# leopard gecko should i leave heat mat on 24-7?



## dm66n66

hi just wondering if i leave the heat mat on 24-7 or turn off at night, i trun my bearded dragons baskign bulbs off at night, advice much appreciated thankyou


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## Ophexis

Leopard geckos can have their heating on 24-7.


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## Spikebrit

personally i would turn it off at night. All of mine have their heat turned off at night. 

Jay


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## ChazzieJo

The way I see it is that Leopard Geckos are most active during the night, so I'd be inclined to keep their heating on whilst they're awake and active (and presumably eating, too).


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## Spikebrit

ChazzieJo said:


> The way I see it is that Leopard Geckos are most active during the night, so I'd be inclined to keep their heating on whilst they're awake and active (and presumably eating, too).


That's a tad floored logic. The night time temp in their natural habitat is low around the 14c mark in the summer if not lower. 

Jay


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## Chris18

Spikebrit said:


> That's a tad floored logic. The night time temp in their natural habitat is low around the 14c mark in the summer if not lower.
> 
> Jay


That's air temperature. The rocks will be warmer as they retain the days blazing heat. That's what the 30-34 degrees replicates. They use the days heat to get their core temperatures up and then the warmer rocks maintain that temperature.
In captivity people rarely give them natural day time temperatures which means they need higher temps in the night to get their core temperature up and maintain it : victory:


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## dramen

Chris18 said:


> That's air temperature. The rocks will be warmer as they retain the days blazing heat. That's what the 30-34 degrees replicates. They use the days heat to get their core temperatures up and then the warmer rocks maintain that temperature.
> In captivity people rarely give them natural day time temperatures which means they need higher temps in the night to get their core temperature up and maintain it : victory:


I agree with Chris18 on this one. My leopard gecko doesnt eat until sometimes around 8pm so turning off the heatmat would negate the effect of giving the heat for digestion which is what they need. They have a thermal gradient in the vivarium for a reason so they can choose to move to a cooler area.


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## daiwatkins89

If you leave it on all night do you leave it at the same temp


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## dramen

daiwatkins89 said:


> If you leave it on all night do you leave it at the same temp


Yep i dont touch the temperatures as i said thats why you have a hot and cool hide for the gradient in the vivarium. Also if you have a habistat matstat like mine its a dial you need to change with a screwdriver (I cheat and use on of my daughters hair clips) but the constant changing will eventually break that dial.


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## ChelsNLuke

We keep ours on all the time, don't mess with it either, we just leave it and that's fine


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## ItsExiled

i leave mine on at night and never had any problems at all! : victory:


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## dm66n66

thankyou for all the advice im going to leave my heat mat on :2thumb:


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## Spikebrit

Chris18 said:


> That's air temperature. The rocks will be warmer as they retain the days blazing heat. That's what the 30-34 degrees replicates. They use the days heat to get their core temperatures up and then the warmer rocks maintain that temperature.
> In captivity people rarely give them natural day time temperatures which means they need higher temps in the night to get their core temperature up and maintain it : victory:


Actually after a few hours the surface temperature of the rocks drops not long after sunset as heat is only held for a few hours. Generally the air temps is far lower then i stated above. This is why most keeps place tiles over the heat matt, the tiles will hold the heat for a few hours after temps go off. Much like desert action. 

With correct set up there should be no need to keep a night time temp the same as day temp. If you are providing appropriate day time temps then some heat retention will occur in the object present in the viv. Low temps for 12 hours a day will have no effect on digestion. 



dm66n66 said:


> thankyou for all the advice im going to leave my heat mat on :2thumb:


Glad you have made a call, keeping a matt on all the time will not cause any problems, but will also not serve any realy benefit if the viv is set up correctly. 




No aimed at anyone in particular this is something i never seem to understand, Once certain reptiles become mainstream, leos, cresties, corns, rats etc people seem to automatically start to think they are going to drop dead if things change if there is a 2 degree temp drop etc etc . Such as alterating temp ranges, stopping proving night time heat flucations, removing light and season cycles etc. I keep far more sensitive animals and have never provided night time heat etc, I have 27 breeding leos and never provide night time heat. If you set up things correctly and look at natural temp ranges then there is no need to. I'd be shocked if you room temps drop below 18c at night. 

Jay


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