My leopard geckos are very cool to the touch. I have their red heat light on all night and they do bask under it. I now reptiles are cold blooded but should they be cool like this?

Mine feel coolish. Do you have an undertank heater in addition to the basking light? They need belly heat for proper digestion.

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Amy

Amy's right ...What are the current temps in the tank,,,They need belly heat more so than the overhead heat.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

I have to disagree here; Leopard Geckos don't need belly heat in order to digest their food properly. They do however need the correct temperatures in general - 88-90F in the hot spot during the day down to 75F at the cool end. Night time they require a general ambient temp of 70F, but are happy with lower. The ground will be heated by the overhead heat source during the day to sufficient temps, it's the air temp that you need to be concerned about, though underheaters can be used instead. An overhead heat source is more natural for any reptile or animal in fact.

You need to be measuring your temps and make sure they are constant and correct, if they are and your leo is eating and defacating normally there shouldn't be anything to worry about

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

at night the temps go to 80-82 and daytime its 74 75

Why do the temps increase at night?? And where in the tank is it 74-75 during the day?

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Your temps should be higher during the day then at night...

well I turn the red light on at night to be able to veiw them

I don't mean to cause any offense, but you are seriously endangering the welfare of your animals; the care of your Leopard Geckos should come before your wants.. You must have a heat source on during the day which gets the temperature to 88-90F in the hot spot. You may use the red bulb at night for viewing and heating purposes, but I don't like the use of these bulbs, i find them unnecessary in most circumstances, and while the bulb claims not to disturb the photoperiod of the reptile, I think that any kind of light source can change the sleep/wake patterns.

You need to get a daytime bulb in there immediately and raise the temps; how long have you had your gecko?

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

You just need to consider whats happening in their native habitat. Hot during the day, cool at night. If the red bulb is simply for viewing, okay. That means you need to get yourself another heat lamp that will be on during the day, that hot spot needs to get pretty toasty during the day for your leo to function normally. Not to mention digest its food properly. The red bulb is fine, but in order to get your temps right, you might want to raise it up so that it doesn't change your night temps and is as you intended. For viewing.