body temperature of baby crested gecko

[rocketqueen]

hello everyone,
another thing i've noticed about my gecko is that when i hold him or touch him, he feels very cold to the touch...i know reptiles are cold blooded and he wont necessarily feel really warm...but is this a sign that its too cold in the terrarium?

thanks for your input!

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Not to thread-jack, but I've been wondering the same....
It's a constant 75-80deg. in my Crestie's terrarium, and he ALWAYS feels cool/cold to the touch as well...

-Wes

 

[Hannibal]

Cool to the touch is normal, I'd only get concerned if they were very cold and not moving at all (almost dead like). Normal winter temps can be between 63-68 and summer temps 70-80. If kept at room temp and you are comfortable then you little one should also be confortable at that temp.

 

[rocketqueen]

he's pretty cold to the touch...i don't know, i guess everyone's perception of what is very cold would be different...i mean, he doesn't move around a ton when hes in the tank but as soon as i take him out he walks all over my hands and arms and jumps around...he explores when i put him out on my desk and jumps alot too so its not like hes lethargic or anything...it just seems that when he's inside the tank he sits in the same place for a long time

 

[Hannibal]

He sounds normal, he's probably comfortable in that spot inside his enclosure and when you take him out it something new so he's gotta explore the new area. As he gets bigger, then he'll probably move around a lot more.

 

[rocketqueen]

i got a thermometer for the tank finally...its after midnight where i am now, and its an extremely cold winter night out there (i live in ontario, canada) and the thermometer is reading about 65 degrees. hannibal, according to what you had posted, this is a normal temperature for my gecko to be comfortable in overnight right?

 

[Hannibal]

Yes, 65 is an acceptable temp for cresties, day or night in the winter. Like I mentioned in the other thread, if you want you can set-up a 25 or 40 watt red heat bulb to raise the temps up. You can play with the elevation of the bulb over the top screen of the cage till your comfortable with the temp level. Since it is winter time and your little one is a baby it might not hurt since warmth will increase activity and food consumption. Maybe try to raise it to 70-72 with the bulb to start with and see how he does there.