Help please 1st time new BTS mom with questions.

[Snowysmom]

I would like to introduce myself as this is my first post. My name is Cathy and I purchased a few month old Indo BTS last week. I have never owned one before and am having difficulties with heat and humidity issues and yesterday it caused Snowy some distress and I am sad about this.

I have a 20 gallon , 12" high, screen cover, until she gets bigger. I use Eco Earth and mist it 2 to 3 times a day and turn it too sometimes. I have a humidity gauge that goes up to 55, 60 after a spray,but after a few hours goes down to 30, 35 and stays there and overnight goes down more. What can I do to keep humidity up and how high should it be. Is moss in a corner an option? I have moved the good size water dish closer to heat area and nothing changes. She did have a great shed a few days ago because the ground is usually somewhat moist. I am wondering maybe if a different substrate would help, but you are the experts.

Just as big of a problem with me is heating. I have a heat pad on cool side where temp. is around 75 day time and over night whole tank is 70 like my house. I had no idea why Snowy rarely went to the hot side, but found yesterday that her ground temp was 96 above pad on cool side!!! So last night I built up the substrate some in the cool side hide where she spends all her time. As soon as she felt the coolness, she raced over to the basking area because she is not used to temps being anything but hot now . I took a little dirt off where the pad is a littleto let some heat back through and she went back in after pacing around tank for a while and went to bed for night...poor girl. The hot side is a problem too as the 100 watt is too strong when on the screen top , ground is 100 and top of hide is 115!! I raised the light 4 to 5 inches off the screen with a hanger and air temps say 85 and top of hide is 95. It''s so confusing to me that the air temps are so cool compared to substrate / basking spot. Are we going by air or ground/basking area temps and how do I get there? I may need a 75 watt bulb for hot side and ditch the 100 watt?

I think the night temp of 70 is too low, is a night light heat light say 50 watts acceptable and where, on top of my tank and what to do with the pad on cool side?

If you need anymore info please let me know. I am anxious to get her comfortable and she has been very inactive, is eating a little most mornings when I put her food out thank goodness.

Thank you new friends-
Cathy and Snowy

[Dood]

I use a humid hide to keep the humidity up. It is a large Tupperware with a layer of 2" gravel on the bottom and a layer of sphagnum moss over that and it always has water in it, I cover it with a chunk of cork bark just to look more natural and to help limit evaporation.

You should go by substrate or rock temperature and not the air which is why a temperature gun is recommended.

I would move the under tank heating pad to the hot side as the entire point of having a temperature GRADIENT is so the animal can choose if they want to be in the warm end, cool end or somewhere in the middle. I've only ever used a basking lamp in one end of my 4' tank that is aimed at a 2" thick slab of slate which holds the heat for several hours after the light goes off.

[Snowysmom]

Thank you. I think I will remove the pad completely. I just purchased some slate and moss. So, the tupperware is for her to go into like a regular hide? Is this for humidity for the whole tank or just in the hide itself. I love all this knowledge on here. Very grateful.

[Dood]

Just humidity in the hide.

If I notice my skink in there more than normal I will pour a cup or so of water over her bark substrate in the rest of the tank to add humidity there as well, but when she is due for a shed she will stay in the humid hide more.

[Susann]

Congratulations on your new friend and welcome to the forums!

I have a 20 gallon , 12" high, screen cover, until she gets bigger.

How long is the tank?
I find that the longer the tank is, the easier it is to achieve the proper heat gradient. Just to make sure you're aware, BTS aren't the type of reptiles that get stressed from too much space; the bigger the better is usually the case, even from the time they are tiny, as long as you provide plenty of hiding spaces along the different temperature zones.
Since you need a heat gradient from the upper 90's on the warm side (with a hot spot in the low to mid 100's) to the low 70's on the cool side, the more space you have between the two sides the easier I find it is to adjust the temperatures. And as long as you have enough space between the two it won't matter if your hot goes a little too hot and/or your cool goes a little too cool, because you've provided plenty of access for your skink to choose whatever temperature she needs in between.
Does that make sense?

I use Eco Earth and mist it 2 to 3 times a day and turn it too sometimes.

