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Ok, I know now that most recommend the a heat mat, if used at all, should be placed on the side of the tank. However, on advice at the point of purchase I placed a 4 watt mat under one corner of the terrarium housing my new geniculata. I have been meaning to remove/replace it with a side mounted mat but, because it warmer weather now, was not hurrying to do so.
In the meantime a couple of cooler evenings has seen a change in my Ts behaviour, or at least seemingly, and she took to spending most of her time hidden in her cork hide. So, just as an experiment of sorts, I turned the heat mat below the substrate on (I hadn't really used it since reading about problems with this placement) and in a short while she wandered out and sat right over the heat mat location. Since then, however, I have found that even when the temp is in the 70-73f range she still comes out of her hide to sit over the heat mat whenever I turn it on. I have tried this time and time again now and every time she does it with out fail.
So my question is, if this T is typically comfortable at room temp (in my house 68-70f) then why would she do this so consistently? And should I keep using this heat mat in this position or still move it to the tank side?
(she has so far never taken to digging in this area, or shown inclination to do so).
In the meantime a couple of cooler evenings has seen a change in my Ts behaviour, or at least seemingly, and she took to spending most of her time hidden in her cork hide. So, just as an experiment of sorts, I turned the heat mat below the substrate on (I hadn't really used it since reading about problems with this placement) and in a short while she wandered out and sat right over the heat mat location. Since then, however, I have found that even when the temp is in the 70-73f range she still comes out of her hide to sit over the heat mat whenever I turn it on. I have tried this time and time again now and every time she does it with out fail.
So my question is, if this T is typically comfortable at room temp (in my house 68-70f) then why would she do this so consistently? And should I keep using this heat mat in this position or still move it to the tank side?
(she has so far never taken to digging in this area, or shown inclination to do so).