Shouldnt leos temps be warmer at night?!?!?!?!

[Fat Tony]

Hi, just a theory so dont shoot me down!!!! But if leos hide in holes and sleep all day and come out at night and lay on heated rocks and sand and stuff, shouldnt the temp be warmer at night than the day????
If there asleep in a hide, why must the temp be 88 - 90f?? Then when there out at night give a drop of a few degrees?! I dont get it. To simulate the warm sand of the night desert should a heat mat give off the 88- 90f at night instead, then say 80 - 85f during the day???
The higher temps at night would then aid in the digestion of there food, which they hunt for at night also. so theyde be a few hours after eating before the temps got higher. As i said, just a theory!!!!

[adam--r]

I think that in the wild, their burrows or hides stay a pretty constant temperature. The sand will take a while to cool down, its not like water, which cools really quickly. My geckos are on a 87F hot spot 24/7, its only that natural cooling of the room that takes place. So the cool end will drop by, say 4F at night

[Meko]

Originally Posted by Fat Tony

Hi, just a theory so dont shoot me down!!!! But if leos hide in holes and sleep all day and come out at night and lay on heated rocks and sand and stuff, shouldnt the temp be warmer at night than the day????
If there asleep in a hide, why must the temp be 88 - 90f?? Then when there out at night give a drop of a few degrees?! I dont get it. To simulate the warm sand of the night desert should a heat mat give off the 88- 90f at night instead, then say 80 - 85f during the day???
The higher temps at night would then aid in the digestion of there food, which they hunt for at night also. so theyde be a few hours after eating before the temps got higher. As i said, just a theory!!!!

but temperatures drop over night in the wild so its not as warm. Plus most people don't drop the temps at night for leo's so it stays a constant 88ish.

[Fat Tony]

I only ask cos since i changed from bulb heating to mat heating, mine seem happy to be lazy and just lay there on there mat all day AND night!!!!

[cooljules]

my temps drop a lot of night, they come out more when it drops..underground hides keep a steady temp and higher humidity

[Fat Tony]

Ive started keeping the temp at 88 - 90f in the day, then when my normal light bulb goes off, i have the temp drop to about 80f during the night till the morning. That make any sence?!?!?!

[Athravan]

In pakistan, it can be as hot 120F as in the day. This could be one of the contributing reasons as to why they live in dark, cool burrows. But even in a burrow in the daytime, the temperature is still going to be reasonable - in the 80s, or even low 90s. At night, it can drop to as low as 60s air temperature, so even with surface temperature being higher because of hot rocks and sun all day, a considerable drop is going to be experienced from 80s/90s - usually around 70s.

So in the wild, it is very natural for them to have a hotter day, and come out in the cool night, even though they live in burrows away from the sun. If they were to bask in the full sun, they would easily overheat in the summer.

[Fat Tony]

So basicaly your saying the 80 - 90f is fine for my day temp. But at night, its ok to drop to around 75 - 80F??? If thats so, will the digesting of food at night be ok at those temps???

[adam--r]

Originally Posted by Fat Tony

So basicaly your saying the 80 - 90f is fine for my day temp. But at night, its ok to drop to around 75 - 80F??? If thats so, will the digesting of food at night be ok at those temps???

If they're hunting all night then I would guess that the bulk of the digestion goes on during they day. I wouldn't actively seek out to lower temps. 88F is fine for a 24/7 basking spot. The comment about the temp dropping to 75-80F was about AIR temperature, referring back to my original post I said that rocks, soil etc will retain a lot of heat.

Remember, the conditions that we create are supposed to be representative of the natural habitat. Someone will have actually gone out and stuck a thermometer in a burrow to see whats going on...

[chondro13]

well think - deserts are scorching during the day, but freezing at night - in order to keep our geckos happy we keep them nice and toasty warm all the time with a small drop at night to mimic this natural cycle but its not necessary and certainly shouldn't be warmer at night