, a little heat mat of 7 watt, which doesn't get very warm, and is placed on the left side under the tank. To create the possibility of thermoregulation.

The side won't work for me, too much heat loss, and with a backdrop... more heat loss. Ergo the choice for underneath.

I also have an exo terra daylight basking spot, which is coated on the sides and sits in the light hood. I chose this bulb because heat is reflected and not beamed directly to one spot to prevent the frog from being dried out


The temps and humidity:
When I only used the heat mat, the temps were about 21 degrees Celsius on the warm side. Which was a bit too chilly so I added the lamp.
Together they create a temp about mostly 24, sometimes 25 degrees Celsius and steady, when I use my central heating it goes up a notch and it keeps at 25/26 degrees Celsius.

I mist once maybe twice a day to keep the humidity between 70 and 80% sometimes it falls back a bit sometimes it goes higher.



My experiment:


I have a little Plexiglas plate, that I can place on the mesh screen top in the front. (see picture added).
It leaves a strip of mesh free of about 1 cm for ventilation
When I use this, the temperature rises and keeps around 25/26 degrees and the humidity rises as well.

When the heat lamp goes out, the temperature keeps a bit higer up, during the night. About 23 degrees Celcius.
But my concern was the humidity, it rises to almost 90% or higher during the night, and together with the plate blocking large air movements, I am afraid of stagnant air and mold in the tank.

Is that situation harmful to my frog?
Should I leave the plate on or off, or take it off only at night...?

I like the Exo Terra's they are my favorite tank and in the Summer months they really have excellent ventilation, but in the colder seasons I have a lot of heat and humidity loss.

I don't really know what is better.
I am trying to create a good environment for Kermit, and I am a little bit afraid of doing it wrong, I really want to provide the best I can.
Can you smell the perfectionist haha


Thank you for any advice.

Joey