Humidity/temperature

[Ryanurso1]

Hello! I'm new to the forums and have a few questions. My girlfriend and I purchased a leopard gecko yesterday. With it we got a 10 gallon tank, reptile carpet, thermometer, cave, water dish, a daytime white bulb and what looks like a black light for night time.

So we've set up a warm and cool side putting the water and cave on the cool side. The warm side is currently at 80 on the warm side during the day with humidity at 30%. At night, the temperature is 75 with 40% humidity. We have a dehumidifer in the apartment and that is set at the lowest setting of 35%. I am buying another thermometer to gauge the difference between the hot/cold sides. Are these numbers okay? I've read stay under 40% and between 80-90 daytime temp and 70-75 night time. I plan on buying a larger tank but for now this is what I'm stuck with.

How can I sufficiently regulate hot and cold sides in this size tank?
Should I get a red bulb for daytime instead?

How can I lower the humidity and increase the temperature to the required numbers? (only source of humidity could be the very small water dish)

Any help would be great. The gecko was very active at night, we witnessed her eat a cricket (probably more most are gone) and is sleeping soundly in the cave at the moment.

 

[Yoh4n]

While I have only been taking care of geckos for one year I can give you some information. The first thing you should get is an Under the tank heater (UTH) because that's how they get their heat and it also helps them digest their food.

You need to have a humid hide you can use a plastic container for that and just make a hole where the leo can get inside. What you want to use inside the container is a wet paper towel to create humidity. Do not spray the whole tank with water!

People are going to say get rid of the carpet and go with paper towels or tile/slate because the leopard gecko can get their nails stuck in it and rip it off, it can contain a lot of bacteria, its hard and painful to clean, and the leopard gecko can also get their teeth stuck in the carpet when hunting.

This is not from personal experience but i'm pretty sure someone is going to say this but do not leave the crickets in over night because they can irritate the leo by biting it and they can give diseases to the gecko form walking in the poop and maybe eating it im not sure about that part.

Im not so sure about the light part.

Someone else can explain in more detail i'm not really good at explaining things.

 

[dremanjon]

I don't have a leo yet, so correct me if I'm wrong.

The geckos don't really need light since they're nocturnal.

Usually people use red lights for night time viewing as it doesn't disturb your leo since they can't see red light.

Another reason for a light is to raise the ambient temperature. But in all honesty, you don't need a light.

Oh and don't forget Calcium.

 

[Yoh4n]

I'm not so sure on the lights because I have never really studied up on the lights. As for the ambient temps i'm pretty sure it does not matter as much since leos get their heat from their belly and yeah don't forget the calcium!

 

[sunshinegeckos]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on the new gecko

Here are some tips:

1) Your leo needs an UTH. They get their heat from their belly and it helps with them digesting food.

2) get a digital probe thermometer so you can read the temp of the floor which is what is important (not the ambient temp)

3) Leo's are desert animals and do not need a high humidity. You need a humid hide (like someone said a tupperware container with a hole in the lid would work just put paper towels in there and mist them) I don't mist my humid hide all of the time. Just when I see that they are getting ready to shed but thats up to you.

4) Lights are unnecessary and some leo's (especially albinos) actually can be hurt by them. If you want one for viewing a moonlight bulb (blue) is good.

5) Their warm side should be 92-94 and cold side whatever the house is at should be fine (80-84ish)


good luck!

 

[Ryanurso1]

Okay right after work I'm going to get a heater, remove the day light, and make a moist box. Ceramic sounds like a pain in the butt frankly and paper towels would allow the crickets to hide during feeding time.

How can I reduce the humidity? I guess higher heat levels will take care of that?

Also can I effectively regulate hot and cold sides in a 10 gallon? I guess the UTH is that precise?

Will I be able to alter the UTH temperature? They sell something to turn it high, medium, low.. That's not a comforting thought

 

[Ryanurso1]

Also my girlfriend is picking up a light dimmer switch from lowes and we will just regulate the uth with that. Please tell me that's sufficient.. We've been stressing for far too long lol

 

[sunshinegeckos]

Yes that should work

 

[M_surinamensis]

The geckos don't really need light since they're nocturnal.

Crepuscular.

Usually people use red lights for night time viewing as it doesn't disturb your leo since they can't see red light.

Yes they can. Seeing light of a given color has to do with the types of cones present in the eye. Lizards, including leopard geckos, have four types of cones and can absolutely see the color red. To compare this to our own senses, we only have three types of cones and can see fewer colors than they can.

