Keep the Newbie in Line

[andypg3]

Hey all, love the forum, used it for a lot of research.

I'm venturing into the leopard gecko realm and will put forward my setup and plans. Please any advice, suggestions, thoughts, and criticisms to help me give this animal a good home would be much appreciated.

Setup: 20 gal (long) tank, UTH (to one side), repti-carpet liner, 3 hides (1 hot, 1 cool, 1 humid), shallow water dish, food dish, calcium dish (necessary?), 2 temp/humidity gauges (both sides of cage), 100W blue light/heat bulb on a 10-12 hr. timer, 50W red light/heat bulb on during night (they really can't see red?)

Not sure if I should feed mealworms or crickets, but will dust/gut load both appropriately. It seems like the food type will depend on the animal's preference?

I plan on buying the animal from a local, family owned reputable reptile store. The sort of place that preaches quality care and the animal's well-being over profit and mass production.

What's a good setup for a moist hide? Peat moss in a fully enclosed hide? Calcium dish necessary? Should I try to hook up a dimmer switch to the UTH to better regulate the temp? Live plant in cage okay?

Any other tips of these little guys and caring for them. Thanks in advance...

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Hey all, love the forum, used it for a lot of research.

I'm venturing into the leopard gecko realm and will put forward my setup and plans. Please any advice, suggestions, thoughts, and criticisms to help me give this animal a good home would be much appreciated.

Setup: 20 gal (long) tank, UTH (to one side), repti-carpet liner, 3 hides (1 hot, 1 cool, 1 humid), shallow water dish, food dish, calcium dish (necessary?), 2 temp/humidity gauges (both sides of cage), 100W blue light/heat bulb on a 10-12 hr. timer, 50W red light/heat bulb on during night (they really can't see red?)

Temp and humidity gauges are not what you need. You should get a thermostat or rheostat that has a probe to measure ground temps. Those gauges only measure the ambient (air) temps and leos need the ground temp for digestion.

Not sure if I should feed mealworms or crickets, but will dust/gut load both appropriately. It seems like the food type will depend on the animal's preference?

It is some the animals preference, but it is best to give your leo a variety. There are also many other types of food than just mealworms and crickets. You can also feed many species of roaches, superworms, silkworms, waxworms (as a treat), just to name a few.

I plan on buying the animal from a local, family owned reputable reptile store. The sort of place that preaches quality care and the animal's well-being over profit and mass production.

What's a good setup for a moist hide? Peat moss in a fully enclosed hide? Calcium dish necessary? Should I try to hook up a dimmer switch to the UTH to better regulate the temp? Live plant in cage okay?

My moist hide is a rectangular tupperware container with a "door" cut out on one side. The inside is sphagnum moss that I spray about every other day, or every day if she is about to shed. For a young leo, I would recommend wrapping the moss in paper towel to reduce the threat of impaction. Calcium dishes are not necessary, but I think it is a good idea. As I mentioned before, I would recommend a thermostat to be able to control the temps exactly. Live plants are not a good idea. Leos do not come from around here, so we don't really know what plants are safe for them.

Any other tips of these little guys and caring for them. Thanks in advance...

Hard to just think of something off hand, but you seem to have a good idea of what you are doing. My only advice really would be to have everything set up and double checked BEFORE getting your leo. Good luck!

 

[StangWolf]

so far most everything looks good to me, I'm a bit of a newbie too, so I'll share what I have, I'm going to get two girls on Tuesday, just finished paying for them today ^^

alright I'll give you the set up for one side of my tank (since I've got mine split into two different enclosures with a piece of plexiglass) from what I've been told here I've got things down right.

- I've got a 11"x17" UTH plugged into a thermostat

- two Digital Thermometers with probes, the probes taped to the tile on the floor of the tank (I think you'd really only need one for the warm end, but I wanted to check the cool side temps too, you don't have to if you don't want to)

- you don't necessarily need a humidity gauge since leos don't need humidity. That and if your house is anything like mine, the humidity is around 20% - 30% which should be fine for a leo from what I gather.

