Fussy Eaters!

If your UTH heater can't get the right temps then your substrate might be too thick or your UTH is faulty.

By heated correctly; you need to make sure that it is the floor your heating rather than the air. Set your thermostats probe on the floor, so that it cuts off when the FLOOR reaches 95F not the air.

If you make sure your light is only pointing towards one side so it only heats that side. The other side will stay at room temps.

the light bulb is at one side of the tank and it heats the whole tank not just one side. the substrate is definately not too thick and im pretty sure the mat is not faulty, its probably to do with the tank itself i dont understand the need to heat the floor either- surely in the geckos natural environment their whole surroundings would be hot, not just the floor?

In the gecko's natural environment they come out at dusk. So the air is a little cooler but the ground is still hot from the sun.

It needs to only heat one side so that the gecko can thermoregulate.
Cooling itself when needed and heating itself up when needed.

If the whole tank is hot your gecko can never cool down, and will overheat, especially if air temps reach 95F.
This the reason for a 'cool side' and 'hot side'

hmm, its very strange for a heat mat not to be able to reach optimum temperature's. You should have a look at the original packaging (if you still have it) see if it give's any indication on what sort of temperature's it is supposed to reach.

That's because exo terra uth's kinda suck. I have never seen one get over 85*F. If you were to use a different uth and a different substrait you would make temps with out the bulb.

As fa as why a bulb is wrong... again, leos live in rocky craigs, the rocks are heated from above and below from the heat conducted thru the packed earth desert. After the sun sets it stilll takes several hours for the heat coming from the desert to drop low enough to actually affect the temperature of the rocky craigs they live in (and it's also the reason I say a night drop of more than 5 degrees is improper) which provides constant consistant BELLY HEAT long after the rock overhead has cooled off.

ok, so it might be worth me getting a new UTH? what would be the best brand to get? i know also that i can buy heated rocks for them to lay on, although i have heard stories of them malfunctioning and geckos being burned, is it worth getting one or too risky?
perhaps if i could have an exact checklist of how the viv should be laid out, what everything should be like during day and night, including humidity just so im clear.
oh and my thinner gecko is still thin but the other day he hunted and ate two crickets which seems a big step forward from being fed baby food.
one thing im a bit confused about is that after he eats, he seems to go around his tank scratching and wiping the left side of his mouth against anything and everything, although this hasnt caused any damage to his mouth im still a bit worried

You ae correct avoid heat rocks. Fortunately being in the UK ultratherm uth's should be readily available. They're the best. It's called a cobra heat may. Heats at a consistant 100*f. That's what I use and always make temps.

The care sheet in the housing section has everything you need to know about setting up a proper habitat. Please check it out. Humidity in your tank should be dry... about 30-40%.

Yeah avoid the heat rocks as Kel said.

Also the cobra heat mats are good, another good one is the Habistat one.
But avoid the ones Vivande or Algarde. They are rubbish.
I think that's what they are called. Can't remember exactly but its something like that.

I'm surprised your gecko's were even willing to eat baby food, they normally only eat things that move.
But it defnitely a big step, and its going to be muc better for their health and digestive system.

my viv is 30" length and 11"width, what size heat mat would i need? i am going to purchase a cobra heat mat, i am confused though, isnt 100F way too hot? i fished out the packaging for my current heat mat earlier, it is not exoterra as i thought but habistat, i have the 12 watt mat that was sold to me when i bought the leos.
i looked at the caresheet thread and am considering getting the laminate tile things, but where can i buy 'high end' ones, also can a heat mat be placed underneath one? i have a wooden viv so i could not place it outside of the vivarium.

After it heats thru the substrait and glass of your tank it will be greatly decreased to the 93-95 range you want. Since my subatrait is so thin I have to use a rheostat to dial down the temperature to an acceptable range. It sounds like you're using a 20 long tank. I have a 20 long and I use the 6yx11 7 watt cobra heat mat. Your uth should cover about 1/3rd of yhour tank floor on one side.

well its not heating through the glass of my tank, as i said previously my tank is wooden so the uth would have to be inside. and where can i buy high end vinyl floor tiles?

Yeah the UTH would have to go under the tiles in the tank.

Are you in the UK or US?
in the UK, best places will be Homebase, BnQ and stuff like that.

violeteyes is in the uk Jordan, i only know because i sent her some syringes.

here is the layout of my viv, i know the heat mat is in the wrong place, and the thermometer is only on the mat to measure the temperature, its usually in the middle

http://bit.ly/fPXgZ2

http://bit.ly/euYXhz

these are the tiles im looking at, im more tempted to belive the expensive one is safer

Wow that is quite a massive difference in price lol. Im guessing that the 7 quid one is quite high end.

But Kel is the tile expert.

would slate work for a substrate? i have a large sheet of it, would a uht heat through it?

I would of thought so, try heating it to see if the heat goes through it

Yeah slate works but i think there are some properties of slate which make it not the best. But there are lots of keepers who use it.

ive had a bit of a shock. i opened up my tank to have a check on my geckos, just got my new heat mat ordered and bought some tiles, and i found my healthy gecko dead. he must have been dead for about six hours whilst i was out at work, and quite badly eaten by crickets. i cant understand why he died but i noticed blood around his little mouth what could it be? i want to quarantine my skinny gecko away from the tank now, im going to try my best to keep him healthy

Im sorry to hear that, not sure what could of been wrong but will look into problems that cause bloody mouth and see what i can find.
I stopped feeding crickets after that happened to a baby bearded dragon of mine.
do you have a tub you can put your remaining leo into?

Awwwww, I am so sorry to hear that.

awww im soo sorry to hear that.

yeah im sorting him out a home now, however he is the skinny one that wont eat. im wondering if it was the gecko soup that caused him to die (i fed the healthy gecko some every now and then to make sure he kept his size) and as i fed him last night it would make sense, but then my skinny gecko has not been affected and now i dont have any faith that he will survive either, he isnt eating bugs and i dont know what to feed him

Again, I am very sorry for your lost. And I hope your other gecko will be okay.

We have a section for members to post about pets they have lost as a tribute to them. So if you ever want to write a little tribute for your leo, go to: http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/f28-lost-pets-memorial.

*Hugs* I hope you're okay.. and if you ever want to talk about it.. please do not hesitate to message any one of the forum staff. We are here to help in anyway we can.