Leopard gecko basking

Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
Has anyone else had a leopard gecko bask before?
In all my years of keeping leo's, I've never had one actually bask under the CHE. I know temperatures are accurate and I see Numinex thermo regulating all the time.
I genuinely think he likes the warm on his back too. He likes to sit on top of Pride Rock (his warm/moist hide) but when he needs to cool down he heads for his cool hide.
All four pictures of different instances that I've caught him basking.
It's just funny to me. Anyone else have a weird kid?
Numi Basking 1.jpgNumi Basking 2.jpgNumi Basking 3.jpgNumi Basking 4.jpg
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
I caught mine laying on his driftwood under the heat bulb(no UVB) that I've been using to help keep air temps up when its cold out. This was before I moved it back on the floor of the tank.
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
They are! I caught him wedged underneath the driftwood last night sleeping. I was like you have 3 hides and you chose to sleep under the driftwood :roll:
 
Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
They really do whatever makes them happy. They just don't care. My guy Numi lives in a 30 gallon long (optimal for a single gecko) and he still will sometimes sit upright with his belly in the corner. It's silly.
 
Zux

Zux

New member
Mine often basks early morning and evening before going about her business. She likes to lay flat on a warm spot of about 93 directly under where the CHE is and gets heat from above and below for a few minutes each time.

I have read it is common for them to behave like that in the wild also when they rise from a burrow or rock crevice and absorb some of the sun's heat stored in rocks, its a common misconception they only want belly heat and don't care about the air, they want a warm belly and warm air so they can keep their PBT at a comfortable level without having to behave abnormally to do so.

If a gecko has to spend half his or her life hugging the floor to maintain a comfortable temperature that isn't optimal in my view so its great to see more people using both methods of heating lately. I feel if we keep them as pets we should do our best (finances permitting of course) to give them as much of what they would have access to in the wild as we can.


- Shane
 
Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
I've read it too, but I didn't know how common it was. Glad my kid is happy and not the only one that enjoys his overhead heating.
I always recommend both heating sources. It's just so much easier to maintain proper temps that way. Glad I'm not the only one. :)
 
Zux

Zux

New member
Bell.jpg

This was taken by the breeder just before I got her, she is three months older now (9 months old) but I dont have a good enough camera to do her justice, which reminds me I still need to steal my sisters !!
 
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Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
My Numinex is still a kid. :)
He's only at 50 grams now so he's got some growing left to do.
He's my only leo at the time. Sometimes I miss having lots of them. But then I remember that I have lots of cresties and soon to be lots of gargs.
hahaha!
The life of a gecko keeper!
And I agree show me your kid!
 
JIMI

JIMI

New member
I've observed the same from my leo, Theseus. I recently moved his rock cave directly beneath his CHE and lately I've been noticing him sprawling out right on top of it after the lights go out. I like to say he's tanning, even though there's no light lol.

You guys have gorgeous leos!:)
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
Forgot I took this.
20151118_175832.jpg

Ziggy basking under his black light(no UVB, don't fret, just heat)
 
JIMI

JIMI

New member
Ziggy looks pretty cool on top of that driftwood, Jess. His expression makes it seem like life is good lol. I think his name suits him!
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
Haha, well he is named after The Legend's son. I named my first leo Marley, after Bob Marley, and Ziggy reminded me of him so much. He was actually peeved at me because I had to take out one of his hides to glue a rock on and did not like the other hide I had in there, he's really peculiar about his houses.
 
JIMI

JIMI

New member
Good taste! I was originally going to name my leo Jimi, after Jimi Hendrix, but I didn't think the name suit him. That's actually why my username is JIMI. Yep, mine is like that too. I tried to switch his moist hide to the exo terra gecko cave, but all he did was stick his head in for about 10 seconds and then he completely avoided it for the next week. So the ziploc container is back in! The least he could have done was try it...Gosh Theseus.:roll:
 
JessJohnson87

JessJohnson87

New member
hehe. I originally named him Gizmo and he did not like the name, when I started calling him Ziggy, he perked up. Crazy animals.
 
Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
All these cute leo's!! I love it! I'm glad that when I got back into gecko keeping, I got another leo. I really do love all my kids though. They are all so great.
 
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