Too hot for cresties?

[grad student]

I am scoping out cresties as possible pets.  I work out of my house and want something nice to look at (living art) in my office.

There seems to be a perfect consensus that 85F/30C is deadly for cresties.  However, I live in an upstairs apartment and during the summer it gets 85 + up here no problem. Anybody had any experience in cooling down habitats?  I am not interested in desert species because I want the lush green foliage--preferably live foliage i.e. a vivarium.

Thanks guys.

[zuk450]

ive used frozen water bottles or ice packs on the tops of the pens, also i would do multiple mistings throughout the day, but the ice packs wouldnt lower it much more than a few degrees, and the mistings would only lower the temps for an hour or 2.

[grad student]

Thanks for fast reply.

Would I be able to see symptoms of heat stress?  What would they be?

It seems that a cage with screen only at the top might keep cooler air in better than screen front, would you agree?

It would also seem more logical to put the ice pack at the bottom of the cage, thus creating a cool reservoir at the bottom--would they migrate down to the cooler air?
At what point do you say enough is enough...I'm really fallin' for these critters (w/o owning one yet--I handled my buddy's crestie)

Thanks again, I really appreciate your feedback.

[zuk450]

you may be right about the ice packs, but my logic was that cold air sinks, so putting it a the top will allow the cool air to travel down through the pen .(screen topped pens) maybe you could buy a portable AC unit just for the summer months and heat waves, it would run your electricity bill up a bit but you wouldnt need it year round.

mine have gone through a few 84 -85 degree days and didnt seem to be bothered at all, so i dont really know about symptoms. but it was only for 2 or 3 days, and they were all juvies or adults. hatchlings are alot more sensitive to heat than adults, temps in the 80s could be fatal for a hatchling.

have you thought about another species? I know you cant usually handle a day gecko (just an example) but they would better tolerate the heat, and still allow you to have a tropical type terrarium for them.

[grad student]

Sounds like we're at about the same latitude: I've only been here for a few summers, but it seems like we get only about a dozen or so days a year above 85F/30C.  We're just south of Toronto in Canada (NE of Detroit, W of Buffulo).  But was 33C/92F up north in Ottawa yesterday.  In any case, we don't live in Phoenix or Miami where 85 max would be a regular ongoing problem.

I suspect the solution would be to build an "ice chest" around the cage, including a lid.  Thus you would just put the ice-packs on the cage lid and cover the whole thing in a foam box with viewing areas cut into it to see the thermometer.  Whether or not the insulation needs to go all the way to the bottom would depend on whether or not the cresties will go to the bottom of the cage where it is cooler.  Do you have a hide on the floor of your cage?  Do you think they would use it during the day if it was cooler?

I have a couple of ideas on how to build a custom ice chest.  One could construct it out of any insulating foam...I assume they are all easy to cut, and probably all will stick to duct tape or allow construction with wooden dowel rods.  But you could get foam from: cheapo ice chests from the supermarket, house insulation foam, or hobby shop foam. I imagine the housing foam would come in big 4X6 sheets or something...Since heat would be an issue for only three days or so at the most, I dont think the gecko would mind being in semi-darkness, and there is no way a few days in the dark is going to hurt any shade-tolerant live vegetation.

What does everybody out there think?  Will cresties go to the floor if they are heat-stressed?  Would they need a hide? And as before, has anybody ever seen heat stress symptoms , i.e. not eating?
Thanks for your input!!!

[portal_reptiles]

im glad im in oregon...only in the 60's...sucky part is the power bill is still high becuase im heating the place...grrr...