Leopard gecko husbandry

[Moosenart]

I am thinking about a desert gecko. I have a spare 10 gallon tank.

I have found a few care sheets i just want to know what is actually used.

How big of tank do you use for a pair

Temps??? UTH size relative to tank

Substraight? i like naturalistic... i have read about the dangers of sand, but i don't like paper towel or reptile carpet.

Temps on the cool side/warm?

Also i might be getting a pair...

 

[acpart]

20 gallon long minimum for a pair
low 90's on the hot side, in my opinion, whatever the ambient temp is on the cold side
10-20 gallon UTH for the 20 gallon
Substrate choices vary. I keep most of mine on beige, slightly textured, ceramic tile and it looks really good. As I've posted before, I keep one enclosure's worth on coco fiber mixed with a bit of desert sand and leaf litter. This is working well too.

Think a lot before you decide to start breeding, especially if you don't yet have the incubator. There are an awful lot of leopard geckos on the market.

There are some very good caresheets on this site as well, written for the most part by people who actually keep leos.

Aliza

 

[ScottyB]

Uth's should only cover about 1/3 of the bottom. I use slate tile for substrate. You can get enough to cover the bottom for less than 10 bucks.

Some people say that they are naturally on sand. But if you read about them they live in dry rocky, grass land regions and the desert. Im sure some of the leos in the wild live on sand but it seems to be to much of a risk for impaction.

Bearded dragons are another example of the "sand as a natural substrate". Yes Australia is dry and arid but most of it is dry packed dirt or rocky. They call it the bush, not the desert. Im sure some beardies live on sand or around it. But it still seems to be to much of a risk.

 

[Moosenart]

acpart i understand about the HUGE number of leos, my local petstores buy them.

Realistically, im looking for another gecko, but i have put a lot into my cresteds tanks, i want to breed them and whatever gecko i decide to get...