That sounds absolutely perfect.

I have a humidity gauge that goes up to 55, 60 after a spray,but after a few hours goes down to 30, 35 and stays there and overnight goes down more. What can I do to keep humidity up and how high should it be.

It should be wherever it needs to be for your skink to not have any problems with shedding; there's no set number because the different species are different and each individual is different within the species. Yes, Indos tend to require higher humidity, usually in the 50-80% range or more, but not all require it to be that high.
And remember that humidity gauges tend to be notoriously inaccurate. I would worry less about what the gauge says and more about where your skink seems to thrive. You've only had her for a week If you're keeping the substrate slightly moist then you should hopefully be fine.
If you need to raise the humidity more you can cover part of the screen on the top of the tank. Be aware that that tends to raise the temps as well.
You can add a large water dish on the warm side.
Some people have had great success with cigar humidifiers --some have used the actual thing, some have improvised their own by buying a dish with suction cups (from like Wal-Mart) for the inside wall of the tank and putting a wet sponge in it.
If you have the money you can buy a humidifier. Either the room-kind and aiming it towards the tank; you can buy the reptile kind --there are any number of them at prices starting at about $40 and on up, with a variety of functions. Some use the Repti-Fogger, I use a MistKing. If you want to go that route just google 'reptile humidifiers' and see what would work the best for you.
Or make a humid hide like Dood suggested

Is moss in a corner an option?

Absolutely.

I have moved the good size water dish closer to heat area and nothing changes.

Like I said, you could add another one if you've got the space.

She did have a great shed a few days ago because the ground is usually somewhat moist. I am wondering maybe if a different substrate would help, but you are the experts.

If she shed fine, then no worries. A different substrate might work if she starts having shedding issues, but Eco Earth should be a good option. Most of us play around with it to find what works for us in whatever climate we're in. Eco Earth, Repti Bark, cypress mulch are all great choices, try mixing in some moss if you find you still need more with whatever you're using. The options can be endless.

Just as big of a problem with me is heating. I have a heat pad on cool side where temp. is around 75 day time and over night whole tank is 70 like my house.

The most-used options with people on this forum seem to be:
A) overhead heat with light: Regular incandescent bulbs (can be dimmed), Spotlight bulbs (can be dimmed) --tend to concentrate the beam of light/heat, Fluorescent bulbs --tend to produce much less heat, Mercury vapor bulbs --emit UVB rays which many of us choose to supply but is not necessary, but in a small tank this would likely produce way too much heat. There's also the red nighttime bulbs (can be dimmed) if you need to add heat at night from overhead.
B) overhead heat without light: CHE = ceramic heat emitter. A great way to provide heat from above without adding light and these are great on a dimmer. This is what I use in all my tanks along with fluorescents, this way, with the CHE on a dimmer, I can adjust the heat in small increments as needed throughout temperature changes in my house throughout the year. Note that these get very hot and need special fixtures.
C) under-tank heaters: reptile heat mats can be great on glass tanks (not sure if all of them can be put on dimmers?) but I've had several malfunction (overheat until they melt) so I've gone away from using them, but many here have great success with them. Heat cord and heat tape have a much smaller malfunction rate, but I do not have any experience with them so can't tell you the pros or cons.

I've probably forgotten a ton of options here... Hopefully someone else will pipe in in that case.

found yesterday that her ground temp was 96 above pad on cool side!!!

That is a problem and that's exactly why so many of us use temp guns as they measure the temperature exactly where our skinks live and lay.

The hot side is a problem too as the 100 watt is too strong when on the screen top , ground is 100 and top of hide is 115!! I raised the light 4 to 5 inches off the screen with a hanger and air temps say 85 and top of hide is 95.

Those temps were a little too warm (100 and 115) but actually not bad for an Indo as long as she has lots of other hide options in case it's too warm for her. I'm assuming the spot on top of the hide is the warmest spot in the tank? A hot spot around 105 is fine.

It''s so confusing to me that the air temps are so cool compared to substrate / basking spot. Are we going by air or ground/basking area temps and how do I get there? I may need a 75 watt bulb for hot side and ditch the 100 watt?

