Thermostat Necessary?

[Kavin2845]

hey im planning my leopard geckos enclosure and was wondering if i need a thermostat, the thing is i dont have enough money to get a thermostat now possible in the future, but is there anything cheaper that will accomplish what the thermostat does? like a light dimmer or something?

 

[scotty08724]

A thermostat is over kill, I use lamp dimmers Shop Lutron Credenza 1.5-Amp Black/Gloss Slide Dimmer at Lowes.com , (I got mine for $2 each because they were on clearance) inline with the zoo med under tank heaters on all 5 of my tanks. I checked the temps with a zoo med temp gun and dialed back the voltage until all the temps were right where I wanted them. My issue with them is that the dimmer control is on a 6 foot extension coming off the part that actually plugs in, so for some people that might be a convenient feature, but for me I have 5 of them all plugged in on a power strip and that adds up to a lot of extra wiring (also a trip hazard). My other issue is that the dimmer is adjusted by sliding a little knob up or down, so If it is left in a high traffic area it might get bumped into and change your setting.

 

[Kavin2845]

A thermostat is over kill, I use lamp dimmers Shop Lutron Credenza 1.5-Amp Black/Gloss Slide Dimmer at Lowes.com View attachment 26747, (I got mine for $2 each because they were on clearance) inline with the zoo med under tank heaters on all 5 of my tanks. I checked the temps with a zoo med temp gun View attachment 26748 and dialed back the voltage until all the temps were right where I wanted them. My issue with them is that the dimmer control is on a 6 foot extension coming off the part that actually plugs in, so for some people that might be a convenient feature, but for me I have 5 of them all plugged in on a power strip and that adds up to a lot of extra wiring (also a trip hazard). My other issue is that the dimmer is adjusted by sliding a little knob up or down, so If it is left in a high traffic area it might get bumped into and change your setting.

alright that sounds good ill only be setting up one tank for now since im pretty new, it i get another ill get a thermostat, ill just tape the slider in place so it doesn't move around

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

hey im planning my leopard geckos enclosure and was wondering if i need a thermostat, the thing is i dont have enough money to get a thermostat now possible in the future, but is there anything cheaper that will accomplish what the thermostat does? like a light dimmer or something?

Yes, a thermostat is necessary. It will provide more of a constant temperature for your leo, also protecting him from possible temperature spikes which could possibly cause a house fire. :yikes:

One reliable thermostat is the Hydrofarm MTPRTC model which can be purchased via Amazon for about $32. It has a small metal probe and is the only non-proportional thermostat I know of that has a digital readout.

A thermostat automatically turns off once the preset temperature is reached. Rheostats/dimmers do not have that function. :-(

 

[Kavin2845]

Yes, a thermostat is necessary. It will provide more of a constant temperature for your leo, also protecting him from possible temperature spikes which could possibly cause a house fire. :yikes:

One reliable thermostat is the Hydrofarm MTPRTC model which can be purchased via Amazon for about $32. It has a small metal probe and is the only non-proportional thermostat I know of that has a digital readout.

A thermostat automatically turns off once the preset temperature is reached. Rheostats/dimmers do not have that function. :-(

You got me at house fire lol, i guess its worth the extra money for the well being of my gecko.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

You got me at house fire lol, i guess its worth the extra money for the well being of my gecko.

I agree, definitely!

Are you thinking of starting out with 1 leo?

Best to house leos separately. Minimum enclosure size in which to easily establish a thermal gradient is 30 x 12 x 12 inches. When your leo is mature, an enclosure 4x the total length of the leo is best.

Well-cared for leos can live into their 20s. :yahoo:

 

[Kavin2845]

I agree, definitely!

Are you thinking of starting out with 1 leo?

Best to house leos separately. Minimum enclosure size in which to easily establish a thermal gradient is 30 x 12 x 12 inches. When your leo is mature, an enclosure 4x the total length of the leo is best.

Well-cared for leos can live into their 20s. :yahoo:

Yeah im gonna start out with one (gonna get more tho!) was originally gonna buy from pet or petsmart but found a local breeder 18min away from my house thanks to this forum!

hey i was wondering about dusting mealworms and would gutloading and dusting with repticalc with d3 good enough?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Yeah im gonna start out with one (gonna get more tho!) was originally gonna buy from pet or petsmart but found a local breeder 18min away from my house thanks to this forum!

Good on beginning with a single leo. Nice that you found a nearby breeder, so you can choose a healthy leo.

GU is a great resource for many things g-e-c-k-o.

hey i was wondering about dusting mealworms and would gutloading and dusting with repticalc with d3 good enough?

Mealworms are not a very good leo food 24/7. Crickets and, perhaps, dubia roaches are much better. But variety is key. Crickets, some mealworm pupae, dubia, hornworms, silkworms, Phoenix worms (some leos don't care for those), some mealworms. Just NOT totally mealworms 24/7/365 days per year.

