Heating / Lighting crested gecko help

cindynaseema

New Member
Messages
2
Location
Canada
Hello!

So after researching and purchasing everything necessary since February, I went to a reptile expo this past weekend and am now the proud owner of a juvenile Crestie! Hes gorgeous :3 . He's a good size, and even though hes not eating the respashy I purchased, he did eat a few crickets yesterday, so I might buy a different brand and try that.

My main problem is that I live in Canada, and this past week its gotten pretty cold. My house is holding temp at around 65 I think. So I had purchased a red night light (50 watt) (Hes in a 30G tank so I wanted a higher wattage bulb than the recommended 15, with a ton of branches and cover and has been roaming around and finding his favorite places to snuggle in during the day). Anyways, I was only going to turn it on during the day as something to keep the tank heated, and just let it naturally fall at night, but when I did that the first night, it dropped to 62. So now I've been keeping it on all the time. The thermometer is right below the light, and the hottest its gotten in the 2 days straight I've kept it on is 74, and currently its actually at 72. So my question is, is it actually safe to leave it on all the time? Is it going to mess with his sleep cycle? (He's not in direct sunlight but my room gets a lot of light during the day). Should I have some sort of different lighting? :main_robin:
 

indyana

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,336
Location
Massachusetts, United States
There is some evidence that geckos can see red light, although it is supposed to bother them less. If you are going to need to heat the cage around the clock, perhaps you could try a ceramic heat emitter, which emits heat with no light.
 

slym

New Member
Messages
11
Location
Canada
I live in Canada as well, I know the issues, what I use for my guys during the summer is a 60 watt incandescent bulb, and during the months of Fall and Winter I use a 75 Watt incandescent. Myself and lizards live in the basement so it can get cold (they live in 20 Gallons) I can keep the heat round 70 on their floor consistently, 65 at night.
 

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