Tank Heating

[astralruby]

Hello, I'm a new BTS owner and I brought my boy Radish home last Saturday. i had his tank set up ahead of time, and had used several websites along with a care guide provided at petsmart to determine how to set up his tank. He generally seems happy and is slowly but surely becoming less shy and more willing to be handled. However, I was reading through the care guide provided in this forum today and a couple of points concerned me.

1. My tank does not have a basking rock, though there is a fake log/cactus on that side he seems to enjoy propping himself up on when he basks. I have a large flat rock that I could move to the warm end, but it's his primary hide and I'm worried if I move it he'll be distressed and won't be able to hide in it anymore if it gets too warm.

2. I have a heating mat, inside the tank but under the substrate. Would it be better to remove the heating mat all together? If I do this is it okay to turn the heat lamp off overnight or will it need to be left on 24 hours to keep things warm enough.

His lights are on a timer and on from 9am-9pm, he seems to favor the cool side, but mostly for his hide and doesn't avoid the warm side. I use carefresh pet bedding as substrate and have a UV light on the cool side of the tank as well as the heating lamp on the warm.

I'd appreciate any advice, since I've gotten conflicting information. I was told that skinks needed a heating mat or 24 hour basking light but the guide here says heating mats can be dangerous.

[splashy07]

Ok, first of all I wouldn't put much stock in a care guide from petsmart unless you brought home a kitten. Would like to know what type BTS you have. Carefresh bedding is unsuitable for just about anything but a northern, and I don't even like it for them. I use it for my rats. Way too dry for reptiles. A heat mat inside the cage is never a good idea, and if one is used at all it needs to be controlled by a thermostat. You will need a hide on the warm end and the cool end so he can choose. He will need a basking area, you can even have a hide that he can sit on top of for the warm end. What are your temps? What is the ambient temp in your house at night? I have never used nighttime heating for my BTs. My place doesn't drop below 66-68 at night. A picture of your new pet and the enclosure will help. Welcome to the forum!

[Y33T]

having the basking light on for 24 hours is really bad. they have a third eye (the little dot on the top of their head) which is sensitive to light, having the light on all the time will mess up their sleeping pattern. they don't really need any heating at night unless where you live is very cold.

[Janella]

Hi there and welcome to our forum. I couldn't agree more with Splashy07. If you can post some pics it would also help us determine exactly what care Radish requires.

[astralruby]

Thanks for the advice guys! Radish is a Northern and my room/cool end temps are usually around 75-80 during the day and no less than 70 at night while the warm end is usually around 90-95. I have a thermometer on both sides and a hydrometer on the cool side.

I turned off the heating mat (but can't remove it until I clean the tank because of the wires) and rearranged his current hide and added a new one. Here is the current set up