Cool End Too Hot..

[Seth]

I've had my new blue tongue for a few days now and everything is going really well. He's amazingly tame and often "asks" to come out of his enclosure.

The only thing I'm a little worried about is the temperature on the cool end of the tank. I should start by admitting that I am using a cheap stick-on thermometer at the moment. However it is reading at about 84-86 degrees. He hasn't shown any strange behavior as far as I can tell, no hanging out in the water or staying burrowed for unusually long but I would still like a way to make it just a little bit cooler. I filled his water bowl with refridgerated water every so often but other than that, I'm sort of out of ideas. I don't think that this would effect the temperature, but in case it does I'm currently using Carefresh in his home.

Any suggestions are welcome, even "don't worry about it's".

Thanks guys (and ladies),
Seth

[justyna.ewa]

That is a little warm for the cool end. Is your hot end also too hot? Cause then you could just raise the heat lamp further away from the tank, suspend it or something. Is the ambient room temperature very high? If so, you can try an AC, or at least a fan.

[Rani-May]

Hi there, im not as knowledgeable as a lot of members on here but I will still try to help until they can give you their advice.
Im not too sure if its different depending on where you live for temperatures, but here where I live, a blue tongue skinks cool end should be around 70 degrees. and the basking spot 86-95 degrees
Im guessing you are using a rather smallish enclosure? how many feet is it? the smaller the tank the lower the bulb wattage people usually use, so maybe lower the wattage? And if it isnt an open tank (without a lid) perhaps, if in your case possible, you could remove the lid or even turn the top into a mesh/wire lid instead of glass? Though im not sure what you already have obviously lol. but you do need to have some kind of ventilation maybe.

[Seth]

My hot end is about 96-100 degrees, so it's not too hot. It's actually suspended within the tank. And the room actually has it's own AC. I did try a fan near it yesterday but it didn't seem to make a difference. I'm thinking it's the ventilation in the back of the enclosure, it doesn't have a screen top on it. I believe it's called a Critter Condo so it has three fairly small vents on the back side.

[justyna.ewa]

the only way to reduce the cool end and keep the basking end hot would be to crank up the ac, then get a more powerful heat bulb - or crank up the ac, and keep the same heat bulb, but raise the basking spot. just make sure its not too close so he doesn't burn himself.

[Seth]

I don't believe the enclosure is too small. It's 4x2x2 and I don't think that I could fit any large. He hasn't made any move to get closer to the light at any time so I'm leaving "cage in the light" on my To Do list for right now.

My only idea so far is too maybe create a way for more air to flow through the tank.

[Rani-May]

I agree, i think it could need more air flow.

[Emz3]

Is it a wooden enclosure or a glass tank? Was it custom made?

[Seth]

It is a wooden enclosure with sliding glass doors and three small vents in the back. I believe it is called a Critter Condo, but I could be wrong. It definitely seems custom, at the very least, hand made. From my understanding they are mass produced through because the person who gave it to me had about 5 stacked together.

[LarissaLurid]

I'd try adding more ventilation. The cage is definitely large enough to be able to have separate temperature gradients, but I think that only having a few small vents is going to keep in a lot of that heat.