Heating Pad?

[Kristy]

So my gecko is 8 weeks old now. Is he a Juvie or still a baby? I haven't weighed him yet. Anyway he is in a 10gallon tank (I take him out if I give crickets). The weather is chilly at night already, so I use his moon glo blue bulb. As it becomes steadily colder I will need to keep him warmer as our house temp is always 62-68 F in the winter, even during the day. I dont want it to always be below 70F for him. Should I get one of those zoo med stick on heating pads for the daytime? Are they safe to leave on most of the time? I'd use a combo of the pad and bulb as needed probably. I dont have a way of having it under the tank right now. Is there a way to use it without sticking it on permenantely, so I can use it when I get an exo terra tank? Most of the year the house is in the 70's F, but winter we just bundle up and keep the heat low, because oil is so freakin expensive. He is in the warmest room of the house. So do I get a stick on heating pad? I am concerned about having it turned on all the time. He loves the warmth from the moon glo bulb already!!!!
Kristy

 

[Ozymandias]

well i would defantlly use some type of heating element the heat pad might not be perfect to be honest (it's used for more belly heat) but you can also look in ceramic heat emitters or heat bulbs. defiantly though pick up a thermostat to regulate heat. this one is supposed to be really good but not super expensive.

 

[Kristy]

Wow, didn't know the regulators even existed!

 

[Hannibal]

To be honest, you really don't need a heat source other than the blue day/night light you have. In the winter time we all our cool all our Rhacs with temps between 64-68 (babies-adults). Babies & juvies don't have to be cool, but adults (females in particular) need to be cooled before the next breeding season.

 

[Kristy]

Hannibal,
so you think its ok for my gecko to be in 62-68 F temps from now (it will warm up in the 70's this week) through like March? He is only 8 weeks now and loves the moonglo heat bulb I have had on at night and so far during the day today. Makes me think he would like it a little warmer. The bulb doesnt seem to make it warmer than 70 F in the tank so far. Its a 50 watt. I just thought (dah!) maybe I could get a 75 watt for when its really winter time. Maybe that will help. I just thought having a different night and day temp would be good in the winter instead of always 60 something degrees. Thanks, can you give me more clarification/assurance?! Trust me we are cold in the winter, lots of layers on in the house. Like I said, oil heat is way expensive these days!! I want to go out today and purchase something for Rex, (and get a new betta fish!).

 

[Hannibal]

I'd try to keep it no lower than 64, but a little lower won't kill them it just really slows them down quite a bit. Increasing to at 75watt should help. Have you thought about getting a small space heater ($25-45) for the room the geckos are in. The small space heaters don't use a lot of electricity so your winter electric bill won't incease that much. Our electric bill has actually gone down from using a space heater because our central heat doesn't kick on quite as much.

 

[Ozymandias]

Exactly how cold does it get in your house?

 

[Kristy]

Space heater, yeah, that'll help. Forgot about that. We use those in the middle of the winter in three different rooms. Of course that will help. Thanks for reminding me!!!!!!
As for how cold does it get. I am in MD so you would think not terribly cold. But with the cost of heating oil, if we kept our house at 72F it would cost $1000 a month just for the oil. And the electricity is enough! We will someday get new windows and that will help!!!!
Thanks for all your thoughts! I looked at the heat pads and regulators and for now got a 75watt blue bulb, (and a new black and gold betta fish!)
K

 

[rx7master]

You can plug the bulb into a dimmer switch to turn the intensity up/down. They are at lowes for $10 & you just plug the power cord into it & it plugs into your outlet.