heating

[Moose]

hi my setup is 18x15x24 tall and has a screen door and top. i am having trouble heating the tank evenly. right now i covered up most the screen and put a heat lamp with a 60 watt daylight bulb on top rigged up to a Repti temp rheostat to dim it some. im kinda paranoid about over heating them too much. is it ok to have it like 85-90 in one spot and have it cooler in other spots? Thanks
Moose

[Liz]

you knwo they are perfectly fine in room temperature right?

[Moose]

my room is at 66 degrees all the time

[smith710]

They are usually fine in room temp. ?The temperature should not excede 85 degrees anywhere in there cage. ?They don't really need a basking spot, or different temps in different parts of the cage. ?During the day, the temp shoud be between 75 - 85 and at night it should be between 65 - 75, but no lower than 65 degrees. ?90 is too hot for a crestie. ?If your room is 66 degrees all the time, that's ok for the night, but maybe you should have something on during the day.  But you gotta watch it.  90 is definately too warm.  You really want to keep it in the upper 70's.  Not much higher than that.

[Moose]

rea right now it is registering at 65 real close to the bottom even with the heat lamp on. i would turn up the temp in my house but everytime i do my mom flips shit

[Liz]

maybe you should keep them in a different enclousre.

[smith710]

lol, just keep an eye on it. ?65 is a little cold during the day, try and get it up as best as you can. ?But like I said, 90 is too hot. ?Just try and get it to high 70's. ?Maybe get a heating pad for under it. ?Also watch it at night. ?If it's that cold during the day, I'd be worried about it getting way too cold at night.  Or like liz said, maybe try a glass tank with a screen top instead of an all screen tank.  It will hold the heat in alot better.

[Moose]

yea like right now its in the low 70s closer to the top and then on the branch under the heat its at 84 .? For nights i have a 40 watt dark blue night bulb to keep it from getting too cold. but its not all screened in its got 3 sides of glass and the top is screen and the door is screen. i did cover it up with some card board to help keep heat right now

[smith710]

Oh, ok.  Just keep an eye on him.

[girly_gecko_girl]

My tank is my old 10 gallon fish tank (super cleaned out of course) and then I got one of those screen toppers that add the size of a 10 gallon tank to the top w/plastic vine, so it's equal to 20 gallons high.  I don't have any lamp on it, was sold one, but gave it to my boyfriend for his son's blue bellied lizards he caught in the spring(we just call them blue bellies....not sure what they're called, but they're all over out here).  My House gecko terrarium is kept next to the Crested and I have their lamp on the "Crested" side, so some heat goes that way, though not much and then a small desk lamp  on the other side of the Crested gecko home (told that the pothos needs light).  My place is usually in the low 70 to mid 70's and at night low to mid 60's.  When I'm not at home, the AC is set for mid 80's so it doesn't get too hot in there when I'm not at home and mid high 70's when I'm home.  And the heater was set for high 50's when not at home and at night (but changed that to 62 since I got my Crestie) and then 62-66 for when I'm home and 67 in morning hours (6-8am).  My thermostat is one that will turn on the AC if gets above a certain set temp and the heater if below. 

[Powergeckos]

You know - why not just put in a 40 wtt bulb - that will lower the temp some.  I like giving mine a hot spot - esp since I live in MInnesota and have them in the basement.

I do know that when I give them a hot spot at about 85 - that geckos will respond by laying eggs if they have retained any. 

As long as they have somewhere else to go that's cooler - I wouldn't worry about a hotter spot.  Screen cages rock - because I dissipates the heat and lets them choose the temps they want.

BTW - in the winter - I let them go to room temp.