Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For phelsuma, does anyone use an incandescent red or black heat / basking light for a basking spot? And if you do, do you leave the basking light on at night too?

thanks,
Andy

They need a cool night temperature. You do need a white light bulb during the day and nothing at night. You can use the indoor plant lights from home improvement stores. They are virtually identical to the full spectrum reptile bulbs. Their coloration is vibrant while basking under full spectrum.
Ashton

What would you consider "cool" and "basking"?

would you use heat tape or something then to regulate the temp at night if it gets too cool n your home,

thanks,
Andy

I use UV lights (specific reptile lights) and a spot bulb (basking light) to raise the day time temperature sufficiently. we do occassionally have very cold night times which is lower than it should be, so in these circumstances i turn the central heating up in the room, but just in case it gets really bad i have placed heat mats in the base of the tank operated by a switch, if it gets too bad (hardly ever) then we have the facility of turning this heat on. I try not to do this as they should only really have heat from 'above' not 'below' but in emergencies this is a good back up plan in my experience.

It has only been neccessary on a few occassions but during this time the geckos seemed to appreciate it and didnt appear confused at the change of heat source.

hope this helps
jules