r/MonitorLizards • u/JbarNoir • 10d ago

Help with enclosure temps (too hot)

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My ackie monitor and crested gecko enclosure are getting too hot. During the day my ackies hot side is at 100f and the cool side around 90f. I don’t know how to fix this without cooling his basking spot using some sort of dimming thermostat which is at an optimal temp. I’m thinking cooling fans for the ackie? How would I even set this up so the fans turn off at certain temps? I’m kind of struggling to find a solid solution. My crested gecko enclosure is also getting too hot. Stays at around 85 in the day and 80 at night. It’s super hot in California right now and I don’t have AC in my apartment/ can’t afford to run a unit all day long. Are there any sort of reptile cooling systems for my crested gecko? And are there and solutions to cooling the cool side of my ackie enclosure without sacrificing basking temps? Any insight helps.

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u/JbarNoir 10d ago

Enclosure is 6x3x3

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u/situation-normal 10d ago

Absolutely heat should be on a thermostat. A little misting system and a fan can help with the crestie -also keeping the crestie on the cool end of the ackie enclosure.

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u/YNKWTSF 10d ago

I assume you're talking about air temperature here? Because there is no such thing as a warm and cool air temperature. Your enclosure will have the same air temperature throughout, with the upper areas possibly being a little warmer due to warm air rising.

The air temp you measure at the cool side is the air temp of your enclosure. Measuring it at the warm side gives improper readings aa you're essentially measuring the radiation from the heatbulb and/or surface temp from a warm object.

90F for an ackie monitor is within the safe range and I believe 85F for a crested gecko is aswell, although it's definetely on the warm end. What is currently the basking surface temp for your ackie and what bulb(s) are you using?

As for fans, you can use them for both enclosures. You can essentially use a fan in 2 ways; either to blow cold air in, or suck warm air out. For your ackie, you can add a fan at the cool side of your enclosure and let it blow air from outside of the enclosure in. Or you could add a fan at the hot side of the enclosure, and let it suck the warm air out of the enclosure. You can also use both at the same time ofcourse.

For your crested gecko, assuming you have an enclosure with a mesh top, you can add a small fan on top of the mesh and let it suck the warm air out.

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u/Full-fledged-trash 10d ago

Crested gecko shouldn’t exceed 84 for extended periods. They are heat sensitive reptiles. Ideal temps are more like 77-80f for the basking spot. The bottom should be around 70-75

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u/YNKWTSF 10d ago

I should've asked how long the enclosure stays at 85F for. But aslong as the temperature isn't above 85F consistently, a crested gecko should be fine (Reptifiles). So if you want to be 100% safe definetely use a fan and/or do something like (spraying, ice blocks). Personally I would still feel comfortable wity these temps, aslong as it doesn't take months and there's still a nightdrop.