Setting up a heat lamp for my crestie

[MoonGecko]

Hello all!

I got my first reptile pet, a crested gecko named Lunari, back in August. In the summer time our inside temperatures were warm enough for her but now it's winter (Nebraska winter, brrrrrr), and I'm needing to set up some sort of heat lamp for her. However, I've read that cresties are super sensitive to temperatures that are too high, and I don't want to fry her, so I'm trying to be really careful of how I set this up. Right now she lives in a 12x12x18 terrarium, which is what she came in when I adopted her. She has a 24x18x36 Exo-Terra coming in the mail tomorrow. Basically what I'm wondering is what kind of heat lamp I should get for her. And do I need to hang it above her terrarium or can it just sit on top?
Additionally, how do I make sure it doesn't get too hot for her? She has a thermometer but it's the super cheap kind and I've heard it's probably best to use a temperature gun to monitor the temp in different areas of the enclosure? All in all I'm just lost as to how to handle this and looking for some advice on what exactly I need to buy for my Lunari. Also, since her terrarium is a vertical space, how do I go about making sure there's a cool space for her if she needs it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GF!

What's the air temperature in your house in the winter? In my opinion, if the temperature is at least in the mid 60's you don't really need any heat. If you feel you need it, you could consider an infra-red heat light which you could set on top of the enclosure. Heat rises, so the bottom of the enclosure should be cooler. I think this is a better solution than using a ceramic heat emitter because I think that may heat things up too much.

Aliza

 

[Dwaggie]

hi there!

i hope i can just add to this topic, instead of opening a new one
i have real troubles with my heating, so in the winter (right now) my room temperatures are around 15-18°C (which should be around 59-65F)
is that acceptable for a crestie for a while?
(i don't have one with me yet, but i will get one next week.
i have a pre-owned tank with a small heating lamp in it, but i'm not sure if it'll work well (it's a wooden tank thing, and the lamp is on the inside, hangning from the "roof", so it's likely my gecko would come into contact with it sooner or later)
maybe a "normal" lightbulb could work?
one that's not made for heating, but becomes warm anyway?
or is it safer to keep the gecko in lower temperatures until my heating gets better?

 

[DrCarrotTail]

My gecko room gets down to about 65 in the winter. I would worry about heating if it got any lower than that. A few days between 60-65 won't hurt but much longer or frequent dips and I would get worried. Instead of buying an actual reptile heat lamp I would get a 15watt bulb from a normal store and place it outside the cage near a corner. You can buy a dimmer you can plug the bulb into on amazon to control the temperature if its too warm. I would just get one corner up to the mid-70s and not worry about the whole tank temp. The gecko will seek out the warm spot if it needs it and you don't want to risk overheating and killing your little one.

 

[Dwaggie]

thank you!
that's a really cool advice!
i can definitely get one corner warmer,
i'll try and get a second thermometer so i can make sure the warm spot isn't too hot