# crestie basking under night light?



## chelsaurus (Sep 23, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I'm a brand new crestie mom.. got my first crested gecko (and first reptile!) 2 days ago. 

The gecko is about 2 months old (said the store where I got him). Since I've only just brought him/her home, I haven't been doing much handling yet.

I've noticed that when I turn the daytime light off and the night light on (both 15 W exoterra bulbs), s/he almost immediately goes and sits right under it. This only seems to happen with the night bulb. Last night (second night with me), s/he went right up to the top of the enclosure under the night light about 10 minutes after I turned it on, and when I woke up in the morning, s/he was still in the same spot. 

Should I be worried? Does sitting under the light like that mean s/he's cold? The temperature is around 75 F / 23-24 C. 

Is it weird that s/he was in the same place when I went to bed and when I woke up? Shouldn't they be more active than that?

Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Cheers!


----------



## beckoneon (Sep 2, 2011)

Hi. Welcome to RFUk!!

I'm a brand new crestie mom too. Got him yesterday. What is yours housed in? I'd love a night time light but not sure how I'd fit it? I'd love it for the viewing really... Can I just ask you what you've been told to mist with? Just standard cold tap water? Or warm? No-ones told me, iv just been doing cold tap water??? 
There's loads of nice friendly people on here with loads of experience so I'm sure they'll be able to answer your question. I'm sure we'll have a few in the next week or so. Lol. I can't wait to start handling him. 


0.3.0 leopard geckos
1.0.0 crested gecko 

Think iv done that right!! Lol


----------



## xx-SAVANNAH-xx (Jan 9, 2010)

they shouldnt be cold but you never know, it is getting colder now i often find my tegu sitting under my heat lamp when i wake up in the morning. If he seems ok and is eating then maybe he just likes it a bit warmer.


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

Do you turn the light off when you go to bed? It could be that it still sees the light as a light & as they are nocturnal they will sleep when there is light. Keep the light off once you turn the daylight bulb off & see if this makes a difference. I have UV lights on both my Cresties vivs & they are on a timer so come on at 7.00am & off at 7.00pm :2thumb:. No other lights are used & both mine are very active.


----------



## Joey S (Oct 15, 2009)

Hello welcome to RFUK

To be honest mate i think its okay for now, like you said you've only had her for a few days so she's maybe just settling in and the warmth of the light makes her feel safe.

As long as the temps don't drop below 20-21oC at night your living the dream, just keep an eye on her especially with winter slowly creeping in.

If worst comes to worst in the winter i have a small heat mat that i put under the cage (not inside the cage) this way the she can feel a bit of warmth coming through the glass but its not enough to burn her should she stay there all night.

Depending on her size aswell try and offer a few crickets to get her moving around the cage to let her know she can move round in safety without having to be afraid


----------



## chelsaurus (Sep 23, 2011)

Thanks everyone! It's been almost a week now and the little guy's still doing it - every night, she goes straight under the night glo light. But he's moving around more now, crawling across the vines at the top of the tank, so things look okay for now. 

It's still a bit weird, since she only does it with the night light, and not the day light. I guess he just likes to bask, but the daytime light is too bright or something. 


corny girl - do the UV lights provide any heat? Do you have anything else that does that? Or is your place just warm enough? My house is a bit cold and so the main purpose of the night light for me is to keep the temperature up. 


beckoneon - i've got my crestie in an 18x18x24 exoterra tank, but I've blocked off half of it so it's more like 9x18x24 for now. I know it's big but i didn't want to buy one now and another later. I've got 3 shallow feed dishes (the small shallow ones are great - I can see the tongue marks in them!) so there's always food not too far away. I've been misting with room temperature tap water, sometimes warm tap water if I want to raise the temperature a bit. I think I'm going to switch to distilled though, cause I heard that tap water will leave residue on the glass over time and is harder to clean than filtered/distilled. 

Thank you for the support, everyone!


----------



## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

chelsaurus said:


> corny girl - do the UV lights provide any heat? Do you have anything else that does that? Or is your place just warm enough? My house is a bit cold and so the main purpose of the night light for me is to keep the temperature up.



No UV lights don't really produce any heat (not of any significance anyway). All i have in my Exo is a UV bulb. I don't use any extra heat as my house temps fall within the minimum temps Cresties can live at, it is better they live at a cooler temp than at a hotter temp which can be very dangerous for them. Average temps for both my vivs are approx 23*C-24*C. I don't think the night light will produce much heat so wouldn't up the temps. You would be better off sticking a small heat mat (connected to a stat) on the side of the viv so they would have somewhere warm to rest :2thumb:. Set the temp of the mat using a digital thermometer as the dials on the stats aren't calibrated so can give false results.


----------



## Kae (Aug 28, 2011)

This would be a good indication that your Crestie isn't warm enough, if it's actively seeking the warmest part of the Viv every night. 

Contrary to popular belief, Crested Gecko's require a heat gradient just like any other reptile. They still regulate their body temperature by moving between the "hot" and "cold" parts of the Viv.

Have you checked your Viv temps with a digital thermometer? The stick-on analogue thermometers are neither use nor ornament (well, I suppose you could use them as an ornament :lol2. 

I provide a heat gradient of 27 (hot) to 22/3 (Cold) and my lot are very active at night (I still say they sound like rampant rubber ducks). Warmth can be provided either by a ceramic heater (as they don't give off visible light) or a heat mat, but both MUST be regulated with a thermostat. 

I spray my Crestie's with tap water, and wipe the inside glass down once a week with reptile disinfectant when I clean everything else.


----------



## UKCrestie (Sep 9, 2011)

Hi,
All my cresties have their own 'Bed' - they sleep in practically the same place each night so i wouldnt be worried. They wake up in one place, have a run and a jump around their viv at night and then back to their sleeping spot.
I spray mine with warm water as it means that the temperature in the viv doesnt drop rapidly : victory:


----------



## swift_wraith (Jan 4, 2009)

I use room temp water for spraying with. that way it should be the same temp as inside their vivs and wont come as a shock to them.


----------

