New Member of the family..

[Heatherb83]

Hello! I am all new to owning a leopard gecko. I did a bunch of research about the best care and habitat set-up for leopard gecko, but this does not prepare you for when you actually have one of your own, or if your little creature is happy, healthy, amd if you are doing everything right. I got my albino leopard gecko from petco on october 16th. The lady that assisted me stated that he/she was born in mid July. It eats fine but is relatively clumsy when hunting. Sometimes he misses, or gets overwhelmed after chasing for a few seconds. Or he just flat out decides he wanted to take a nap mid-chase. It allows me to handle it, although i dont handle it everyday. I have no idea if its behavior or size is normal and i just want it to be healthy and happy.
I am hoping that by posting some images of the little one and its enclosure, that i can get some feedback as to whether he looks okay, and if his enclosure needs more or less. It has been cold so i wrapped the reptile heater in paper towels and it practically never gets off the reptile heating pad. I just recently put a normal heating pad underneath the tank and have been gradually raising the setting to see if i can make it more comfortable. Please respond with positive and potentially helpful feedback. Thank you

 

[AndyBunn]

Hi there and welcome to the wonderful world of Geckos

I wouldn't worry about your geckos hunting skills. They will get better but geckos are sometimes pretty clumsy.

I do have some worries about your set up.

Is that a red or infrared light? From talking to some owners and from research i have found that these lights are not great for leopard geckos at night. I personally don't use any light at night but use a uvb light during the day.

I have no experience with heat mats as i use an over head ceramic heat bulb.

Temps for leopard geckos: around 33°c on hot side and 22°c on cool side. Humidity around 40-50%. But increase this either in your enclosure or moist hide when your gecko sheds skin.

The enclosure looks fine to me and if you are anything like me you will be changing the set up as you go along. Recently i put in a t junction drain pipe under the substrate and my gecko loves in and out of it. Geckos like to climb so you could put some items in for that.

I hope this helps you and have fun.

Andy and Carrot

 

[Heatherb83]

Thank you so much for your response! Lighting has been a real concern and a bulk of my research online. All the info that I have found states that albino's are sensitive to the UV/basking bulbs, which the little one confirms anytime i turn it on (it hides behind or under something) I only have the red heating bulb on at night and i just ordered an automatic timer because there will be times that i forget. The UV bulb is supposed to be used during the day on the warmer side of the tank. However, the little guy does not bask in it or seem to want any part of it. This leads to my next concern of getting the habitat to reach/maintain the desired temp. I provide a moisture hide that i made out of a tuperware container. I use coco coir substrait, which it took to and hangs out in often. I am unsure how to deal with the temp. Issue. It's a tricky pickle i find myself in and i appreciate any advice and support.... Thank you again! Heather ( we assume that it is a he... If that is the case, his name is Dartanian Maximillion Bartholemew, III. DART for short)

 

[acpart]

Here's how I deal with heat and light for my 20 or so leopard geckos (and how I did it when I was breeding them and had way more during the summers):
Light - as long as there is ambient light in the room so they know when it's daytime and when it's nighttime, I find no need for extra lighting at all. My planted tanks for other nocturnal species have lights for the plants and my day geckos obviously have basking lights, but not the leopard geckos.

Heat - I think there are now lights that can do the job of a heat pad (though I don't really understand what happens at night). I use the tried and true method of under tank heater with thermostat set at 90F.It's been almost 20 years and working fine. In the winter, the geckos either spend lots of time in their warm hides, or go to the cool side and sleep (brumate). In summer, they spend most of their time on the cool side. I don't find any need for extra heating elements from above as long as the ambient temperature is one that humans can tolerate.

Aliza

 

[Heatherb83]

That is sound feedback. Thank you!

 

[AndyBunn]

Hi Heather

Dartanian Maximillion Bartholomew, III.

What a fantastic name.

Listen to Aliza she's the best.