need help heating a tall cage

I am currently building a custom cage, which will fit into the corner of my house.

The dimensions are going to by 36" (side 1) x 25.5" (side 2) x 25.5" (side 3), and is 2' in depth / height.

I plan on housing some various aborial (sp?) geckos. Not together obviously, I will have a total of 4 setups. I am not sure on what species of gecko yet either, I have a lot in mind, and some may not be a gecko even. But the animal is not immediatly important yet. Basically, I just want to know the best way to heat the tanks. I was debating on a heating panel, like this one:

http://www.pro-products.com/proheat.html

Or one of the thinner 'mat' type ones like Big Apple has:

http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_Supplies/Product/Desert_Rays_Radiant_Heat_Panels_118100.html

I know some animals need to bask, so I wanted to take that into account as well. There will be a screen seperating the panel and the tank, but I have to keep in mind with the geckos, I don't want them walking right onto the heating panel. Would the screen then become to hot? I know most of the gecko's don't need to bask, as something like a dragon would. But the aboreal ones don't really use UDH either, so something that keeps the tank warmer at the top, and cooler at the bottom I think would work best.

So basically, just curious what you would recoment to heat a tank of my dimensions, for aboreal gecko species. Keep in mind i live in NY, so the winters get chilly, and heat in the house is generally set at 68 in the winter, so they need some good solid heating, but the summer is not a big deal, as 80's are common.

If you need more info from me, just ask. Thanks in advance.

A partial answer...

I have Madagascar giant day geckos and they spend 98% of their time near the top of the tank (even in the summer with the heat off), so I use an overheat heat lamp (and/or ceramic heater) above the screen. I've never seen them crawl across the screen, so I don't worry about them burning themselves. Buy a heat lamp with a wattage that will keep the temps around 85-90 degrees at a 4-8 inch distance from the heat source....which is where you would install a nice basking branch...lol.

Scott Nellis

Well, I was thinking a ceramic lamp, but the problim is, is it acts as a furniture pice, or 'show' piece, so everything is encased. I have about 6 inches above the tank, in an enclosed cabinet. I can open it, but to install a ceramic heater, and put the bulb in, by the time I am done, the heat lamp will be an inch or so away from the screen. Granted, I could make this area above the tank bigger, but doing so shortens the tank. Which is why I was debating on these heat panels.

Obviously the lamp is an option though, just trying to figure out what works best for what I want, if at all

That should work...

My heat lamps bulbs are scewed into those round ceramic lamps and just sit right on the screen...with the bulb being about 1/2" off the screen. Just don't put a big wattage bulb in.....50-75 watts should work fine.

I don't know much about the heat panels. How hot do they get? If they get hot enough to heat stuff 8 inches away, they should work too. One thing though, you don't want the entire top of the tank to be covered with a heat panel...you need a cool zone for the lizards to move to.

Scott Nellis

I would go with the heat panel as this will give you the best results. Call Bob at Pro Products and he will be able to get you the correct panel for your application.