Strange behavior?

[MrLang]

I bought 2 crested geckos as juveniles and they are slowly growing. The past few days I have noticed them hanging around on the bottom of the enclosure a lot. This is concurrent with the ambient temps in my room raising about 2-3 degrees up to 79 from 76 all winter.

The enclosures have feeding ledges, a hanging plastic plant, a potted pothos, and a climbing vine in each. Humidity is 40-45 and I spray the whole enclosure and all decorations fairly heavily each night.

Today this 'hang on the bottom' behavior hit the point where I feel I should ask if it's abnormal behavior or not. I went home at lunch to see one of my geckos sleeping in the dirt in the pothos pot, kind of shimmied in a little but not very much.

Reason for concern? At what point do high temps start to stress them out? It's the only variable that has changed that I can pinpoint. They're not breeding size and haven't been together at all, btw. What are they looking for on the bottom that I can give them? Thanks.

[Mike41793]

I always kept mine at 75ish. They did pretty well with that but idk if thats right.

[Homegrownscales]

Some cresties do like to chill at the bottom during the day. I have a few who do that. You could try putting more wall coverage and some leaf litter in the bottom. But in the end they are going to pick where they are more comfortable. As long as they're eating and Active I don't think you have a problem.


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[Homegrownscales]

High temps sorry I forgot about that question. 80.f and above can cause issues and is stressful to them.


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[MrLang]

I guess it's just weird to me because I haven't seen them do it before and I was already stressed about the temp going up. Sounds like I haven't really hit the stress point, though.

Should I give some kind of humid hide? I thought maybe they were looking to get under the soil to shed or something...

[TheWinWizard]

They know what they're doing. i wouldn't be concerned about it. Mine have daytime highs right now of about 81 degrees. They eat like pigs and grow like weeds. Once summer gets here, they'll really be warming up and they did fine last summer. right from this sites care sheet about Cresties temp requirements. Crested geckos like the same temperature range as most of us prefer, from the high 60's to the low 80's (Fahrenheit). Temperatures above 80 degrees for extended periods of time will stress your gecko and could lead to health problems. For this reason, it is essential not to try to house cresties with species having high heat or basking spot requirements. You can provide a basking spot to your geckos, if you like, by using a low-wattage bulb to create an area in the enclosure that is a few degrees warmer than the ambient temperature, but please check to ensure that in the hottest spot the temperature does not exceed 85 degrees F or so. Crested geckos do require high humidity, but they do not require it on a constant basis. Misting 1-4 times a day (depending on housing and ambient humidity) should be fine, twice a day generally being perfectly adequate.