# simple leopard gecko heating question



## newbie13 (Jul 7, 2014)

:eek4::eek4::eek4::eek4::eek4: I am completely new to the reptile world and am about to get a leopard gecko as my beginning reptile. I have bought a heat mat already and attached to the bottom of the cage. I am still in the process of getting the supplies for the gecko and I will probably be receiving it in a couple of weeks. I am still a bit confused on the heating process though. I will only be using a heat mat. I know that the temp during the day is supposed to be around 80-90 degrees but the temp is supposed to drop at night time to around 70-75 degrees. How am I supposed to make the temp drop lower during the night if I am only using a heat mat? Help!!!

Sorry I am a complete newbie (as the name implies) and only know the basics.


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## CarlW21 (Jul 21, 2013)

I think a lot of people avoid heat mats, as they are prone to overheating and can cause injury to your lizard.

I have a bearded dragon so I am not sure on the set up with leopard geckos. Would it not be better to have a bulb and a thermostat ?


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## Spaceisdeep (Mar 19, 2013)

most people don't bother with night time temp drops, although in their native Pakistan and Afghanistan the temp drops at night are quite considerable

All of the care sheets will tell you to use a heat mat but personaly I don't believe thats most effective or natural way to heat a gecko viv, infact I'm not a fan of heat mats at all and only use them with my milk snakes

I use a ceramic heater which heats up the rocks in the same way as the sun does, the rocks store that heat and the geckos bask on them at night, the heater is controlled by a pulse thermostat that has a night time temp drop feature, it's set to start dropping the temps at 3 am and normal temps kick back in at 7 am


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## GavinMc (Jan 9, 2013)

newbie13 said:


> :eek4::eek4::eek4::eek4::eek4: I am completely new to the reptile world and am about to get a leopard gecko as my beginning reptile. I have bought a heat mat already and attached to the bottom of the cage. I am still in the process of getting the supplies for the gecko and I will probably be receiving it in a couple of weeks. I am still a bit confused on the heating process though. I will only be using a heat mat. I know that the temp during the day is supposed to be around 80-90 degrees but the temp is supposed to drop at night time to around 70-75 degrees. How am I supposed to make the temp drop lower during the night if I am only using a heat mat? Help!!!
> 
> Sorry I am a complete newbie (as the name implies) and only know the basics.


Use a thermostat which will control the heat. I would have the day time temps at around 92 Fahrenheit, and I personally don't give them any heat at night as my rep room is usually mid 60s to mid 70s depending on time of year.

As Spaceisdeep has already mentioned many people don't offer a drop in temperature which I find strange as they wouldn't keep the lights on all night, so why the heat mat? I also agree that CHEs are much better and my Leos that have CHEs seem much more active and alert than them on heat mats, so much so that they will all be given CHEs within the next month. Using a CHE also gives a much better range in temps.


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## SoldierSmudge (Jun 28, 2014)

Deserts get colder at night so just let the liht go off around 9pm and then back on at 7ish AM!! Rocks etc will retain some heat for overnight!!


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## legallyblonde (May 13, 2013)

I use heat mat on a mat stat for my gecko and its fine, don't bother about night drops, never have for anything. Ambient temps will always fluctuate a little. The only time a heat mat would be an issue is if you tank is too big to provide a good ambient temp or the cold end is too cold. Heat mat set over 2/3 like you would for a snake on a stat with a digital thermometer checking the temp will be fine. Substrate you use can also effect heat transfer - I use paper towel for my gecko has she has the worst aim for food!


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## Stephos87 (Jul 18, 2014)

gavgav04 said:


> Use a thermostat which will control the heat. I would have the day time temps at around 92 Fahrenheit, and I personally don't give them any heat at night as my rep room is usually mid 60s to mid 70s depending on time of year.


