Turn heat off or down at night?

[Crunchewy]

My wife was saying she heard a gecko expert vet on the radio saying leos should have the heat turned off at night as otherwise the constant warmth dehydrates them. It's true that in the desert they wouldn't be so warm at night. I'm wondering if this makes sense?

 

[lisa127]

That's the way it is in nature, yes. It cools off at night. But I use the same heat at night as I do during the day. The house is naturally cooler at night anyway.

 

[cassicat4]

All of my tanks cool off at night on their own due to the natural cooling of my house. I don't need to adjust anything. Check your temps late at night and see what yours are. Mine drop anywhere from 5-10F which is expected.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Depends entirely on how cool it ends up in the room. My room is normally cool and gets very cool at night, so at night I use a CHE to keep the warm side at about 10 degrees below the daytime temps. If I don't use one, the warm side could easily drop down to 20 below the daytime temps, which is too much of a drop. But the cool side of the tank usually gets nice and cool, which gives her a gradient if the warm side is too warm (though 90% of the time she stays on the warm side at night).

~Maggot

 

[Ozy]

I don't drop my leo's temps at night. Her heat mat is always on. thermostat is always at 93.

 

[Josh P.]

I do create a day and night cycle on my terrariums using digital thermostats. Works great.

 

[Lindz0518]

I keep my UTH on 24/7 but let my ambient temps drop about 10 degrees at night.

 

[jenibo]

I don't turn my temps down. Mainly because I feed her before I go to bed and want her to have proper heat to digest her food. Her tanks cools slightly at night on its own and she has a temp gradient and can always go to the cool side if she gets too warm.

 

[acpart]

I agree that's what the temperature gradient is for. Could you let me know what the radio show is? The reason I ask is that my vet was recently interviewed on the radio about leo dehydration and resulting eye problems. He believes that many people keep the ambient temp too high which leads to dehydration and blindness.

Aliza

 

[Josh P.]

I agree that's what the temperature gradient is for. Could you let me know what the radio show is? The reason I ask is that my vet was recently interviewed on the radio about leo dehydration and resulting eye problems. He believes that many people keep the ambient temp too high which leads to dehydration and blindness.

Aliza

In his opinion, how high is too high?

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I agree that's what the temperature gradient is for. Could you let me know what the radio show is? The reason I ask is that my vet was recently interviewed on the radio about leo dehydration and resulting eye problems. He believes that many people keep the ambient temp too high which leads to dehydration and blindness.

Aliza

But wouldn't, theoretically, leaving the temps up at night only exacerbate that issue?

~Maggot

 

[acpart]

As others have posted, in most places the ambient temperature drops at night. I think there's more of a problem when the ambient temp stays in the 80's. I leave the heat on all the time and under the hides which are on top of the UTH it probably is always pretty hot. Once they move out of the hides, which they do at night, the temp at this time of the year is in the high 60's.

Aliza

 

[Ozy]

Personally I have my UTH thermostat set at 93 degrees with no other lights or heat on her cage. Cool side is 78.5 right now on the floor, at night it usually drops to around 72. I don't think dehydration is an issue if you keep a humid hide in their viv, because one reason they go in there is for hydration. My leo has a routine.. She sleeps in her humid hide, then comes out and goes in her cool hide for a bit to cool off, then goes and lays in her hot hide which is always at 90-93 on the floor. Her hot hide is also her "dinner time" hide, that's where I drop her roaches and mealworms one by one for her eating enjoyment. Then she usually lays on her stomach in the dry hot hide for a couple of hours, then goes back in her humid hide for a bit, then goes over behind her cool hide and takes her poo. You could set your watch by her.. LOL

 

[Embrace Calamity]

As others have posted, in most places the ambient temperature drops at night. I think there's more of a problem when the ambient temp stays in the 80's. I leave the heat on all the time and under the hides which are on top of the UTH it probably is always pretty hot. Once they move out of the hides, which they do at night, the temp at this time of the year is in the high 60's.

Aliza

I'm confused. Jenibo said she doesn't lower the temps at night because that's what the gradient is for, and you agreed. Then you said about the dehydration, and I asked about the lack of lowering causing dehydration, and now you're saying the ambient temperature drops at night and it's an issue if it stays in the 80's.

Personally, at night I keep the warm side about 80 and the cool side mid to high 60's (it's a 20L, so it's got a great temp gradient). Usually my leo stays on the warm side.

~Maggot

 

[acpart]

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. What I meant to say is that as long as the ambient temperature isn't in the 80's 24/7, then dehydration shouldn't be an issue. I was thinking of it as 2 kinds of heat: the heat generated by the UTH which I keep on at a constant temperature (around 92F) all the time, and the ambient heat (caused by the temperature of the room they live in) which fluctuates depending on the time of year in my climate and also fluctuates between daytime and nighttime. My impression was that the geckos that are in greatest danger of dehydration have no respite from heat in the 80's because they are in a reptile room that's always kept quite warm. Let me know if it's still confusing.

Aliza

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. What I meant to say is that as long as the ambient temperature isn't in the 80's 24/7, then dehydration shouldn't be an issue. I was thinking of it as 2 kinds of heat: the heat generated by the UTH which I keep on at a constant temperature (around 92F) all the time, and the ambient heat (caused by the temperature of the room they live in) which fluctuates depending on the time of year in my climate and also fluctuates between daytime and nighttime. My impression was that the geckos that are in greatest danger of dehydration have no respite from heat in the 80's because they are in a reptile room that's always kept quite warm. Let me know if it's still confusing.

Aliza

So you're more concerned with the temperature outside in the room than the temperature of the enclosure?

~Maggot

 

[acpart]

I would expect the temperature outside in the room to be similar to the air temperature in the cage (except right near the warm side). For example, at the moment, my living room is measuring about 71-72F using my temp gun. The floor of the gecko cage I checked is 89F right outside the hide on the warm side, 73 on the floor of the cold side and 71-72 in the air inside the cage. If it gets 10 degrees colder in the living room, I expect the air in the cage will also get 10 degrees colder. I'm actually not concerned about the temperature in any part of my living room or gecko cage since I already know that the temperature on the hot side is stable and appropriate and the geckos can thermoregulate as needed. I'm not concerned about dehydration because for most of the year the air temps aren't above the low 70's in the air.

Aliza