Reptile & Amphibian Forums

thanks,,,,,,Greg

Since they will need to absorb the heat through their bellies. Use a reptile UTH on a rheostat or thermostat.

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

Leos do better with their heat source coming from the bottom of their enclosure. UTH or heat tape works well with a light dimmer or rheostat.

My personal opinion is that overhead heat during the day is the best for any reptile. At night, if you need higher temps than your room, undertank or a ceramic or 'night' overhead work well.

However, any heating method that raises the air temperature in the enclosure, rather than just heating a patch of substrate, is good, and diurnal animals that use the light to aid thermoregulation require overhead heat more than nocturnal animals.

This is copied from a post I made earlier, with a bit added on. I don't agree that you absolutely must heat with a UTH, and that leos do not do as well using lights. Both can work in my (limited) opinion. I am peculiar in that I'm not comfortable using UTHs, paranoid about cooking my little guys. Comes from a previous career in medical research and seeing creatures burned on heating pads, as well as posts on various herp forums. I use the red heat bulbs day and night, but utilize heavy ceramic-type shelters and flat rocks that hold the heat and thus give the lizards a source of belly/body heat as well as the heat from overhead. It is interesting to me to see the nocturnal lizards seek out and use these sources to regulate their temps. I figure it is a lot like them coming out of their burrows at dusk in nature and using rocks that have been warmed by the sun. That's just my experience using lights. Use what you feel is best for your leo and you are most comfortable with. Good luck!

i use a regular 60 wat bulb during the day and a uth at night my leo is fine and sometimes bask under the light
also i have a q if leos need heat in bellies y cant u use heat rocks. i already know i dont but this is just a q
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I am a leo lover i currently own only 1 leo but who cares. ialso have a fire-bellied toad and a shiba inu which is a japanese dog.

Heat rocks get way too hot and can cause very severe burns...
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Josh
My Email

np

I just saw the screen name LeoLover but did not see 456 behind the name, forgive me. I only got 4 hours of sleep and have been at work all night long, so its late and I need to get to bad!

My fault! I'm sorry I'm just out of it! I'm probably already in slumber land and dont even know it! LOL

Shayna