How exactly are you measuring? And how much of the tank does the heat mat cover? It could be the heat mat that's warming the substrate. And if your temperature probe is on the glass to measure "air temp" it could be erroneously showing a much cooler reading than say hanging down in the middle of the tank. You want to measure the temperature where your skink spends her time, so mostly on the ground and on tops of hides. You can lay the thermometer, or the probe of the thermometer, in all those spots throughout different times of day and night, to find out what they are, or with a temp gun just aim at the spot and bush the button --temp guns also allow you to "sweep" the entire area while telling you exactly what the temp is throughout. MUCH quicker, easier, and more accurate.

I think the night temp of 70 is too low, is a night light heat light say 50 watts acceptable and where, on top of my tank

You don't want it to dip much lower than 70 for Indos, but if you're sure it doesn't go lower you should be fine. You can add a red night bulb if that makes you feel more secure, that way at least she has a warmer spot to go to if she gets too cold, and the additional heat it spreads throughout would be added security in case the temp in your house dips a bit lower. 50W might be a bit much, but it's hard to guess on that as every tank in every house heats differently. It's a trial and error for everyone I'm afraid to achieve the right temps.

what to do with the pad on cool side?

If you can put a dimmer on it it might be okay to keep there or move it to the warm side. Or just go with overhead.

Hopefully I didn't overwhelm you too much with all that!?

It might be good to show us a picture of Snowy to make sure she really IS an Indo. If she really is a few months old then there's a chance she was born to a wild caught mother that was shipped over here, and in many cases the seller has no idea of the species.

[Noah H.]

I think part of your temperature problem has to do with the size of the tank (because it is smaller, it's holding in more heat). Instead of completely ditching the 100w bulb, go to Home Depot or a hardware store and look for a an adjustable light dimmer (generally used for lamps and such). You can use this to control the output of your lamp bulb. I use this, and it makes adjusting the temperature so much easier!

I second the opinion to just get rid of the heat pad altogether. Your BTS should be able to handle 70F at night.

Good luck!

EDIT: Looks like Susann covered everything I've got to offer, so you can ignore this (I'll just have to type quicker next time ).

[sacs4010]

Snowysmom seems a lot like how I was Susann. lol

[Snowysmom]

Thank you Susann, Noah, and Dood. You are helping me so much. I will be asking a lot of questions until I feel Snowy is happy and safe. She's a sweetheart. I tried to upload a picture here, so hopefully you can see it.

So Susann :When I came home from work yesterday at 5 I went to take Snowy out for her 5 minute 1 on 1 with me. I had her hide in cool side not on heat pad all day and so the ground was not 95 and my poor girl was so cool to touch. I put her in my cupped very warm hands and rubbed her head with my thumb as she closed her eyes and then placed her in my sweatshirt pocket and she lay in there and loved it for a few minutes until I put her back in her home, on the hot side hide where she basks onthe top. She stayed there for 20 minutes or so and then back to that cool hide. The hide I think is also retaining a lot of coolness, moisture because it is a very low turtle shell and a very small opening on only one side. Her hide on the hot side is a half log open on both ends and I feel I should switch the hides to give her her favorite hide on the warm side maybe? It is dark so I think she loves it best. Her other hide she only used the 1st day I had her.I will start by saying that I did do away with the heat pad which was on the cool side of her 30" long tank, the very end of the tank, so last 1/3. I put a 50watt blue night bulb on the screen on the hot side last night for over night.. I do have a digital pocket temp. gun. The temp on the vivarium wall said 72 cool side and 79 on the hot side. I need to take the substrate. She is always still in the cool hide and it is too cool I think. I will get more reading tonight and tomorrow on hides and substrate with new bulbs, etc. I don't understand why I can't get that cool side ever above 75 air temp. Would moving the hot side light toward the center of her home help? I don't mean right in the middle, but away from the end of the tank more.

Right now I have the long 30" 25UVB T8 strip on all day and did change my 100watt day blue bulb with UVA to theat same bulb only with 60watt as there was no 75watt. That is on at my house directly on the screen for the 1st time today. Will report on that. Is there any other bulb that would be better than this , I do not like the basking lights as well, but what is best, I will do. I added a chunck of wet moss behind the water dish today also. I am interested in the sponge inthe dish too that you mentioned What exactly is the dish with suction cups? Is it a bathroom fixture at Walmart? I have no room for another dish unfortunately. I will buy a reptile humidifier if all else fails soon. Mist King sounds good.


