Newbie habitat cold side and nighttime temp questions

[Titania]

We recently got a cute little leopard gecko. With winter coming, I am trying to make sure I have what I need to keep his habitat (a 20 gal glass tank with mesh top) at the proper temperature for him. I currently have an UTH and a heat lamp on the hot side to keep it in the right temperature range. We keep our house really chilly (57-65 F) in the winter. So, first question, my inclination is to get a second UTH and themostat for the cold side to maintain it at a proper temperature in the wintertime. Does this sound reasonable?

Second question, all of the care sheets I read talk about the proper daytime and nighttime temperatures for the gecko's habitat; however, it appears in all of the heating posts that I read from people with geckos as pets that a relatively constant temperature is maintained at least on the hot side of the tank. Do I need to worry with trying to regulate the temperatures of the hot and cold side up and down with the time of day? Or is simply having a hot and cold side at proper temperatures so that the gecko can self regulate enough?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Neon Aurora]

Welcome to GF!

A UTH and a heat lamp? That sounds like it would be too hot to me. What kind of thermometer are you using to measure the temps?

I think you would do well to check the actual temperature of the cool side during the winter before buying another UTH. I find that the temperature inside my tanks is often not as cold as the actual house temperature. But if you find that your temps on the cool side are consistently below 65 F, it might be worth it to add a little heat (not too much, you probably don't want it to go above 75 F).

My geckos all have their warm side at 90 F 24/7/365 and they do fine and go through all of the proper cycles (some go off of food in the winter, the females ovulate in the spring, etc), so I don't think you should worry about dropping the temps at night at all.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I'd agree with Neon. If your house gets under 60 degrees it might be time to turn on a heat lamp. I think a second UTH would be overkill and keep your guy too warm. As long as he has a temp gradient and a warm spot he should be fine. If your house is over 65 I would not use the heat lamp at all. it will heat up the air in the tank far too much and dry it out. Good luck with your new guy!

 

[Neon Aurora]

If you do need to add a bit of extra heat in the winter, I would highly recommend a ceramic heat emitter over a heat lamp with an actual visible light bulb in it. It's just a ceramic bulb that screws into a regular heat lamp and emits infrared light instead of visible light. You can keep it on all the time, it won't stress him out as bright lights can, and it lasts a very long time.

 

[Titania]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. The tank isn't too hot. I'm monitoring the temps of the hot and cool side using 2 different thermometer probes located on top of the reptile carpet near his hides, and I occasionally spot check the air temperature on the warm side under the heating lamp. Right now, the UTH is controlled by a rheostat, but I have a thermostat arriving tomorrow. I think that once that arrives, I'll move the heating lamp over to the cool side (as needed, which I think it might be in the winter here...it's a small heating lamp), and just use the UTH for temperature control of the hot side.

Thanks again for you input and advice!