Does my Leo cage approve?

[sports_guy_36]

Yesterday i put my newt in my 10 gallon tank and cleaned out my old tank really good with vinegar and rinsed it with water and finish by wiping it out with jurassi wipes and today i went to my local Animart (big warehouse place) and bought 4 shelters 2 digital thermometers 2 ceramic clamp lamps with 100 watt day bulbs in them and a t5 UVB light 40 lbs of calci sand 3 water dishes one with calcium supplement one with water and one with small mealworms and i put small crickets in the cage and i got a big piece of drift wood in there for my new baby leos to bask on. and i set all that up yesterday and got that going and today i bought 2 new leos one is a jungle morph and the other is an albino morth both with a stripe down their backs and yah i was jw if that looks like a good setup, its in a 20 gal long tankwith screen top

any suggestions to make it better would be nice unless its all good

 

[RampantReptiles]

Sounds alright as long as all those lights dont make it too hot. The image doesnt work so cant really tell what it looks like
Michelle

 

[LadyGecko10]

My suggestions would be to bring back both the Calci-Sand and the UV light
The first is a known problem and baby Leos often have problems with passing any ingested sand
The UV light is not needed and can stress the albinos sensitive eyes

The 2 -100 watt bulbs will bake your Leos in a 20 long tank so please don't even bother with them
I would return them also but that is just me

I prefer an under the tank heater for my Leos but some people do use basking lights

You can use a red light at night for viewing them or a florescent non-UV bulb if you feel that you need to in the daylight hours

Many people believe that ambient room light is more than enough for these nocturnals

Good Luck with them

Sandy

 

[sports_guy_36]

Thats My new setup up, its hard to see the small hide and the stacking stones behind the big piece of driftwood

 

[RampantReptiles]

Very nice start! I love how it looks all nice and desert like.
There are a few things that need to be changed.
1. Cant use sand with small leos. The chance of impaction is much greater at a young age that it is not recommend that you use sand at all until your leo is at least 6 months old.
2. LadyGecko10 is right, no need for the UVB. For leos they do not get the benefit of absorbing UVB due to the fact that they are nocturnal and spend most of the day time in hiding. Their skin is also not adept at absorbing the UVB rays so the use of UVB has little to no benefit. Also not necessary to have the fluorescent light strip but isnt bad if you leave it.
3. Need to get rid of one of your heat lamps and get a lower wattage bulb. 100 watts is too high, will create too much heat and cook your little geckos. Try 60 or 40 watts, red or blue bulbs are easier on your geckos eyes, which will encourage them to come out more for better viewing. Basking spot should only be about 90 degrees F. The other end of the tank should be about 80 degrees F. You want to have a nice temperature gradient so that your geckos can move around and adjust to what temperature they like. That is why you only need one heat lamp.
OR
You can trade in both heat lamps for an under tank heater and place it under one side of the tank. Leopard geckos do better with under tank heaters because they provide belly heat, which is where they need it to digest food.

Hope that helps,
Michelle

 

[sports_guy_36]

I have an undertank heater on my other leo cage but it doesnt seem to raise the temperature at all, maybe its because i have 40lbs of sand in the cage but im not sure. The UVB bulb i heard was really questionable if i needed one or not i heard a lot of people say i do and a lot of people say i dont, they said it helps with something about calcium. the fluorescent light strip in the back isnt a fluorescent light strip, it actually is a heat lamp with 2 sockets for the tube bulbs. my lighting is really screwed up right now because the 100 watt bulbs didnt fit real nice in the 5.5in clamp lamps the bulbs stick out the bottom so today i was gonna go exchange them for the bigger ones and are u sure that if i use 2 60watt day bulbs it will raise the temp. enuf? or should i get a 60 watt on the cool side and a 100 spot lamp on the other?

 

[sports_guy_36]

Those are some pics of my new albino

 

[LadyGecko10]

What type of thermometer are you using?

If it isn't a digital with a probe or a temp gun you will not be getting an accurate reading

You want to have the hot spot/end of your tank at 88 to 90 on the floor of the tank-not the overall air temperature of the tank

That is why most people use an under the tank heat source instead of an overhead basking bulk
These nocturnal animals do not bask out in full sunlight so the purpose of a basking bulb does not seem to suit them well

Sand can be a major problem with Leos the size of yours as they do not seem to be able to pass it well and it will clog up in their intestines and can lead to death
Any brand of sand with calcium in it just tempts them to eat the sand

Just a few grains picked up each time that your Leo catches a cricket can build up over time
There have been Leos kept on fine grade play sand but most people do not want to run the risk of impaction with babies and use either slate-tile or paper towels

I don't know who gave you the advice for your tank set-up but it is far more suited for a diurnal sun basking lizard than a nocturnal one


So your goal with your heating is not to make the air temperature of the tank 88 to 90 degrees on one end-which would make it next to impossible to have a heat gradient in something as small as a 20 gal. tank-you want to have a third of the bottom of the tank at that temperature

One 100 watt incandescent light bulb by itself can be too hot on a 20 gal long tank with babies the size that yours are and the high air temps can quickly dehydrate them

Yes-40 pounds of sand on the top of a UTH will block it's ability to transfer heat
Slate or tile will conduct heat much better than sand does with the use of the UTH's

I am not typing this to try and sound like a "know it all"
I have been keeping these animals for over 10 years and I have made my own mistakes and suffered the loss of a Leo because of them

I am just trying to help people that are brand new to the hobby with suggestions that I have found to work in aiding in keeping them healthy and happy

Your leos babies are beautiful and I would hate to see you lose them because of bad set-up advice-wherever it was obtained from

just my 2 cents

Sandy

 

[sports_guy_36]

i bought 2 electric thermometers with probes set at the bottom of the cage, thats the white wire,

could u take a pic of your setup so i can see the right way to make a leo cage

 

[RampantReptiles]

Here is a nice care sheet with pictures, there is a setup picture a little ways down. Leopard Gecko Care Sheet
They recommend not using sand for leos until they are 5-6 inches long. Can use papertowels, newspaper, reptile carpet, or slate tiles.

Here are a couple pictures of a temporary setup I made, it could be better by adding a hide on the cool end but it is just temporary:
For this one I use a heat lamp in conjunction with an under tank heater. I also have both plugged into a thermostat so that I can control how hot they get. A little more complicated then necessary but I want to make sure that the moist hide gets adequate heat and the under tank heater probably doesnt get through the stone and coco fiber that is in there.

Hope that helps,
Michelle

 

[LadyGecko10]

My set-ups are very simple

I either use a sterlite tub or an aquarium -both with secure lids as I have indoor cats
I put paper towels down on the bottom
I put an under the tank the tank heater on 1/4 to 1/3 under one end of the tank and depending on the wattage of the heater-I may use a dimmer or a thermostat to control the temperature of the uth

I provide one moist hide and one dry hide and a water dish and a bowl for worms and a branch/piece of wood for them to rub against when they shed and to climb on
I also add plastic or silk plants for decorations

You can use tile or slate to make the tank look nicer and you can decorate your hides and put a background on the outside of the back wall of the aquarium too

I hope that this helps

There are many people with really nice set-ups using tile or slate and I am sure that if you make a thread that they would post pics of their tanks

:biggrin:

Sandy