Lighting and heating help please!

[Astral Wench]

I picked up a brand new Zilla brand 20L tank with a sliding screen about a week ago. I want to start setting up a new vivarium for my leopard gecko.

What I really need help with is setting up lights and heating for it. I want to get the set up going and be able to monitor the temps in it for at least a week or two before I transfer him. His current set-up is a medium sized Sterilite drawer. So the heating needs are a lot less and the only light source is only the front of the opaque drawer. It was the set-up that I got him in. I adopted him when my friend who had a very extensive reptile collection had some family issues come up and he had to let a majority of his animals go. I got his leopard gecko that he had taken in because of gross mistreatment from someone and he had nursed back to health.

Anyways I love the little guy and I wanted to get him something that he could stretch his legs out a bit more. And I'm looking into breeding him so I needed something that could be big enough to hold him and a potential lady friend.

And this a shameless plug on how handsome he is.

 

[Geckologist.tj]

He is a handsome chap, isn't he?

All the info for heating and lighting should be on this caresheet. http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...-demo-video-4-jan-2013-update.html#post302242

If you read it and have more specific questions, I'll do what I can to answer them as will, I'm sure, others.

 

[Astral Wench]

Honestly I made this thread because while I know how to use UTH and keeping a good temperature and the use of temperature gradients, when I go to the pet store and I see all the different bulbs and lamps and fixtures it gets confusing. So I was wondering what people used for their own set-ups. Because I want to do this right and I don't want to drop money on things that ultimately I won't like or use. I like the idea of the ceramic heater for the overhead heat, but I also want to include some plants and the ability to watch him at night sounds nice (if it comes down to it, ultimately not something I need but something I would like). So the ability to light the enclosure is also important to me.

Basically I was wondering what products people here like using. I want to pick everyone's brain so that way when I go to the store I will know exactly what I want and the rest of the stuff they have sitting on the shelf won't feel so intimidating and confusing. Right now I know I need a 10" diameter dome but how do I incorporate everything that I would like to into this.

 

[Geckologist.tj]

Fair enough. I like to use the exo terra night heat lamp moonlight bulb. It gives off very faint purplish light that is enough to see the geckos at night. I use a 50watt bulb which boosts the air temp a couple inches above the floor about 4 degrees. I use it with three different leos in three different enclosures and as far as I can tell it does not change their activity at all. I should add that the lamp is approximately 12inches from the floor of the enclosure.

I use fake plants because I don't want to deal with trying to keep real ones alive and I don't know what's toxic and what's not. Plus, fake plants are easy to clean.

My house has lots of windows that stay open all day so I don't worry about light for the geckos to maintain proper sleep cycles. If you're concerned there isn't enough light in your enclosure, you can use a low wattage (25 or less) incandescent bulb. I have used a 13 watt in the past durring the day and it seemed to be fine.

Good for you for wanting to know what works before buying stuff the pet store tries to sell you. FYI, Petsmart is pretty good about letting you return and exchange things if you don't get it right the first time.