heating pads on bottom of cages?

[mvm]

hi All,
I am very new to lizards. I am a mom of a 11 year old who loves reptiles so I am willing to allow him to have a lizard. With research we have decided to go with a crested gecko. I have only been able to talk to a few people that work in pet stores and I have some confusion to some of what they told me.
One thing they said is to put a heating pad on one side of the bottom, and then keep rotaiting the substrate to keep the moister to get in the air. But my concern is wouldn't that make the bottom of the cage too warm? It is suppose to be their cool spot right? and if you put a warmer that is suppose to keep a leapard gecko at around 90 degrees I feel that does not seem right.
Also they said to just put in a regular light balb for the tank. Not a heating balb. Is that right? Will that give off enought heat for them especially in the winter? Our house is kept at aound 68 to 70 degrees. If we want it to get closer to high 70s during the day for him wouldn't it be best to get a low heating balb?
I want to find books for him to read, and have him very knowledgeable about them and what to do before we get him. But the pet stores i have gone to have nothing on cresties. They only give me a small little pamplet and say this is all I need to know to get started.
Thank you I appreciate it, I want to make sure we know what we are doing before the little fellow comes to our home. I don't want to do anything blindly. We owe it to the animal to make sure we know what we are doing to have it healthy and happy

[Mikoh4792]

From what I know about cresteds, they are mainly arboreal. So they will not spend much time on the ground. I would just go with overhead heat such as a heat lamp.

However it depends on the size of the enclosure. What enclosure are you using exactly? To my knowledge crested geckos prefer cooler temperatures and do not do well in temperatures over 82F.

I actually have a 12x12x18inch exo terra and the "light" bulb used for lighting alone is enough to create a hotspot of 82F. The rest of the enclosure for a crested should fall in the low to high 70's. In the winter time you can use a heat lamp but a thermostat would be a must in order to make sure the temps do not get so high.

[Stewjoe]

No extra heat or light is required for a crested gecko. If your house is cooler than room temperature you can use a "jungle" heat pad or any heat pad installed with a lamp dimmer to control the temperature. Elevated humidity can be gained by misting daily in the evening.

Install the heat pad if required on the side of the tank. Monitor the glass temperature with an infrared thermometer.

[formica]

Originally Posted by mvm

hi All,
I am very new to lizards. I am a mom of a 11 year old who loves reptiles so I am willing to allow him to have a lizard. With research we have decided to go with a crested gecko. I have only been able to talk to a few people that work in pet stores and I have some confusion to some of what they told me.
One thing they said is to put a heating pad on one side of the bottom, and then keep rotaiting the substrate to keep the moister to get in the air. But my concern is wouldn't that make the bottom of the cage too warm? It is suppose to be their cool spot right? and if you put a warmer that is suppose to keep a leapard gecko at around 90 degrees I feel that does not seem right.
Also they said to just put in a regular light balb for the tank. Not a heating balb. Is that right? Will that give off enought heat for them especially in the winter? Our house is kept at aound 68 to 70 degrees. If we want it to get closer to high 70s during the day for him wouldn't it be best to get a low heating balb?
I want to find books for him to read, and have him very knowledgeable about them and what to do before we get him. But the pet stores i have gone to have nothing on cresties. They only give me a small little pamplet and say this is all I need to know to get started.
Thank you I appreciate it, I want to make sure we know what we are doing before the little fellow comes to our home. I don't want to do anything blindly. We owe it to the animal to make sure we know what we are doing to have it healthy and happy

i'd suggest looking at a leopard gecko to start with, they are much less demanding and can be great to interact with as they can become quite tame, they also dont need high humidity so are much easier to care for, humidity is a tricky thing to get right even for experienced people - its very important your crested gecko has high humidity but correct ventilation to prevent molds and respiratory problems, you need a digital hygrometer to ensure that its high (analog units are inaccurate and dangerous)

also cresties are nocturnal and can be quite shy, your son might not see him much compared to a leo

heat mats are great, you need a thermostat aswell, and a thermometer placed in the same place as the thermostat probe, use the thermostat dial as a guide, and the thermometer to figure out exactly what setting you need for the right tempreture

[Terranaut]

Originally Posted by formica

i'd suggest looking at a leopard gecko to start with, they are much less demanding and can be great to interact with as they can become quite tame, they also dont need high humidity so are much easier to care for, humidity is a tricky thing to get right even for experienced people - its very important your crested gecko has high humidity but correct ventilation to prevent molds and respiratory problems, you need a digital hygrometer to ensure that its high (analog units are inaccurate and dangerous)

also cresties are nocturnal and can be quite shy, your son might not see him much compared to a leo

heat mats are great, you need a thermostat aswell, and a thermometer placed in the same place as the thermostat probe, use the thermostat dial as a guide, and the thermometer to figure out exactly what setting you need for the right tempreture

^^^^this exactly. Get a Leo. Perfect first reptile.