# Heat mat for Crested Gecko?



## MadMike (Jul 5, 2008)

Hello all,

Whilst reading up on Crested Geckos, I have seen one conflicting thing on every care sheet, some say Cresteds need a heat mat, whereas others say they don't, so as a newbie in to the crazy world of Cresties, do they need one?

I will add that the room it would be kept it is fairly warm all year round, but obviously I wouldn't want to skimp on a heat mat if it's what the Gecko needs.

Cheers


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## Splunksy (Jan 17, 2014)

Hello Mike, 

I'll start by saying I'm not an expert (I'm sure they will be along), however I have been doing a lot of research into the care of crested geckos as I plan on getting one my self in the near future.

Crested geckos benefit from an ambient temperature of between 22-27c obviously based on the seasons.They do however like most reptiles benefit from a good temperature gradient allowing them to thermal-regulate. 

I personally as a minimum would install a heat mat attached to a stat just to keep the temperatures up and give a "warm" spot on the glass whereby they can warm up if need be.

As a recommendation however I would suggest a ceramic attached to a stat to achieve a basking temperature of around 28-30c and still keep ambient temperatures up giving the crested the best chance to monitor its own heat.

As I said I'm not an expert and there's lots of contradictary information on how to keep these guys. Ultimately it's your choice at the end of the day.


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## GavinMc (Jan 9, 2013)

I would agree with Splunksy. Although crested geckos can survive at 'room temperature'( what ever the fook that means ) it is now becoming the norm to give a heat source which provides a temperature gradient. Many outdated caresheets recommend the use of a heat mat, for either nighttime heating or as a primary heat source for when 'room temperature' isn't enough, but I much prefer using either a CHE or heat bulb. Although you can now get high powered heat mats from Habistat, which are good, I would still avoid them as a primary heat source. 

Crested geckos can be exposed to temperatures of over 30C in the wild so it is only common sense to provide these temperatures in captivity. For this reason I provide a basking spot around 30C and the ambient temps to be around 27C near the top of the vivarium and then cooling towards the bottom. Try and keep the bottom below 23/4C.



Gavin.


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## Sky7ine (Jan 30, 2012)

Have a read of this guide it's the best out there that covers the different ways of keeping cresties and is up to date  personally i recommend giving them a gradient and UV.

Careguide 101 - How to Crestie


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## hello1105 (Apr 27, 2015)

hey, if your room is warm enough then you shouldnt need a heat mat, the inside of the vivarium should be between 22-26 degrees celcius. my room unforunatly isnt warm enough and therefore the temp in my cresties viv is only twenty so i have bought a 17 inch heat mat and stuck this on one side of the viv using electrical tape which looks a bit like tin foil but sticky this will help retain the heat. this keeps my viv at around 25 degrees celcius. make sure the heat mat is stuck on the outside and not the inside of the viv.


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