Some people like Repashy's Calcium Plus multivitamin. I like Zoo Med's Repti-Calcium with D3 and Zoo Med's Reptivite with D3/vitamin A acetate. Buy both and then very lightly dust each of those 1x per week. The instructions on the Reptivite suggest only dusting a few feeders out of the group per feeding. So, if you feed 2 crickets in a feeding, dust 1 with Reptivite and 1 undusted. Then you might dust all the crickets with Repti-Calcium with D3 at the second feeding per week.

Seems like a little multivitamin goes a long way. Of course, that depends upon feeding your crickets a healthy diet 24/7.

Young leos (say up to 1 yo) should be fed just about daily. Mature leos can be fed 3x per week.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Here's an idea for keeping crickets. The same diet can also be fed to dubia roaches.

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...-feeding-issues/68574-cricket-guidelines.html

 

[Kavin2845]

Here's an idea for keeping crickets. The same diet can also be fed to dubia roaches.

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...-feeding-issues/68574-cricket-guidelines.html

what if i want to breed em to i can have an endless supply lol!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

what if i want to breed em to i can have an endless supply lol!

Some folks do breed crickets. Not the easiest thing to do.

 

[cricket4u]

Some folks do breed crickets. Not the easiest thing to do.

Very easy actually. There's not much to do. I do it the simple way; no fancy set up. All I do is put a tupperware container full of eco earth inside of a larger bin full of adult crickets. They begin to lay their eggs in the eco earth. I allow them to lay for about a week and then transfer the container to another empty bin heated at 85f and check daily to make sure the eco earth remains moist. In about 2 weeks the eggs begin to hatch and you'll have tiny crickets running around.

How simple was that?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Very easy actually. There's not much to do. I do it the simple way; no fancy set up. All I do is put a tupperware container full of eco earth inside of a larger bin full of adult crickets. The begin to lay their eggs in the eco earth. I allow them to lay for about a week and then transfer the container to another empty bin heated at 85f and check daily to make sure the eco earth remains moist. In about 2 weeks the eggs begin to hatch and you'll have tiny crickets running around.

How simple was that?

Pretty simple :biggrin:

How are you heating this plastic (?) bin?

 

[cricket4u]

Pretty simple :biggrin:

How are you heating this plastic (?) bin?

I transfer one of these Plastic Food Storage Containers with Lids ? 9x12 Ovenware GladWare® | Glad® full of eggs I never use the lid) into this type below.

Rubbermaid Roughneck Storage Box in Steel Gray: Office : Walmart.com

I cut out a piece of the lid and staple a piece of wire mesh. I use a 75 watt moonlight bulb to keep it warm.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I transfer one of these Plastic Food Storage Containers with Lids ? 9x12 Ovenware GladWare® | Glad® full of eggs I never use the lid) into this type below.

Rubbermaid Roughneck Storage Box in Steel Gray: Office : Walmart.com

I cut out a piece of the lid and staple a piece of wire mesh. I use a 75 watt moonlight bulb to keep it warm.

At what temps do you generally keep the adult crickets (as the eggs are being laid)?

 

[cricket4u]

At what temps do you generally keep the adult crickets (as the eggs are being laid)?

Same temp, 85f. I keep the adults in a 10 gallon aquarium.

 

[cricket4u]

Same temp, 85f. I keep the adults in a 10 gallon aquarium.

I forgot to mention that I apply a layer of Insect-a-slip of about 3 inches on all rubbermaid type tubs regardless of how slick the interior is. Vaseline gets too dirty and it's a pain when cleaning the tub time comes around.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Here's an idea for keeping crickets. The same diet can also be fed to dubia roaches.

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...-feeding-issues/68574-cricket-guidelines.html

what if i want to breed em to i can have an endless supply lol!

Very easy actually. There's not much to do. I do it the simple way; no fancy set up. All I do is put a tupperware container full of eco earth inside of a larger bin full of adult crickets. They begin to lay their eggs in the eco earth. I allow them to lay for about a week and then transfer the container to another empty bin heated at 85f and check daily to make sure the eco earth remains moist. In about 2 weeks the eggs begin to hatch and you'll have tiny crickets running around.

How simple was that?

Pretty simple :biggrin:

How are you heating this plastic (?) bin?

I transfer one of these Plastic Food Storage Containers with Lids ? 9x12 Ovenware GladWare® | Glad® full of eggs I never use the lid) into this type below.

Rubbermaid Roughneck Storage Box in Steel Gray: Office : Walmart.com

I cut out a piece of the lid and staple a piece of wire mesh. I use a 75 watt moonlight bulb to keep it warm.

At what temps do you generally keep the adult crickets (as the eggs are being laid)?

Same temp, 85f. I keep the adults in a 10 gallon aquarium.

I forgot to mention that I apply a layer of Insect-a-slip of about 3 inches on all rubbermaid type tubs regardless of how slick the interior is. Vaseline gets too dirty and it's a pain when cleaning the tub time comes around.

I've never had any problems with escapees when keeping my 2 wo, 3 wo, and 4 wo crickets in open 56 quart Sterilite bins...no vaseline or anything. So far, no problem with ants either.

Insect-a-Slip Insect Barrier...read the cautions for sure
http://www.bioquip.com/Search/DispProduct.asp?pid=2871A