Need Help - Should I use a heat light for Albino geckos?

[Lizardian]

Need Help - Should I be using a heat lamp for albinos?

Hey, so I have a question. I'm a relatively new gecko owner and this is something that's been nagging at me since I've had them. I have Snow Bell morphs which are a form of albino, and I use a heat lamp with a red 100 watt bulb and a heating pad under the tank.

When I first got my geckos I did a lot of searching online but couldn't find a conclusive answer about whether I should use a lamp for albinos. Some sources said using the red bulb was okay because they couldn't see it (don't know if that's true?), some sources encouraged to use a heating pad only, etc.

The heat lamp makes the air temperature around 82F on the warm side. I never measured the ground temp above the heating pad but I assume it should be within the acceptable temperature range.

I thought the heat lamp would be okay, but am now wondering if it could have a negative effect on their eyesight after all. They've never really liked the light. But if I did get rid of the heat lamp, would the heating pad be enough?

Sorry for the newbish question but thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Seth9999]

Welcome to geckos unlimited.
All heating pads need be on thermostat at all times. They get to hot without one. You can buy jump start or inkbird off amazon for 20ish bucks. Pet stores sell them to. Heating pad should only cover bottom of one side allowing for a temp gradient to cooler side. Thermostats come with prob , you place prob directly inside warm hut on substrate. To get the exact temp they feel. Thermostat should be set on 91 for heating pad. Heating pads get to 100 pluse degrees with a thermostat . Heatint pad should be on outside of tank, the air temperature should knot exceed 82 on warm side and 75 on cooler side.
The best light is low watt bulb like 25 watt or little higher but on dimmer. Think flukers makes 10 inch dome light, knot deep dome but regular. Light should go on in morning and off at night. I have timer to make this easier and consistent every day.
Geckos like warm hide and moist hide. I use new Zealand moss for moist hide. One my geckos uses only moist hide. It also helps the shedding process.
Geckos shedd often when growing tell about 1 year. Most geckos get strange during shedding. They hide out more , don't want come out. Don't want eat.
Female geckos around 8 months give or take fall off food do to ovulating.
Thermostats , thermometer, is first thing buy with tank. Also supplments, most use zoo med calcium with d3 and zoo med reptivite without d3. Only one supplment needs d3.
I use use zoo med reptivite with d3 is like all in one and zoo med plain calcium.
Look on home page under general discussion, gecko care, by Elizabeth Freer. That covers everything about geckos and how care for geckos food. Hope this helps to start, I'm short on time. Glade your here.

 

[GeckoFanboy]

I never measured the ground temp above the heating pad but I assume it should be within the acceptable temperature range.

Never assume your ground temps are "okay" with a UTH. You need a thermostat for sure. I'd buy the JumpStart off of Amazon. It works great. As far as albinos, I'd skip any kind of light, but maybe a dim 25 watt bulb, like Seth suggested, just so your gecko knows daylight. Your UTH should keep the warm side of the tank fine for your gecko without any other heat devices. You could keep the 25 watt bulb over on the cool end of the tank just to keep the ambient temps up. The room temp of the tank should never go over 80° if possible. If it does go over 80°, then you need to turn the UTH off. If you want to see your gecko at night, you could try a low watt moon bulb, and get a dimmer switch for it to keep it from getting too hot.

 

[Lizardian]

Thank you for the replies and the information, this is what I needed to know. I will be looking into a thermostat for the heating pad and will do away with the 100w bulb.

Wish I had come to these forums in the first place ;-)

 

[GeckoFanboy]

Just be conscious of the room temps. Spring is kicking in...warm weather is coming...our houses get warmer...your geckos tank will get warmer. If you're home, sitting there, and thinking, "I'm hot", then check your geckos tank as well. We've been having warm weather today, and we didn't turn the AC on, and the house got kinda warm. Instead of leaving the 25 watt bulb on in the gecko tank, I turned it off and just made sure some light was coming in through the window shade...even the 25 watt bulb can get warm. And as a suggestion, I'd buy a dimmer switch from Lowes for it. This way you can control how bright it is and how warm the ambient temp gets in the tank as a whole.

As long as you buy a thermostat, the warm hide floor will always be at a constant 88-92° (set your thermostat on 91°). You'll rarely have to worry about this side of the tank. Buy yourself a stick-on thermometer for the cool side of the tank and place it on the glass about 4 inches up from the floor. This will allow you to monitor the ambient room tank temp on the cool side. It's good to keep this in the low to mid 70's. You can adjust this with the 25 watt bulb and a dimmer switch.