leopard gecko- items i may need to keep him happy

[MellowMan24]

i am going to get my first leopard gecko in a few weeks and i read up that you should create the tank before you get the gecko. so now i'm wondering what do i need in the tank to keep him happy? also i heard that you can get a heating rock instead of the light to save money is this true or will it just make it lay on it till it burns its belly?:? i'm also new to the site

 

[spartcus]

No need for heating rock. A under tank heater is all you may need. You need at least two hide boxes. One has to be a humid hide. And the other one has to be over the uth. I put a small dish with water in all my gecko tanks.

And welcome to GU

 

[Palor]

My leo check list, 1 humid hide, 1 warm hide, 1 cool hide, 1 water bowl, 1 food bowl, 1 small cap of calcium, 1 UTH, 1 20 Long tank, assorted decorations in the forms of rocks and/or corkbark.

 

[TomOC]

Can I place my humid hide over a uth?

 

[Palor]

I try to set my humid hides so they barely touch the warm spot on 1 end.

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Requirements for a leopard gecko

You don't really even need a warm dry hide. All you need is a hide that sits on the warm end and that can be misted whenever the gecko sheds. You could also trade the food dish for a pair of tongs or tweezers if you are willing to hand-feed. The tongs might be more expensive depending on what you want to use for a feeding dish but they can be used with snakes, amphibians and other lizards as well.

Oh yeah, and Palor, you forgot the substrate...;-)

 

[MellowMan24]

i went out and did some shopping and found a leopard gecko kit it has a UTH, 2 thermometers, 1humiditor(thing to measure humidity), water dish (small), and spray bottle. i have some tile as the beding and 2 hides one that is like a rock or plaster and a wood hide and a fish tank plaster log thing. will i need anything else? i ran it today and the basking spot was i think 96*F and and the normal side was 81*F i forgot to check the humiditor are those readings good and what should the humidity be? when i get up tomorrow i'll try and post some pics thanks you guys/girls you've have been alot of help i'm happy i joined this forum

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Finishing the checklist

Everything seems fine so far. You may want to look into getting a food dish and calcium dish though. The calcium dish should hold calcium powder with no added phosphorus or D3 in it and it is there in case your leopard gecko thinks it needs additional calcium besides what is dusted on its food. I recommend either a food dish or a pair of feeding tongs because it is a bad idea to dump feeder insects into the terrarium for any length of time. In the long run, leaving crickets in the terrarium overnight may stress your gecko. The crickets may also begin to chew on your gecko while it sleeps and, in extreme cases (and if there are enough of them), the crickets may even gang up on your gecko and eat it. This most often happens with very young geckos but it could happen with an adult too. Tong-feeding is good because you know your gecko is eating something, which is why I prefer to do that with my leopard geckos. Dishes are good because you don't need to be there and your gecko still has all the food it could want in one place without having to chase it or worry about being eaten by it. I guess temporarily letting your bugs run around the terrarium during feeding time and letting your gecko hunt them would be fine as long as you are there and as long as you remove the bugs afterward. Some people also have a seperate feeding tank where they let the bugs loose, bring the gecko in from its living terrarium, and move the gecko back into its terrarium after feeding time. This also works well if you are able to get your hands on another tank.

Another thing I would recommend - but not everyone here will agree with me - is some sort of lighting. It may not matter as much if your gecko gets natural light from the sun or a nearby light in the house, but if it is in a dark corner of the house that doesn't get any lighting at all, then you may need a light to stimulate its sleeping and waking schedule. People say that lights bother the gecko, but then this is why they are nocturnal. Having no light at all might confuse your leopard gecko or, at the very least, could lead to some unusual waking patterns. I just find it easier when my geckos' waking schedule conforms to what is actually going on outside because that is what shapes my own sleeping and waking schedule (to some degree ).

And I think the word for the humidity device you are looking for is "hygrometer" ;-)

 

[MellowMan24]

i have a normal light the curled ones that u can buy anywhere on it right now but theres no gecko in the tank so if its not good than its not hurting anything. and what if when i'm feeding the gecko i only put like 2 crickets in let it eat them then add some more? and sorry to bug you but i was also wondering what the humidity is supposed to be? thanks alot

 

[Clink]

I would just dump around 10 crickets in there every day-2 days, and after around half an hour, take out the ones that he doesn't eat, they can start to loose their nutritional value after a few hours (if you gut-load them). They can bother gecko and take a few bites out of him and keep him up at night (haha) if they are left in there. They can really only eat the gecko if the gecko isn't in good health in the first place, but on the safe side, don't leave them in there for long.
I would recommend a food dish filled with calcium without D3, and when you feed something like mealworms or something that can't jump/crawl well, put them in there, so the dish serves two purposes, and you don't have as many dishes to keep up with.
The humidity should be around 30-40 percent. If you keep the humid hide damp and keep a water bowl full, then that should take care of the humidity they need.

