Heating and Lighting

[Nikkles]

Hi, everyone!

I just bought my first leopard gecko about 4 days ago. She is a cute little tremper albino morph (I believe) and I already love her! However, I'm trying to figure out the best way to set up her enclosure.

I bought a desert starter kit from Petsmart, but am now regretting it. It came with two heat lamps (one "day white light" bulb and one "night black heat" bulb, both by Zilla), two reflector domes, a temperature/humidity gauge, reptile carpet, and the 10-gallon tank. After browsing the internet and this site for a few hours, I've noticed many people saying that UV rays are not necessary for leos since they are nocturnal and not to use the bright white light that I have. I was planning on transitioning to a UTH with a thermostat in a few days once I move into my new apartment. When I end up doing this, should I forget about using the bulbs altogether? Does she not require a light at all? My leo seems to love the black light--she comes out at night when I leave it on and just lays under it in her food dish, but scampers back into her hide the moment the white light comes on when I wake up.

Any tips you can give me are much appreciated!

Here is a picture of my tank as well:


Thanks!
Nikki

 

[GeckoManiac91]

Welcome to GU

The starter kits as you've found out on your own are useless and have much needless crap. I would advise you to take a look at Elizabeth's Leopard Gecko Care Sheet in which I have linked at the end of this post.

The minimum size tank for a leopard gecko is a 20gallon long. It is very hard to achieve a proper temperature gradient and fit the appropriate number of hides in a 10gallon. Speaking of hides, you will want to get two more The minimum number of hides is 3. Warm, moist and cool.

For heating an UTH controlled by a thermostat is a must to get proper belly heat for your Leo without frying his tummy You want to check your surface temperatures with a thermometer that has a probe or a temperature gun. For ambient air temperature you want between 80-85 on the warm side and 70-75 on the cool side and these temperatures should be measured with a digital thermometer as well because the analog ones are inaccurate. Whether you can achieve these temperatures with just the UTH and your room temperature is dependant on your situation and the climate in which you live. If you do need extra heating a CHE is the way to go. Gives off no light so it won't hurt your albino geckos eyes. This CHE should also be controlled by a thermostat to prevent over heating.

UVB should not be used in an an enclosure smaller than a 40gallon. The leopard geckos don't need it either.

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...-macularius-demo-video-4-jan-2013-update.html