First Crested Gecko. Little help with heat debate.

[noreen14]

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Hi everyone. Got our first baby Eyelash Crested. Conflicting advise on whether or not the tank needs to be heated. Both Petland and Petco insist I need a three bulb setup. Flurecent, a blue bulb for daytime and a red for night. Said temp must be in mid 80's. Reptile store advises no lights at all. So does a friend that has the same Gecko.
I compromised and put a 45 watt Red light in. Keeps the temp around 72 degrees. Last night I turned the light off and this morning the temp was 66.
During the day while we are out of the house, the house temp for the winter is around 66.
Is there any harm in keeping the Red light on 24/7? Do I need the other two lights? Need the advise of you experts. Thank you.

[Aimless]

upper 60's won't harm your gecko, but he'll be happier and possibly less likely to develop any health concerns if you keep him a little bit warmer.
I'd personally leave the red bulb on 24/7, if that keeps him in the low 70's. your crestie will do best at "warm room temperature", which is low-to-mid 70's.

young cresties will also grow a little better if you keep them in the mid-to-upper 70's because it helps to boost metabolism.

mid-80's is pushing the danger zone for being too hot. as a rule of thumb, your crestie can tolerate temps into the low-mid 80's, but should not be kept that warm all the time.

this is just my opinion, but I hope it helps?

[LSeelt]

I keep my house much warmer than you because I have a young baby. It hovers around 72-73 and never drops below 70. We still keep a normal daylight bulb on the baby cresties enclosure during the day and that keeps it at around 75-79 and then we let it drop to our house temp at night.

I personally wouldn't keep my cresties at much less than an average temp of 72. A little drop at night and a little higher during the days.

Just my personal opinion.

[aquamentus_11]

I can tell you from my experience with my garg that Aimless' info about growth rates and feeding, etc. being positively affected by higher temps is absolutely true. I keep my house in the low 70's in the summer, but when I started adding a little basking spot (max 80F), he really took off: colors began to pop, appetite went through the roof and he became very active at night. In fact, he spent about half of the day basking.

As Aimless says, mid-80's are definitely too hot, but I think you'll see much better results if you boost temps up to the high 70's during the day...72 would be perfect at night and on the cool side. I personally just leave my cool side at about room temp (66F for me).

I just picked up a tiny cresty today (my first) and I am heating one side of his critter keeper with a 40W CHE laid on its side about 2" from the plastic. That side is 78 and the cool side is 68 I just make sure that my lamp is on a non-meltable surface hooked up to a thermostat. I'll let you know how it works for me. I'd love to see some pics of your gecko btw. I'll post some of mine.

[mikew1234]

76 to 80 is more than adequate. over 85 has proven to be deadly fairly quickly.

[aquamentus_11]

just as a follow-up, mine has eaten twice in the past 2 days both times about the size of a dime: that's as much as my garg was eating after several months of work when i had him in the low-mid 70's. i've only had the cresty for a week. this a HUGE difference. what did you decide to do heat-wise? and take pics!!!

[acpart]

If I didn't have a planted tank I wouldn't use lights at all. I don't use extra heat and have 2 grow lights for the plants that provide some heat as well. I've had my 7 year old crestie since he was a tiny guy and he seems healthy and happy. In the summer if it gets hot he goes into his basement "condo" where it's cooler. The ambient temperature during the day in my house is probably in the mid to upper 60's and he's probably a bit warmer because of the lights.

Aliza

[aquamentus_11]

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Yeah I plan to start seasonal temp cycles once he's an adult but while a juvie I'll keep him a tad warmer. Can we get some pics of your viv?