Crumpled paper bedding and heat pad? and set up feedback please!

[Cynical_Llama]

Noobie here My aunt gave me her leopard gecko. He looks to be an adult. Here's a picture:

Anyway, I'm trying to learn all I can so he stays happy and healthy. I'm concerned about his set up. He doesn't have a heat pad >___< only that lamp and a heat rock. I know, baaad heat rock. He never rests on it. Its behind the hide where he usually sleeps. I want him to be warm until I can get a heat pad. So what I was wondering was can I use an under tank heat pad with crumpled paper substrate? Here's a close up of the substrate: and here's a picture of his set up:

Please give me opinions, tips, advice. Anything, just please don't be too harsh >__< lol. I'm trying to improve his home.
Also where should I stick the thermometers and hygrometers?

 

[Phantom240]

I wouldn't recommend it. Might burn his little gecko feet or belly.

 

[lisa127]

The immediate problem with the heat is that heat lamp is way too close to him. I realize why it's done....I'm supposing because it is a very low wattage bulb. If you can't get a heat pad immediately I would get a slightly higher wattage heat lamp so you can place it on the screen top instead of just above his head. As for heat pads, I myself do not like the ones from pet stores. I use ultratherm heat pads from Reptile Basics. Also, those thermometer gages I do not like either. For reading temps you need an infrared temperature gun. You can probably find one at Radio Shack, but you can also order one online. I use the PE1 or PE 2 temp gun. (pro exotics) That substrate is called CareFresh. I would just use paper towels or newspaper for now. I prefer newspaper in my cages because I have two big bulky males who just move the paper towels all over the place. The newspaper is sturdier so that's why I use it. And yes, get rid of the heat rock.

 

[tb144050]

^^ +1 +1

I agree with a few things above.

1) Unless your room's air temp is below 70F, you don't actually NEED a heat lamp. Just the UTH you already sound like you have. (you wanted to use it with paper substrate)

2) Use newspaper, or papertowl, or the Repticarpet from the petstore is only about $10.

3) The petstore analog guages are usually significantly OFF-target. IR temp gun is alot faster and more accurate.

 

[Cynical_Llama]

You guys know your stuff! Ok, I'll see if I can get him a higher watt heat lamp for now. Thanks for the recommendation on the brand of heat pad. I've been searching for a good one online. I'll look into the infrared temperature gun also. The substrate is indeed CareFresh. I'll throw that out today and replace with paper towels. I'm not sure I have newspaper at the moment. I was going to do that when I got him because he had stinky smelling sand but my dad said he had this bedding. Well thanks for your help guys! If you or anyone else can think of anything else let me know! I'll be working on making some changes!

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk

 

[tb144050]

Honestly, I think the "heating" and "floor substrate" are the 2 most important aspects to a geckos home. Remember:

1) Especially when a gecko is chasing crickets (and at random other times), a gecko may accidently ingest the floor-substrate (or may do it on purpose sometimes). So make sure, especially the flooring, everything in the home is non-toxic and WON"T cause internal blockage, which is known as impaction and is often fatal.

2) I mentioned above that you probably don't need a heatlamp after you put in the UnderTank Heater. They NEEEED belly heat to digest food and regulate body temp. As long as the air temp in the tank doesn't drop below 70F, they will be fine. Especially with the heat emitted from the warm floor. And using an overhead lamp can cause skinburns if it is too close or wattage is too high :O

 

[Cynical_Llama]

I have thrown out the crumpled paper and replaced with paper towels. I also moved the light out of the tank and sat it on top of the mesh cover. I've ordered a heat mat and a thermostat. I'm also looking for a combo dome lamp and day and night bulbs, and a thermometer. Oh and another hide! Thanks you guys!

 

[tb144050]

It is often debated about which bulbs are stressful to the Leo's. Some say to use a Red bulb, some say blue, some say "moon bulb". I like to use a bulb so I can see them because I have to keep my room lights dim (for other reasons) so I happen to use red bulbs...they seeeeem ok with it. They eat well (unless ovulating) and even sleep on the open floor sometimes (instead of in hides).

I will say I did not like the blue or moon lights. You can't see anything...or atleast I couldn't. My eyes can't see the blue "refracting" as well as the color red, and the "moon" light is like having a black light....but nothing in the room is WHITE... so you can sense a light is on but you can't see anything..lol

 

[Herbiebug]

the undertank heater should be sufficient for the right temps on its own unless your room temperature runs below high 60's. I live on the lower level of a house on an incline, part of it is below ground level, so temperatures in my place average in the low 60's. Because of that, I run a small wattage ceramic heat emitter to raise the ambient air temperature of my tank up into mid 70's. No daytime bulb is required for leos provided your room has windows.

On the topic of night bulbs, I tried both the infrared ones and the blue moonlight types. Blue lights are very dim, i agree. It's difficult to see with those even if you have all the room's other lights off. Infrared/red bulbs are much easier to see what's going on in the tank but they do put out a lot of heat, even if the bulb is marked as a "night" light source bulb as opposed to a heat bulb. Some owners say the red disturbs their geckos. I assume mileage may vary on that. Gecko's ability to discern red light is quite limited but is not completely invisible to them. The blue lights they can see 100%. Visible spectrum for leos runs from the border end of ultraviolet and stops short of full red.

I have been using a 50w exoterra infrared basking bulb on a dimmer, with the dimmer set to only 20% of full power. That cuts back the heat output significantly and keeps the light output dim enough that my gecko does not show any signs of being bothered by it. The red at 20% of 50w power is still much brighter than a blue moonlight bulb at full power.

 

[Cynical_Llama]

Thanks for all the info guys! I'll give you an update on what I've done so far. I bought an under tank heater, a digital thermometer with a probe, a red 60w bulb, and reptile carpet. I also want to get a dimmer for the light, a thermostat for the heat pad, and another hide. Specifically a better humid hide. I have this one in mind, Amazon.com: Zoo Med Reptile Shelter 3 in 1 Cave, Medium: Pet Supplies

The digital thermometer is reading at around 97 on the warm side in his hide. The analog thermometer on the warm side is reading about 82 and the cool side is 75. They're on the ground right now but I want to stick them on the walls about 4 inches from the ground so I have an idea of the ambient air temp.

Here's a picture of his set up now,

Oh yeah, he shed his skin the other day! Everything went perfectly. He did have some skin stuck on his back feet but he got to it! Here's some pics!