Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have some questions concerning lighting and temps....

Are the warm side temps supposed to stay at 88-90 degrees all day and drop a little at night, or are they that high all the time, day and night?

If the temps are supposed to stay at 88-90 24 hours a day, what kind of light do you use? I am assuming a normal heat lamp bulb wouldnt work because it woudlnt provide the night and day cycle since it would be on 24 hours a day. Would a red heat basking lamp work? http://www.petsmart.com/products/product_606.shtml The one in the link is probably the one i would get so check it out please and tell me if its ok. Thanks.

Rob Woods

We use under tank heat pads, we use the size to fit the size tank they are in. You can use heat tape if they are in a racking system, we prefer belly heat to back heat for our geckos. I also have some of my geckos in my temp controled room that maintains at 85 degrees and they are doing just great!

I myself do not like the heat lights with the lamps becaue they constantly burn out. The under tank heat pads you can also plug into a thermostat to keep it at a certain temp as well.

Hope this helps.
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I agree, I use heat tapes for all my geckos and they are at a constant 86-88 degrees on the warm side on the container. I like it much better than the light bulb.

I will not be able to get those high temps without the heat lamp though. That is why i need to know about the heat lamp. Also, are the temps supposed to stay the same 24 hours a day or do they decrease at night?

Rob Woods

I use a heat lamp at the warm end and a 40 watt light bulb on a timer in the middle. This combo gives me 88-90 deg. on the warm side during the day and 78-82 deg. at night, I have the heat lamp hooked up to a dimmer switch so I can adjust as needed. Also to help the heating of the floor I use tiles My leos are very healthy and happy with the set-up.
Sorry for the big pic.