Am i suppost to be worried about ground or air tempature with a pacman?
My tank's air tempature is about 69.1F which i am very worried about... Though the ground tempature is 78.1 F. I do have foil ontop of the cage, but i don't want to fry him either.
I really need some advice on what to do here, what to get that can help me with this problem... Currently my home base for supplies is Pet smart.
I would really appreciate if i could get all the help i can!
Thanks!
RicoThePacman
Hi, With the way the temps have been lately im not surprised your having problems. If you have a dome to put a bulb in I would suggest to buy maybe a 40 watt red bulb or night bulb to help bring the temps up. Either one would work because by the sounds of things you will need to keep it on at night. If you cant get a thermostat I would buy a dimmer from good old walmart or home depot. Or you could buy a dome with a dimmer on it.
Hey, I've got a night and daylight lamp in a zoomed mini dome heat lamp. It's a double by the way. Not sure if i read it right but what i believe i have is a 50 watt bulb for daylight.. The writing was kinda worn so i'm not sure
Night is 60 watts, that brings ground up to about 80, havent checked air with it on.
RicoThePacman
If the ground is 80f with it on then I would throw it in, the air will be a few degrees hotter. if you can get the air to around 82 and the ground even around 78f during the day that would be better then what it is now. Then at night just dim it down a few degrees.
Ill contact you in a bit if it improves, just make sure you check for my post every once in a while, once again thanks for your awesome help.
RicoThePacman
Too low unless you're using a heat mat which will create a hot spot on the bottom
RicoThePacman
It doesn't matter on size, all will produce the same amount of heat, accept larger mats will cover more space. You can take the foil off, there's no need for it really. Heat mats are not designed to heat the air and create more of a hot spot animals will seek out for heat. However, when it heats damp substrate some heat will go into the air. Use a digital thermometer, place the probe directly on the mat to get an accurate temperature reading, as well as a thermostat probe. My frog moved the thermostat probe the other day and the mat reached 100F. The thermometers you stick on the side of the cage will not accurately measure the temperature of the mat as they measure the ambient temperatures but you need to measure the temperature of glass underneath the substrate, where the frog will be. Although the ambient temperatures are low, the frog will burrow down to the mat to heat up. Don't use bulbs with heat mats unless the mat is on the side, as then there will be heat coming from both directions so it may confuse the frog
RicoThePacman
If it's not directly on the mat it will give off an inaccurate reading. Inside the cage. I have my thermostat probe and thermometer probe under the substrate, directly on top of where the mat is
I don't know about all matts but the zoo med UTH are made to heat the air in the tank. This is the last paragraph from there instructions manual. But I will admit that the amount of headaches you get trying to get this to work, its a lot easier to just use lights.
Plug Heater In:
The ReptiTherm® is designed to slowly heat glass, and then the air inside of your terrarium. The heater will take a minimum of six hours before you get an accurate temperature reading in your terrarium. If your animal spends all of its time near the heater it means that there is not enough heat in the cage. Supplemental heat should be added immediately.
If someone could make me a list of what I should do here, or what I should purchase that'd be wonderful. He does spend most of his time near his heat pad. I have 50 watt bulbs, everything seems to be perfectly spot on.. But what the he*l is going on?!?
RicoThePacman
The reason why it heats the air is because it heats the substrate, which then disperses the heat but it's only minimal. I'd imagine damp substrate will create more of an ambient air temperature. When used on the side, without anything to buffer the heat it will not heat the air but any objects near the mat, if you get me? Typically heat mats are used to create a hot spot where the animal will warm itself up. I wouldn't even listen to their instructions, as it doesn't emphasize enough in their instructions the importance of a thermostat! Habistat and pro rep are my favourite brands. I personally use it on the bottom with a thermostat and I have absolutely no problems with temperatures, as I've said heat mats can reach 100oF when unstatted but mine are always on a thermostat. They're not really amazing when used on the sides, unless you're using it for a arboreal animal that will seek it out for heat but a Horned frog won't really do that during the day, when it's in it's burrow. Heat lights work well but do tend to dry the tank, but in larger tanks a moisture gradient can be created.
but my problem is it isn't heating the air. The air peaks around 74-74.5F. The substrate peaks around 81-83.4F
RicoThePacman
Correct me if im wrong, the thermostat* (corrected) controls the wattage running to objects in order to make it warmer or cooler?
RicoThePacman
Exactly what I'm saying and you've proved my point, thank you! They do not work well at heating the air! However, it doesn't matter, the frog will get heated up as it burrows down and just because the air is cooler doesn't mean the ground isn't ideal. The glass will get heated up, the frog will burrow down and then get heated off the warm glass. If you place the thermometer under the substrate atop of where the mat is you'll see that it's quite warm and that's where the animal will be. The air temperature is only important when using a heat bulb.
A thermometer monitors the temps, a thermostat controls the heater to achieve the temps. Both are needed
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