Again, I am very pleased with the help on this site and so fast. I have some health issues that have been ruining my life and this little sweetie is making my days a lot happier already. Can't wait until I have it all straight.

Thank you!

[sacs4010]

I believe you will find that this forum is awesome and full of great people. This is by far one of the best communities of people I have experienced.

[Susann]

I do have a digital pocket temp. gun. The temp on the vivarium wall said 72 cool side and 79 on the hot side. I need to take the substrate. She is always still in the cool hide and it is too cool I think. I will get more reading tonight and tomorrow on hides and substrate with new bulbs, etc. I don't understand why I can't get that cool side ever above 75 air temp. Would moving the hot side light toward the center of her home help?

72 on the cool side is perfect; 79 on the "hot" side is not warm enough ...unless there is an area she can get to on that warm side that gets into the upper 90's? I don't think you need to worry about getting the cool side cooler, I think your warm side needs to be warmer. And this is the struggle with smaller vivariums; if one side of an enclosed tank is 90 degrees (which I think you should aim for, with maybe a raised spot closer to the heat that gets into upper 90's, low 100's) then how do you keep it 20 degrees cooler just a foot and a half away? I find this to be a MUCH easier balance with a larger tank. But you have what you have for now and need to make it work.
Many of use raised platforms to get a hot spot in the right temp range without heating the entire warm side. You said you have a hide there that gets pretty warm, and I'm sure the top of it is the hottest area in the tank.
I'll show you what I've made, very inexpensively, with single tiles and PVC pipe:

IMG_1586 - Copy.JPG

IMG_4527 - Copy.JPG

IMG_4516.JPG

You can do the same type of thing with a smaller tile.

I am interested in the sponge inthe dish too that you mentioned What exactly is the dish with suction cups? Is it a bathroom fixture at Walmart?

These types of things:

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[Dood]

Yeah that ⬆️

Also keep in mind that you just changed it so the under tank heater no longer makes the cool side 95 and it will take a few days for your skink to alter his habits.

Stop trying to force him to keep warm - as long as he has options (hot, cool, humid area) he'll do what's best for himself - of course all this is easier to accomplish in a bigger tank so that's what I would focus on fixing first.

[Snowysmom]

Thanks you guys. It has broken my heart that when I've come home for the last few days and taken Snowy out for play that she is soooo cool. I did move her favorite hide and she went immediately to the warm side for the night. She has a preference for sure. Went out today and bought her the same type of hide she likes for the cool side so she can have it both places.

Susann, those temperatures of 72 and 79 were night temps only with a heater after taking the pad out. My house is too cool at night. Went home yesterday and 60 watt bulb does not get the temps up enough during the day. Will probably take the advice and get a dimmer and adjust the 100watt. I keep all my bulbs. May get a 40 or 50 gallon tank by summer. What are ideal dimensions for a 40 or 50 gallon tank? Your set up is gorgeous and right now I have a dark gray turtle shell hide that is pretty flat and raised a few inches for Snowy to bask on and next to that I have a 7 inch long flat piece of slate on the ground as a choice. Of course things will change with a larger tank . Should have come on here, talked to folks first and then I would have gone with her permanent home right away. People told me a big enclosure would scare her and I believed that group of people. Not good.

Humidity is slightly better with the moss added to the tank but will add the spnge and then go for a mister if those don't work together.

Will keep updating on how things are going if that's ok. You all have beautiful animals. Hope Snowy thrives like she should and grows to be a healthy big girl.

Thank you!!!

Cathy

[splashy07]

Looks like you got enough info, now for the compliment....your Snowy is absolutely stunning!
Best of luck with her!

[Snowysmom]

Awwww, thank you. That made my day. Just hope I do a good job with her.

[Romeyrider]

It seems like you are on the right track. Congratulations on being a new bluey owner and welcome to the site!

[Snowysmom]

Thanks Romeyrider!