The relative intensity of colors is a result of cone density- how many cones are present over what kind of area in the eye. Crepuscular and nocturnal species usually have lower cone density, so colors can appear muted in intensity, but the light reflected is just as bright- as that is a function of pupil dilation and lens shape, and their eyes are shaped to take advantage of such light as is present. In this respect, turning on a red light bulb is similar, to their perspective, as turning on any other light bulb of similar output.

Red is actually a color that tends to attract many lizards (and tortoises) because it is commonly found in nature in the form of flowers and fruits... food for herbivorous reptiles and an attractive draw for insects and other prey for predatory reptiles.

I have no clear idea where this "reptiles can't see red" thing started, but it's wrong. Most (not all) snakes don't see red very well, having fewer cones and with those capable of detecting red often absent... but lizards, turtles, crocodilians and rhynchocephalia can all see red. Many of them even see colors better than we can, with a visual range that extends into the infrared and ultraviolet.

Also my girlfriend is picking up a light dimmer switch from lowes and we will just regulate the uth with that. Please tell me that's sufficient.. We've been stressing for far too long lol

It will require monitoring and frequent adjustments to counteract the changes in ambient temperature inside the room. It also has no temperature related failsafes in the event of equipment failure. It can be made to do the job, but is not as ideal as a reliable thermostat.

 

[sunshinegeckos]

I have a Rheostat that I use for my UTH and I got it from PetSmart for like $15 that is always an option. It works really well with my UTH's

 

[Ryanurso1]

I was considering a rheostat but was reading on several websites and they said not to use them. I swear every option has 50% saying NO NO NO and 50% saying I approve of this option. It makes things quite difficult. We currently have the repti carpet placed on the bottom with the sensor from our Acurite thermometer/hygrometer placed on top of the carpet with paper towels then covering both the sensor and the carpet.

The temperature though at low 80s on the hot side at night is slowly but surely climbing since placing the UTH on the tank about 30 minutes ago.

My main question (after asking about 100 of them) is: I see many parameters with both the warm and cool sides and day and night temps but I have yet to see what exactly the temps should be for hot and cool sides during the day and then during the night.

The night temps are high 70s with 35-40% humidity on average (all pre-UTH) and low 80s with around 30% humidity during the day time. The cool side is around the mid 70s both day and night. Assuming the UTH will help slightly with the humidity and raise the warm side 4 or 5 degrees to 85-88 during the day and 80 at night is that okay?! We did get the mini UTH being that it is a 10 gallon and read to only cover 1/3 to 1/4 of the tank.

Please help I know i have a lot of questions but we want the leo to be happy and healthy and these set up issues sure are strenuous! Thanks in advance and any advice is as always appreciated.

 

[Tony C]

I have a Rheostat that I use for my UTH and I got it from PetSmart for like $15 that is always an option. It works really well with my UTH's

I was considering a rheostat but was reading on several websites and they said not to use them.

A light dimmer IS a rheostat, the pros and cons apply equally regardless of how they are labeled.

 

[Ryanurso1]

Okay so overnight the uth was recorded at 87 as the high temp on the warm side but is around 84 for 90% of the day. I purchased some slate tile to have cut and home depot wouldn't cut them.. They seem brittle. Most of the slate at the store was cracked and broken.

Will the slate further increase the warm side temperature to the 88-92 temperature I desire or does my 10 gallon tank need the next larger uth? I bought the smallest size uth made for a 1-5 gallon because I read not to cover more than 1/3 of the tank to keep the warm/cool sides separate.

The gecko slept on the warm side for a good portion of the night to digest after a huge meal of crickets in under 5 minutes. I woke to find her droppings so things seem good until the slate is cut. Currently on paper towels. No immediate danger right? Reassurance please!!!

 

[M_surinamensis]

It's usually easier to turn a powerful heating element down than to make a weak one more efficient.

 

[Ryanurso1]

Very good point. I guess there's no way to remove the uth and return it? They are a 1 time stick yes?

 

[sunshinegeckos]

A light dimmer IS a rheostat, the pros and cons apply equally regardless of how they are labeled.

my bad now that i think about it that makes sense lol sorry

 

[fl_orchidslave]

You can remove and replace the UTH with a more efficient one. ZooMed makes a decent quality UTH. The store may not take it back tho, but it's not a bad thing to have an extra UTH around in case you need one in a pinch. Those little ones are great for a 6qt shoebox, that a small gecko or rescue/rehab would be used for.