- I've got a glass ashtray for a water dish (cheaper than the little reptile water dishes advertised at pet stores and online), a worm dish for a feeding dish, and a small cap for a calcium dish (Gatoraid caps and such work good too), and from what I've researched most everyone says a separate dish for calcium is suggested. Though I wondered if you just put a bit of calcium in the feeding dish at all times and just dropped the feeders in there if that would suffice, dusting them as needed before hand of course. I haven't asked about that one, so maybe someone else can give you better advice on that, especially since I'll have a separate calcium dish for my girls.

- and I'm guessing you're going to use the blue light for daytime light? correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just using a couple of house hold coil bulbs in a canopy (leftover from an anole enclosure) for daytime lighting, simple and cheap, or well the bulbs were lol. I have a red bulb for nighttime viewing (and maybe a little ambient temp, though that's not really necessary either) and, from what I've heard, red is good for at night since it won't throw off their little biological clocks. Blue at night can however mess them up, so steer clear of blue bulbs at night.

- I've got mealworms, and I REALLY hope the girls like them, since I don't want to have to deal with crickets again, at least not all the time, occasionally fine, but all the time...no lol. But yep from what I gather it depends on the gecko, probably much like people, some people LOVE say...pizza (its an example bare with me XD), while others don't. So I'd say if they don't take to mealworms try crickets or something else, and vice versa. Just Wax worms are treats, they're like Gecko candy or ice cream! Especially since they can evidentially spoil your gecko so that they won't want anything BUT waxies and then they'll get fat lol. That's why I don't eat too many sweets haha

- as far as a set-up for a moist hide, if you'd like something cheap you can take a regular ol' tupperware and cut a hole either in the side or I've seen some with the hole in the top and then put moist sphagnum moss (I have no idea if this is like peat moss or not lol, just going by what I've read and heard) or even moist paper towels in it to make their moist hide. I'm going to use paper towels, but I went ahead and bought one of those nifty 3-in-1 Reptile Cave/Den things to use as a humid hide, but a tupperware will work just fine as well.

- and yes a thermostat or rheostat would be recommended to use with a UTH, that way you can get the floor temps just right for his/her little belly. I'm currently in the process of tweaking my temps to get them just right, and the thermostat I have is working beautifully!

- as far as the plant, I think it'll be fine, but I've just got some plastic vine things in mine to add some color, so you'll probably have better luck from someone else on that one. Might depend on what kind of plant.

Umm...I think that's all I've got, hope that helps some! I'm sure you'll have others sharing their insight and experience as well, especially since mine is limited right now ^^

 

[andypg3]

Much appreciated you guys, I'll try to get some pics up sometime.

It sounds like a thermostat or rheostat is a key component I've over-looked. Glad I asked. More tips/suggestions are welcome.

 

[Bodon]

i found that a light with an UTH was too hot, but it might work for you. I used tile after i had used repticarpet and it seems to hold heat better but you can just test your setup yourself to see what works.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

i found that a light with an UTH was too hot, but it might work for you. I used tile after i had used repticarpet and it seems to hold heat better but you can just test your setup yourself to see what works.

I agree with this. I am much happier with tile and do not need a heat lamp.

 

[Ccrashca069]

I use the Red light during the winter. It helps with the temp and night time viewing. But you know what your temps are like where you live. I live between 800 and 1000 feet above sea leval on a mountain so I know what works up here and what works in the valley below. If the room you keep your leopards is always warm then you would not need and other heat sources just the UTH. You can always just buy thermostat. There are alot of brands out there so pick the modle that will work best for you. I know people who use ZooMed and Helix.

 

[andypg3]

The room where he's housed is always between 65 and 67. With only the UTH operating, the temp is 75 (at the cool end of the tank) and about 83 (directly over the UTH).

I'm using a repticarpet liner (so I doubt it hold the heat very well) and the UTH is sized for a 20 gal tank. With a 50W light/heat bulb over top, the temp hits just under 90 on the hot side of the tank and the cool side holds at 75.

Do leos need a natural cool down period during the night where temps drop 5-7 degrees? Or should the temp be kept constant at all times?

 

[Scott&Nikki]

It is perfectly fine to keep the temp constant. If they need to cool down thats what the cool side is for. The temps are a little low though, for my liking at least. My leo barely eats unless the temp is at least 92...