 

[MellowMan24]

thanks alot my camera batteries were dead so i will post a pic show my setup later

 

[MellowMan24]

humidity is too high!

my humidity is 50%! and theres no water in the tank yet! what do i do?i'm going to mist the humid hide and put water in the bowl to see how much it goes up then tell you what its at

 

[MellowMan24]

here are the pics of my setup-
gecko tank pic 2 picture by MellowMan24 - Photobucket
humid hide picture by MellowMan24 - Photobucket

sorry its a crapy camera its one of the really small one that you buy for like 10 bucks:lol: theres a mirror behind the tank should i put something on the back of the tank so it wont stress the gecko out?

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Using a mirror

my humidity is 50%! and theres no water in the tank yet!

This is most likely because the humidity in your surrounding room is already high. Do a humidity check of the room with a regular room hygrometer and then, if it is too high, try and see if you can move your gecko's terrarium into a drier room.

theres a mirror behind the tank should i put something on the back of the tank so it wont stress the gecko out?

Although this may not happen, a mirror may make the gecko think there is another gecko nearby. If your gecko is male, he will probably posture at it. When he hgets the same reaction from his own reflection, he may feel threatened and this may cause him undue stress. I'm not sure to what extent this occurs in leopard geckos but putting a mirror in front of a chameleon, especially a male chameleon, is a big no-no.

Umm, about that humid hide...I think you could do better than that. The problem with it is that wood absorbs water so, if you were to spritz it, most of the water would leave the hide upon evaporation and any remaining water would get soaked up by the wood. Try instead to use one of those cocohut things they sell in pet stores sometimes and filling the bottom with sphagnum moss or cocofiber. The cocohut is arranged like a dome so it traps a lot more water and it doesn't absorb any of it. Plus you can keep more water in the hide if you use the moss or the cocofiber. Or, if you would rather not spend any money at all, you can easily make your own humid hide. All you need is a small Becel container and top (or any other plastic container and top around the same size), some scissors, and a sheet of paper towel. Cut a hole big enough for your leopard gecko to get through into the side of the container. Don't cut the rim because then you won't be able to snap the lid onto it. Then fold the paper towel and lay it over the underside of the container top. Snap the container with the hole in it over the top and use the scissors to trim the pieces of paper towel sticking out over the edge. Now all you need to do is spray the inside a few times and you're all set. The paper towel will hold water (albeit not as well as moss or cocofiber will) and the plastic will trap the evaporated water.

Wow...and I really like your terrarium set-up :drool: I'm quite envious, actually What size terrarium are you using? If it is a 20 gallon or smaller, I am very surprised you managed to fit all that in there. I'll bet your gecko is going to love all those tunnels :yahoo:

 

[Allee Toler]

My humidity is kept between 40-50%.

 

[mbetournay]

Can I place my humid hide over a uth?

You want to keep the hides away from the UTH. The UTH will cause that area of the tank to dry up quicker than the rest. With the UTH you don't even need any lighting - geckos don't require it. My tank is set up this way and the natural light in the room during the day is enough to stimulate sleeping.

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Terrarium humidity levels

My humidity is kept between 40-50%.

Is that humidity level in the terrarium or the surrounding room? When MellowMan24 described his humidity, I thought it was inside the terrarium.

@ MellowMan24: Some terrariums can protect against humidity, especially when they are not that well ventilated (although, Ironically, these terrariums also hold in humidity well). If your terrarium humidity is high and you are not supplying any water, the only other thing I can think of that could be responsible for that would be the humidity in the surrounding room. Then again, as Allee said, maybe a 50% humidity level is perfectly fine so you may not need to worry too much after all.

 

[Allee Toler]

That's mine in the tank and in the room. I have a room humidifier to keep my lungs open and it happens to have a setting to keep the room between 40-50%. Right now it's 46.1%. Lol. Her tank measures the exact same (well, 46%) on the digital hydrometer.

edit* And if it gets too high (above 50, though I don't like going near it. 48% is the highest I like her tank to be at) get a red bulb light. It evaporates the water molecules in the air, diminishing the extra humidity.

 

[Allee Toler]

You want to keep the hides away from the UTH. The UTH will cause that area of the tank to dry up quicker than the rest. With the UTH you don't even need any lighting - geckos don't require it. My tank is set up this way and the natural light in the room during the day is enough to stimulate sleeping.

My humid hide is on the warm side. It does perfectly fine. I'd rather have her in a warm wet hide than a cold wet hide. For obvious reasons.

I do the same for the lighting. I only turn on the bulb if the tank doesn't get hot enough, and it's a red bulb. They can't see red. I leave my curtains open so they get a truly natural day and night cycle. Who needs those fancy timers. ;] Unless of coarse you're in a windowless room or a basement. Lol.

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

A 50% humidity level

Ah OK. A 50% humidity level doesn't sound too bad but make sure your terrarium humidity doesn't go much higher than that or your leopard gecko might start to develop respiratory problems.