Crested geckos

Question
Hello! I recently purchased two crested geckos from Pangea reptile and I'm
Awaiting their arrival. I paid quite a bit for them so I want to make sure they are properly cared for. My enclosure us a 29gal. I have paper towel for substrate, a bandy vine and a lg plastic plant, two ceramic dishes for food and water. Ian going to be feeding repashy superfood. My question is this. We live in GA USA and our house does not have central heat and air. So we use space heaters in the winter and air conditioner in summer. So our temps tend to fluctuate. Is it ok for the temp to fluctuate as long as it is within the correct range? I have  a 10-20 gal UTH mounted to the side I'd this ok? Any advice would be great!

Answer
Hi Anita,

One of the convenient things about keeping cresteds is that they are comfortable at around the same temperatures that we are comfortable. The temperature fluctuations you anticipate will not cause any trouble as long as the cage is not exposed to extremes (at either end of the range) for long periods.

Keepers often get caught up in very rigid thinking about required temperatures and humidity and assume these must be constant both day and night and year round. Even in a tropical climate like New Caledonia there are nightly temperature drops and cooler, dryer months during June to August.

I would caution you about mounting the undertank heater on the side unless you are also using a dimmer or thermostat to control the temperature. Some UTHs can make the glass quite hot which is less of a problem when there is also a substrate but your cresties will obviously have direct access to it. You cannot always count on reptiles to avoid a hot surface. Thermal burns are a common source of injury for them.

Enjoy your new geckos!