About 3 weeks ago, I got my first Leopard Gecko! I'm very excited, but I also have lots of questions that i can't seem to find answers to on the general internet.... One: Everywhere i research, people have different opinions on the heat in the tank. I know what temperature I need and the gradient, but should I use? Right now I have two lamps, one is a white light lamp, and it heats the bottom of the tank to about 90-95 degrees. Is that fine? Two: I gut load crickets with Mazuri Better Bug Gut Loading Diet feed. The food states that I don't have to supplement anything else, as it has calcium, and other vitamins in it. Is this ok? Three: Do I have a giant?? My leo is 4 and a half months old, and he is already 6 and a half to 7 inches! Is this giant size? I also would like to know his morph type...
Several questions???
- Thread starter Leo844
- Start date
- Messages
- 15,170
- Location
- Somerville, MA
Welcome to GF!
Here are my answers to your questions. Be aware that there is more than one way to do things, so there can be a lot of different opinions and they can all be right
1. heat: most people use under tank heaters because their geckos need belly heat. Some people prefer to use overhead lighting because they feel it's more like nature where the sun shines during the day and at night the things on the ground that the sun shines on gradually lose their heat.
I prefer to use the under tank heaters and I'll explain why (you can go from there which one you'd choose): The geckos are in a contained space without all the substances that exist in nature. Light from overhead can be a problem for some albino leopard geckos with more sensitive eyes. The cage may not contain materials that lose heat at the rate that some materials do in nature and the gecko is not free to search out the variety of materials it could find in nature. In addition, in the confined cage, the heat from the light has no place to dissipate and the air temp could be higher than you want it to be for the gecko.
2. Cricket gut load. I supplement my gecko, in addition to the crickets, with calcium and vitamin D3. It's not clear to me, if the crickets eat food that has calcium in it, whether the calcium builds up in them or is excreted and there's no way to know, if it's excreted, where they are in the process when the gecko eats them.
3. morph: The exact morph depends on whether the gecko's tail was banded when it hatched, i.e. whether the tail bands were broken. The body bands are clearly broken (meaning "non-continuous", not "problematic") in a jungle pattern. I think from the picture, the bands at the end of the tail may also be broken, in which case you could call it a jungle. However, if the tail bands were not broken, the gecko would more correctly be called "aberrant" (i.e. tail or body bands broken, but not both)
Aliza
Here are my answers to your questions. Be aware that there is more than one way to do things, so there can be a lot of different opinions and they can all be right
1. heat: most people use under tank heaters because their geckos need belly heat. Some people prefer to use overhead lighting because they feel it's more like nature where the sun shines during the day and at night the things on the ground that the sun shines on gradually lose their heat.
I prefer to use the under tank heaters and I'll explain why (you can go from there which one you'd choose): The geckos are in a contained space without all the substances that exist in nature. Light from overhead can be a problem for some albino leopard geckos with more sensitive eyes. The cage may not contain materials that lose heat at the rate that some materials do in nature and the gecko is not free to search out the variety of materials it could find in nature. In addition, in the confined cage, the heat from the light has no place to dissipate and the air temp could be higher than you want it to be for the gecko.
2. Cricket gut load. I supplement my gecko, in addition to the crickets, with calcium and vitamin D3. It's not clear to me, if the crickets eat food that has calcium in it, whether the calcium builds up in them or is excreted and there's no way to know, if it's excreted, where they are in the process when the gecko eats them.
3. morph: The exact morph depends on whether the gecko's tail was banded when it hatched, i.e. whether the tail bands were broken. The body bands are clearly broken (meaning "non-continuous", not "problematic") in a jungle pattern. I think from the picture, the bands at the end of the tail may also be broken, in which case you could call it a jungle. However, if the tail bands were not broken, the gecko would more correctly be called "aberrant" (i.e. tail or body bands broken, but not both)
Aliza
Thanks! If I was to use a under tank heater, how do I keep the tank from being too hot? I've heard of dimmers, but what is the exact setup for a under tank heater so it doesn't get too hot?
- Messages
- 15,170
- Location
- Somerville, MA
You have 2 choices for controlling the temperature. The best is to use a thermostat. You can get the Zilla thermostat for under $20 through Amazon.com. You set the thermostat for the temp you want, plug the UTH into the thermostat, put the UTH probe on the hot side of the enclosure (on the floor) and plug the UTH into the wall.
You can use a dimmer (get a lamp dimmer from Home Depot or equivalent) but it's not much cheaper than the UTH and you have to keep changing the setting as the ambient temperature changes.
Aliza
You can use a dimmer (get a lamp dimmer from Home Depot or equivalent) but it's not much cheaper than the UTH and you have to keep changing the setting as the ambient temperature changes.
Aliza
Visit our friends
