more heat?

Discussion in 'Rhacodactylus (Crested) Geckos' started by Shanna66, Dec 16, 2010.

  1. Shanna66

    Shanna66 Well-Known Member

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    well its winter and so we have turned the temps in the apartment down to 72, it sometimes gets to 71. is this too cold as a constant temp for my cresties?
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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    That should be perfectly fine - they can tolerate constant lower end temperatures much better than most herps. I usually cool mine down during the winter with very little supplemental heat (I'll touch on this in a second) and ambient temperatures usually range in the 69-71 range for the bulk of the winter months. I've noted no ill effects, all still feed on CGD, hunt insects, and can defecate perfectly fine.

    I've used no supplemental heat for my Rhacs for many years and have seen no issues with feeding, breeding, etc. The last year and a half or so however, I've been creating a basking spot for a few hours during the morning using a red bulb. I've observed that Rhacs actually will bask given the opportunity, when I create an 85-90 degree basking spot I'll have a pack of girls crowding on top of one another below the bulb on the basking branch. This always seemed like strange behavior to me, because higher temperatures always were known to be dangerous to these species.

    I do provide supplemental heat for basking for a few hours of the morning to my crested geckos year round - just because of the behavior I noticed. However, mine are all kept in large vivaria and the bulb is very low wattage with the basking area being a ledge that is within inches of the bulb. This allows the rest of the enclosure to maintain the very cool ambient temperatures that the crested geckos thrive in. Now, if you were to heat the entire enclosure up to the 80's+ without a cooler area to retreat to, you will see problems.

    Moral of the story - your temperatures will be just fine = ) They will continue to behave normally in the range you described and no supplemental heat is necessary. I simply wanted to add my 0.02 on my use of a heat source. Don't be surprised if they do slow down a little during the cooler months, it's only natural for reptiles to behave this way being ectotherms.
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. Shanna66

    Shanna66 Well-Known Member

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    thanks. ive been so paranoid and worried :p
     

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