Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok so here is my problem. I have a 20g tank and 1 leo. I have a UTH at one end and a reflector lamp on at the other. My problem is this. I was using the lamp during the day to keep temps up to 85ish and the UTH was on all the time also. At night the lamp would go off (12 hour cycle from 8am > 8pm)and the UTH would remain on but i was told on this forum that the lamp needed to be on during the night instead (Along with the UTH). So which is it. Lamp on at night or day. I would say day but as i live in Europe it gets cold at night (Can drop to 63F at the end where the lamp was) but at the end where the UYH is it stays a constant 80ish

OK, let me make sure I have this right, you have a UTH on ONE side of a 20 gallon and the OTHER side has the lamp? Depending on the side of your UTH where this your cool zone in the daytime if they are both on?

80s at night is fine. Pick a side to be the "warm" side and move the lamp over there, buy a different wattage if you are worried, since it is inadvisable and voids the warranty of the UTH if you have a lamp over it and they are both on, but some of us have to do that from time to time. (Try living in Minnesota, USA, our border problems are with Canada and tonight's temp will be a warm 15F and it is only November. That is not, in anyway cold, trust me, leos can survive short times in the 60s, but not a regular basis, 15F on the other hand, not so much. Most likely, the gecko will find the spot in between that hits a nice 75F and stay there at night )

Summary: 80s fine at night UTH only, don't use heat sources on two different ends and think about upgrading your bulb so it can be the only heat source on during the day for the safest keeping and lowest fire hazard.

Good luck!

(So my "attempting not to post because I was annoyed at something that happened on the other gecko board" lasted only a few weeks... am I getting stronger?)

-----
0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

So do i switch the red reflector light off at night then? At the moment i have this and the UTH on. At the end where the reflector is it gets up to the low 80's and the UTH end it stays at a constant low 70's night and day. My question is do i switch the timer on the reflector to come on during the day (With the UTH) and only have the UTH on at night? At the moment the UTH is the only heat source during the day and at night i have a UTH (low 70's) and reflector (Low 80's) on. I would have presummed that i would have the reflector and UTH on during the day and only the UTH at night but i got slated for this on this very forum 3/4 months ago and was told to switch it.

Still looking for an answer to this.....So do i switch the red reflector light off at night then? At the moment i have this and the UTH on. At the end where the reflector is it gets up to the low 80's and the UTH end it stays at a constant low 70's night and day. My question is do i switch the timer on the reflector to come on during the day (With the UTH) and only have the UTH on at night? At the moment the UTH is the only heat source during the day and at night i have a UTH (low 70's) and reflector (Low 80's) on. I would have presummed that i would have the reflector and UTH on during the day and only the UTH at night but i got slated for this on this very forum 3/4 months ago and was told to switch it.

Well, I thought I made sense, but I'm confused by your new post above, so maybe I shouldn't post at 3am.

I have no idea what your setup is now and I'm confused. So here is, in my humble opinion what a leo setup should be:

Pick a "warm corner", you want it really warm in the day and warm at night.

Put a properly sized UTH under that.

Find a visible spectrum heat bulb, ideally one with UV as well and clip, hang or otherwise attach it over the same "warm spot".

Buy as cheap or expensive timer as you like, in the daytime have the visible heat lamp on and UTH off (see my other post about starting a fire and violation of warranty)... at night, UTH comes on and light goes off.

If you are talking about one of those night light bulbs that supposedly aren't seen by geckos, dump it in my opinion. (We are currently having a discussion about that on the crested board.) People have posted here that leo's irises respond to them so at the very least they are sensing something from them.

So ideal setup: light/heat lamp on during the day, UTH at night.

Again, my humble opinion there are people here that don't use lights or don't use UV lights... but my 9 3/4" female (no giant blood line) seemed to have grown well under these conditions.

Hope this is more clear.
-----
0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock