Crested geckos are often cited as being great for room temperature. Therefore, many people don’t use any heating for them when they keep them. However, this isn’t strictly true. The average UK home can be somewhere between 18 and 20 Celsius. But is this the best temperature for crested geckos?
What Temperature Should a Crested Gecko Tank Be?
There are lots of people who add no heat to a crested gecko enclosure. However, research has shown that they often do better at about 22-24 Celsius. So while this isn’t the highest temperature (leopard geckos are often provided with heat of about 31-32 Celsius), it is still higher than you would expect from the average room temperature.
How to Provide Heat for a Crested Gecko?
There are several ways that you can provide heat for a crested gecko enclosure. For example, you can provide heat on the surface or one side by using a heat mat. The problem is that a heat mat on a glass enclosure is very challenging for keeping the temperature right. Glass isn’t a very good insulator of temperature.
Another option is to use an overhead heating system. But these can cause two problems. A ceramic can provide all-day heat, but a light heat lamp must be turned off at night, and this can mean that your crested gecko can get cold at night, which can be bad for digestion.
In addition to any heat that you provide, you must have a thermostat, and the location of these can be challenging. Placing it at the top of the enclosure does mean that you don’t overheat the enclosure. However, the lower levels of an enclosure can become too cold.
On the other hand, placing the thermostat at the bottom of the enclosure can result in a space towards the top of the enclosure being too hot for the crested gecko.
Putting it in the midpoint might allow for better thermoregulation in the enclosure.
Final Word: What Temperature Should a Crested Gecko Tank Be?
While many people don’t apply heat to a crested gecko enclosure? They live at a temperature that is slightly above room temperature. Therefore, a small amount of heat should be applied, but how that is applied is debatable.