Hi! Newbie to this forum, hope it is OK for me to jump in with my own question as it related to whole heating confusion...
I am planning on picking up my baby leopard gecko next week but fear I may have to postpone as I am having heat regulating issues that I can't find solutions to anywhere!
I have done a lot of research, and as I am sure everyone is aware, there are lots of varied recommended temps advised in books/web/forums. I have decided to go with a happy average and also taking into account the temps the baby is currently living in at the reptile shop I am buying from.
I have a UTH with mat thermostat which so far works perfectly, maintaining floor temp at hot end around 88-90 (never higher). However, I have no heating exposed to cool end, but due to the nature of my flat (heat trap!) it went up to 85/86 degrees in the cool end today (particularly hot day), as this is just the room temp of my flat.
Obviously this drops overnight... to around 79 last night.
Wondering if anyone else has temps like this? Is it ok on a particularly hot day (like today) for this, or are there things I can do to cool it down?
The last thing I want is an unhappy gecko.
The guy at the shop also said I NEEDED basking/heat bulb as we'll but surely this is just going to add to the problem, and based on what I have read, these are not essential if a UTH provides enough heat? So I was planning to make an educated decision to ignore him, unless anyone has information on this?

Any advice is very welcome!


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## GavinMc (Jan 9, 2013)

There is no need for a basking light if you have the heat mat.

Is the viv placed in direct sunlight? As this will give a greenhouse effect and increase temps. There is not really much you can do other than move the viv around the house and into a shaded area or increase ventilation which I wouldn't think would work if your room temp is high. Did you have any windows or doors open in the house? Try to bring inside temps down by increasing air flow through the house. You should be looking for a cool end of mid 70s during the day, but mid 80s is a tad too high.


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

What you need to consider is how a Leopard gecko would behave in the wild. They would hide away during the hot hours of the day in cool crevices and then come out during the evening to "bask" on the sun-warmed rocks. Rather than needing cooler floor temps at night they will benefit from keeping them up. As with all reptiles they need to be able to control their own temperature using the natural hotter or cooler areas of their environment. They will also absorb some UVb of a "weaker" strength at this time.

So - how to recreate this in a vivarium? There are various ways of doing it and I will not suggest that my way is the only way. I will just say that I have been keeping reptiles for 40 years and Leopard geckos for about 13 years.

I use heatmats. These go under a thin layer of substrate in a wooden viv or underneath a glass viv. The mat MUST be controlled by a thermostat. The mat should cover about half the viv floor area. You need to measure the temperature of the floor using a thermometer (the temperature gauge on a thermostat is a guideline only and can be way out). The probes of the thermostat and the thermometer should rest on top of the substrate over the heatmat. I never drop my temps at night. I keep the floor area over the heatmat at around 34C - the Leos can then warm up quickly - or go to the cooler side to cool down. The cooler side of the viv is at room temperature.
Using this method you will be providing a good temperature gradient so that the lizard can thermoregulate. You will be providing a warm floor area to replicate warm basking rocks. 

UVb is needed to synthesise vitamin D3 for calcium metabolism. Most ppl do not use UV light for Leos, relying on supplementation of D3 in the dusting powders they use. However, lately more and more is being learnt about the importance of UVb light. Whether you choose to use it or not is your decision but the Leo must have either a UVb light or D3 supplemented diet. 

As for the very warm ambient temps at the moment Stephos - not ideal but as long as there is a night drop in ambients and the viv is out of direct sunlight there is not much you can do other than installing a fan. I wouldn't think it will hurt for a few days - most ppl will have the same problem ATM.


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## Stephos87 (Jul 18, 2014)

Gav & Jools - really appreciate this advice, thanks

Sounds like the set up I have is going to be ok, the hot side temps are spot on and thermostat working brill (currently have 2 digital thermometers to verify mat output). So my problem is more external to the viv, never thought I'd say this but: I hope this hot weather doesn't go on too long..! I will try some methods to lower my room temps in the meantime, you've given me good ideas.

Thanks!


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## GavinMc (Jan 9, 2013)

As jools says there isn't much you can do but you could always make a moist hide out of an old tupperware box and lightly spray regularly with cool, not cold, water and leave this in the cool end of you viv. Also if you have of THESE 'outcrop' hides measure the temperature in there as I have done in the past and they seem to stay nice and cool even if the ambient temps are high. THESE seem to work in the same way, so it may be worth investing in one of these if you haven't already and you feel it could be beneficial. I have found them useful in the past but I have never had such problems with my room temperatures. I'm not saying they will work and bring down the temp by much but it could be worth it.


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