HELP PLEASE

[LeopardLove]

Hi there everyone,
So I got leo's a couple days ago and I thought I knew what to do but reading the care sheets one here I have become confused. I have a 75watt heat bulb for my leo's and a UTH the surface temp where the heat pad area is 91F I dont have a basking rock per say do I need one???? I am SO lost please help me.

 

[LeopardLove]

I can get into more depth about the set up, I bought a book about leos and followed the set up from there.
I am not new to reptiles I have 2 beardies but i know they are all different

 

[Dinosaur!]

the low 90's is the ideal basking spot for your gecko to get belly heat. I'm going to suggest that you get rid of the heat lamp though, as leopard geckos absorb heat through their bellies, not their backs. can I ask what your entre set up is? I hope this helps though!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I would agree on getting rid of the heat bulb. If you're keeping a leo in a 20 gallon or less 75 watts is going to be super warm! You just need a spot about 90 on the ground for them to warm their bellies on and room temperature air. Only reason to use a heat lamp is if your house temperature is below 65 degrees for the winter. Even then I would lean toward a 25-40 watt bulb on anything smaller than a 20 gallon. Anything bigger will heat the entire tank and the leo will have no where to go to cool down if it needs to.

 

[Chessie]

Heat rocks, because they aren't temperature controlled can be a problem. I would just keep your UTH, and I also have a heat lamp, but only turn it on if the ambient air temperature is REALLY cold in the house, just to make it more comfortable in the tank as a whole. Be sure you have a good insulated hide with a small entrance for the "hot" side, that helps keep the basking spot warm too.

 

[B&B Geckos]

You want to create a temperature gradient ranging from about 90F on the SURFACE of the warm side to the low 70s on the SURFACE of the cool side. Surface temperature, not ambient temperature is all keepers should focus on.

Here's a paragraph on the topic from the Care page on my website:

"Leopard Geckos are cold blooded and regulate their own temperature by moving from warmer areas to cooler areas as needed. In nature, they absorb heat through their belly from the surfaces they rest on. We recommend using an under tank heater (UTH) that spans about 1/4 to 1/3 of the floor space on one end of the enclosure. This set up allows the gecko to move to or away from heat within the enclosure in order to adjust its body temperature. This behavior is called thermal regulation and it is critical to their metabolism, digestion, egg development and immunity. The ideal temperature range for Leopard Geckos is from 70-74 on the cool side of the enclosure to 90-94 over the UTH on the warm side."

 

[LeopardLove]

I have a 20 gallon with tile flooring. I have a UTH on the left side of the cage (I am new to UTH since they are not used for beardies which is my area of expertise) I have a dimmer hooked up to the UTH to control temps and right now the surface temp is between 88 and 93F. In the day time my air temp in the room is around 80 since I have heat lamps for my other reptiles ETC.
I have a hide on the hot side (not insulated they just lay on the tile floor...do I need to put some moss in there? I have a moist hide in the middle of the cage and I am trying to build a cool hide for the cool side of the cage...
This is the moist hide http://www.+++++.com/product/114642/+++++-3-Level-Reptile-Hideaway.aspx

This is the hot side hide....http://www.+++++.com/product/115407/+++++-Reptile-Cave-Hideaway.aspx
I also have 2 probe thermometers on either end of the cage and a black night bulb. It is broken so I am getting this one http://www.++++++++.com/product/index.jsp?productId=16657196&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

Do i even need that? Is there a better one? My temps get into the low 70's at night in the cage the surface temp stays at about 88F

I am building the cool side hide with slate stone and I am thinking about making the slate hide the humid hide and the tri level hide the cool hide....I need suggestions about that.
My Abyssinian male is rather large so I dont know how big I should make the moist hide since he likes to sleep right up next to the blizzard. Should I make it big enough for both of them....I eventually am getting a tremper albino female to breed with him to produce more AB's but right now I am just trying to get everything right.

I dont know if any of what I am saying make sense I am really tired its 3am where I am from and I have been busting my rear to get 3.5 units of a class done started at 10am and took about 3 hours break in total and just finished at 2:45ish and my brain is half dead. I am sorry if it is hard to follow.

 

[Dinosaur!]

you don't need any bulb at all unless, as Chessie and DrCarrotTail said, your house is really cold during the winter. the different hides don't really matter, its just what you prefer (my hides are all made out of 16 oz deli cups with a large hole in the lid)

but it sounds like you prefer a decorated tank instead of sterilite and deli cups! just be sure that the humid hide is not too open, or whatever substrate is in there will dry out very quickly. otherwise, your tank and temperatures sound perfectly fine to me! I hope this helps!