General Care Discussion :: cold water

[michaelangelo04]

i think this goes here.
i have a res and he's going be 3 in jan. we have i think 20 or 30 gallon tank for him, and we are having problems keeping it warm. i know if the water gets too cold, they think its time for hibernation. help. i don't want him to hibernate. we had a heating pad before, but that was getting messed up.

[cprcheetah]

Get a water heater and a thermometer. They should be kept at least 73 warmer if they are hatchlings. They may hibernate, also are more prone to respiratory infections if get too cold, not to mention activity level may go down and they won't be able to metabolize their food properley, leading to other problems.

[KellyP]

A heating pad doesn't really do much. You need to get one of the in tank aquarium heaters. Make sure you get one that allows you to adjust the temperature (some of the cheaper models don't offer this feature. With that you shouldn't have any problems keeping the tank warm enough.