New Setup Help - Heteronotia Binoei

[Cornick]

Hey guys, brand new to these forums and to reptile keeping so bear with me

Looking to keep some Bynoe's Geckoes here in WA and am looking for any and all feeback and advice to help build my own knowledge, I've bought a second hand vivarium setup and have bought some more bits and pieces:

Glass ReptileOne Vivarium 59cm wide, 44cm deep, 61cm tall
Repti-Glo 2.0 Light Bar fitted in the hood
ExoTerra heatmat 26.5x28cm
75watt globe fixture (came with 75watt daylight basking lamp, i accidentally bought a 100watt night heat lamp [blue] which i mean to go and swap to a 50 or 75watt version)
digital thermometer
~3.5cm of red sand across whole bottom
small & shallow water dish
viv came with some heat rocks that i have no interest in using
misc. decorations & hides

What I'm having the most difficulty in grasping is properly heating my vivarium.
I have the heatmat installed and running to see over the next few days how it does. I have not yet set up the bulb with the night heat lamp as im not quite sure how to set that up and incorporate it into the heating setup.

I intend to purchase a thermostat (dimming or on/off not sure) to run the lights on a standard daylight photoperiod but am unsure how to handle the other 2 heating elements with the thermostat as only one can be plugged in. Which heater should i plug into the thermostat? do I need a thermostat for both the heat lamp and the mat? are the mat and lamp suitable for Bynoe's geckos (terrestrial, nocturnal)?

Sorry if the post is a bit long and imprecise im just trying to take in all the info I can, im a final year Zoology student and have extensive experience keeping freshwater aquariums so am not unfamiliar with animal care but am eager to accept advice from some more experienced herp keepers

Thanks,
Chris

 

[SpottedPythons]

For an enclosure that size, I don't see why you would need a nighttime heat lamp... a heat mat should be sufficient, as at that close range the geckoes may burn themselves on the bulb, and even with a protector it would be difficult to maintain a temperature balance.

 

[Cornick]

Thanks for the reply,
So you'll probably be right and I can double check with the heating running for a few days whether it's enough.
My thought with the lamp was to create a more focused hotspot that would be the highest temp in the viv with the heatmat doing more general heating but I suppose the area above the centre of the heatmat provides a similar thing anyway. I can always see and add the lamp later if necessary.

Edit: the lamp being ~55cm above the substrate is enough to burn the geckos?

 

[Callum Dureau]

I wouldn't think it would burn them... As far as I know, bynoes geckos can't climb glass as they have claws. So you wouldn't have to worry about them climbing up to the heat lamp unless there are branches nearby. Correct me if I'm wrong

 

[pinefamily]

I've never kept them, but as far as I am aware Bynoes geckos don't require a lot of heat; similar in care to thicktailed geckos, you will only need a heat mat under one end of the tank. Plenty of sand, or sand/kritter krumble combination, and plenty of rocks and branches.

 

[SpottedPythons]

Using a heat lamp in summer may create a oven inside the enclosure... bye bye geckoes. Heat mat is definitely preferred!!!

 

[SpottedPythons]

I keep geckoes and I've never had to use a heat lamp.