Trouble keeping substrate moist throughout

[Bedore]

Paul, bedore, thank you very much! The bottom of the tank is definitely not swampy, that was a big concern of mine. He is a green pac man frog and I've had him a little over a week now. The ceramic heater sounds like a great option, but where do they go inside the tank exactly. He is in a 10 gal with coco. So, I technically don't need this light in his "day" period? I was wrong, it is a 75 watt exo terra "intense basking spot" light. If I don't need that light then I could eliminate a lot of trouble by just using the 50 watt "infared basking spot" light I have to keep temps up. Would this be adequate? To read temps I am using a small hand held digital IR thermometer for the time being. There is a lot of light in the area he is in during his day time. Thanks!!!

No problem! They certainly do not need a basking spot/light. That would go a long way in explaining why the substrate is so dry on top. A ceramic heat emitter is a type of ceramic bulb that produces no light but infrared heat. You would screw it into a fixture and you would set the fixture on top (like you did with the basking light) or you can suspend it above the tank using a lamp stand. If you have a screen/wire top you can set it right on the screen so long as it's stable. Be sure to use a fixture that has a ceramic socket and is made to be used with a CHE as they do get hot. Make sure there is no way it can get knocked over and obviously don't place it too close to anything flammable (like curtains etc). I have mine on a lamp bracket/pole/stand so I don't have to worry. You could start with a 60W CHE and if that is not enough upgrade to a 100W.

If there is plenty of natural light then you are fine. Just make sure that the enclosure is not right next to a window as the sunlight could amplify through the window and into the enclosure and make things really hot. 12 hours of natural light is what is generally required.

[MikeIsGreen]

Wow! You guys are fast! A pic of your setup would help immensely! Desertheat, thankfully I did squeeze all the excess water out of the substrate when making up his habitat. Maybe I'm just not misting enough when I mist. Is there a rule of thumb of how much you mist? I'm on the fence about whether or not to remove the spot light. I don't want to do him any harm, you know? But on the other hand, it seems a bit much, but I'm way too inexperienced to make such a call. If the ambient light in the room is fairly bright then maybe the heat lamp might be enough...? So confused lol...thanks guys!

[DigitalPunk]

I should add that my setup is for Red Eyed tree frogs and not a Pacman, but the same general principles apply.

[Mentat]

Pacman frogs are nocturnal and do not require any type of light other than light in room. A basking type bulb will create heat and drying within it's beam and is counterproductive in a your frog enclosure. This is a ceramic heat emitter: Fluker's ceramic emitter l Heat source for reptiles l Reptile heating; and this is a dome with built in dimmer for it: Repta-Clamp Lamp Ceramic w/ Dimmer Switch. Those are made by Fluker's; but there are other brands with similar products too.

You can try removing the basking bulb and use aluminum foil to block off most of the screen top, to reduce heat and humidity loss. Then if needed, can increase the wattage of your heat source or use a combo of two sources (i.e. a ceramic heat emitter and a heat pad) to reach your heating goals. Good luck !

[MikeIsGreen]

Right on, thanks for that Paul! Carlos, I just turned the light off and measured the temperature when I did and it was at 81.7 I currently do not have aluminum foil, so I'll keep a close eye on everything and see how it goes. If the temps drop I assume I can add the heat lamp and that should be fine..? Also, (this just hit me and will sound stupid) but I e been keeping the light on during the day. Was I completely messing up his sleep time? Man I feel dumb..edit-THANK YOU for the links!

[DigitalPunk]

I failed. Went home for lunch and my order of crickets and fruit flies arrived so I sorted those out and then the 2 baby frogs got delivered so I sorted them out and then I realized i was 10 mins late getting back to work. I'll have to get a pic tonight.

[MikeIsGreen]

Haha! Thats fine man..no worries! Sounds like a pretty cool lunch to me! I turned off the basking light and turned on the infared light and current substrate level temp (where he is nooked up) is at 81.6 and half inch above that is 82.4 which to me seems good, but what say you guys? Thanks!

[DigitalPunk]

again not being a packman expert I would say it sounds good to me.. I would let one of the other experts chime in before you take me word for it lol.