Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i know crested gecko cages arent suppose to be above 80 degrees, but our AC isnt doing so well today. we have called a repair man but until then i need help. my gecko tank is about 87 degrees right now. i dont know what to do. i put an ice pack inside the tank at the bottom and i have ice on the screen top so it can drip down. i would soak them in cool water but they arent very handleable. if theres anything else i can do please let me know. if 87 degrees is VERY dangerous and anyone thinks they might actually die, TELL ME and i will move them to a friends house with AC. please respond, i need any help i can get right now. thank you

Anything over 85F for an extended period of time can be dangerous. That being said, some cresteds can handle the stress better than others. We had a spike in temperature for a few hours one day and I also put ice on the top screens to keep the tank cooler and that is a fine trick for a few hours, but if you are going to be without AC for more than a day I would move them just to be safe.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

I am going to reply to this one with some advice very different than the usual tact.

While it is comendable for owners to attempt to meet a animals conditions as closely as possible.It is not always necesarry to be so exacting.

These creatures have developed in the wild for millions? of years entirely without our assistance.

We as humans love averages ..average humidity 75% average temp average rainfall ,

We try to match that in our cages..well I dont want average humidity I want to mist everything down till its soaked 100% humidity , then dry out so everything isnt molding .Nature calls that rain .

We try to incubate eggs by putting in a presise amount of water and then replacing by weight .Well I use the scientific method of hmmm feels slightly damp ..if I squeeze it hard water will come out. at this point my hatch rate is at about 98% for over 200 eggs. Im thinking nature doesnt have a scale when it rains...

Temps.. Cresteds do not fall over dead at 86 degrees.. and thrive wonderfully at 84 degrees. I was vacationing in Florida last year and was nearly in tears when my son still in NY called to ask if the house should realy be down to 45 degrees with all the reptiles in it. I figured they were all dead I had a repair man there imediatly and when I arrived home was delighted to learn I lost not a single animal. They survived at least 24 hours in those temps. I have since made back up arrangements to avoid that experiment again.
Provide plenty of water dark shaded areas to bury themselves in and a large moist hide and youll find your geckos doing what geckos do..will surivie the occasional spike to 90 degrees just fine.Do I suggest you keep them at 90 or above?No.. if the temps are going to be insane try your cellar perhaps..

I have found cresteds to be amazingly hardy animals that require very little fuss.I suspect more cresteds have died from overly concerned owners and over zealous solutions than harsh conditions ..but thats only a theory.

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High temps for a long time can be dangerous, especially with young crested geckos. What methods you took so far are good. Use a probe or temp gun to find out what the temps are in the hides, near the cold pack (cover it with a cloth so your geckos can't accidently stick to it (ie tongue can stick on frozen surfaces as the moisture freezes against the cold frozen surface). If the hides and darker areas of the cage are cooler than 80F you shouldn't have to worry but if the temp is 85F or above everywhere, then you will need to move your geckos someplace cooler.
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PHLdyPayne

I know nothing about crested geckos (just browsing the forums)

But why not spray the tank inside and out with water and put a big 'ole fan on it to cause the water to evaporate. You would be very surprised how much cooling evaporation provides. When my aquarium got too hot one time I blasted it with a fan and the temp dropped so low that the heater couldn't even keep up.

Hope this helps.

I used to have the same problem..
I would reccomend moving the tank to a cooler spot in your house, and maybe spraying the tank a little bit more often so that they do not dehydrate.
Other than that, maybe place a small fan by the tank, to help to cool it down.

Good luck