leo hiding under paper towels

I have my leo in a 20L, warm hide on left, cool/humid on right. The UTH covers the left 25% or so of the tank and is controlled with a thermostat, probe on the surface of the tank. The temp was set to 91F

I've had her since July and she hasn't gone under the paper towels covering the bottom before, she just started this about 2 or 3 days ago. She tries to work her way under them and into the area under the hide on the warm side right over the UTH. So I figured she was cold. The house is cooling down now as winter approaches. Daytime air temps around 72-76F in that room but the nights can drop to low 60s. I raised the thermostat temp for the heater to 94F, but no change in behavior. I don't wanna keep raising it at risk of her burning herself, shes directly on the glass.

Tonight I moved around deco to try to pin down the edges of the towels. Basically what I want to know though is this an issue? Should I try to raise the air temp at night? Add a UTH to the side of the tank (you can do that right?) Anything else I'm missing?

edit: should I try insulating the sides of the tank, I already have some under the tank between the shelf and UTH?

I'm still new to reptiles I got my leo and a few cresteds back in July but haven't had any issues really till this.

I would just keep the surface temp of the warm side at 90-92. I see no problems with your leo going under the paper towels. She might just be burrowing under the paper towels due to the slightly lower air temps since winter is approaching. I wouldn't worry.

You could use a ceramic heat emitter to raise the air temperatures since winter is showing it's ugly face. Air temperatures should be no higher than 85*. You can use a lamp dimmer to control the heat emitter. In the wild, Leo's like to burrow and I would move the moist hide to the warm side to create more humidity inside of it, then add another hide to the cool side.

JessJohnson87 said:

You could use a ceramic heat emitter to raise the air temperatures since winter is showing it's ugly face. Air temperatures should be no higher than 85*. You can use a lamp dimmer to control the heat emitter. In the wild, Leo's like to burrow and I would move the moist hide to the warm side to create more humidity inside of it, then add another hide to the cool side.

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Thanks, to both of you. I'll keep the heat emitter in mind as it gets colder. Is there a guideline for minimum air temperature? Should the added hide be moist as well if I move the current one over? Or just a dry/cool hide?

Just a dry cool hide, keeping the moist one on the cool side could cause a respiratory infection. The air temps in my leo's tank on the warm side fluctuate between 74-79* without my house heater or AC on. I think no lower than 70* on the warm side since the cool side can get down to the mid 60's without causing problems and if they get too cold, they can always move vice versa.


Example. This is my enclosure for mine. The carpet side has been replaced with tile since he decided to use that as his bathroom spot now.

I recommend getting rid of the lamp, they're nocturnal so that light isn't too good for them
An under tank heater is the best to use
You can also put some moist moss or coconut shavings in a hide for her to burrow in


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I only use the lamp during the day to help simulate a photo period. That was temporary when I was waiting for the new heat pad to come in the mail a few weeks ago.

As long as your room temperature does not get much below 72 or so then you should be fine! Nothing wrong with raising the air temp a little though. I just personally do not feel the need to do that myself.

It's tough for me to raise the air temp in that room at night. I've been monitoring it and the low is around 65-67F. I may be able to bump it up a couple degrees, but that will also involve raising the humidity of the room to around 60-65% as well from 35%.

I tried layering the paper towels over each other like steps to make it more difficult for her to find her way under all of them. For now she seems content on top again. I'm also going to add another more secure hide, something completely opaque. Right now everything either has a somewhat large opening or in the case of the humid hide a clear tupperware. Perhaps rather than a temp issue she was trying to hide and just gravitated towards the warm area once under there.

You can get a space heater to put near the cage, that might help with the temps.

I think you're going the right direction by addressing her need for hiding places. Secure hides are very important. They should be dark on the inside, and leopard geckos tend to prefer spaces just large enough for them to get into and not very cavernous.