Help with my Geckos tank

[Toreo]

Hello!

Only two days left until I'm getting my little gecko, and I'm starting to get a little stressed lol. I have tried my best to set up a tank now, with both a little 5W heat mat under the tank and a UVB free 100w heating day lamp. I'm also reading that heat lamps with light can damage the geckos eyes, is this true or can I have it on for 12h a day?

How can I make the cold side colder? It's about 26 degrees celcius in air temp, but I would like to have it a bit lower. Any clever ways to do that?





This is how the tank looks right now, what do you think? I know I can't use excavator clay where I have the UTH, and I've been looking everywhere for tiles. What to do?

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Sincerely,

Tora

 

[PoppyDear]

Hello!

Could you please provide the dimensions of your heat mat and tank? Right now your tank is not quite suitable for an inhabitant. I will go through a few of the issues I can see right away!

Substrate:
Sand is not the optimal substrate for Leopard Geckos, especially if you are getting a juvenile. Impaction is an issue that results usually due to bad husbandry, from what I can see there are also a few other issues and this makes this even more of a bad idea. Not only is impaction a risk, prolapses can also result due to sand. I suggest that you switch to paper towels before you get your gecko.

As for tile, can you find some time at Home Depot for cheap?

Lighting and Heating:
Your heating situation is not quite suitable. Your tank is a bit small and the bulb you have is likely producing too much heat which is why your temperature gradient is almost nonexistent. I feel a 10-gallon tank, or if you can, a 20 gallon long tank would do much better for the temperature gradient and space.

I suggest you switch your bulb out for a standard 15-watt incandescent bulb. You don't need heat unless your temperatures drop below 18.3*C, it is more for a day and night cycle. You can use a dimmer with this bulb or buy a dome with an inline dimmer. Small LEDs will also work just as well. Place it above the middle of the tank as well so the light is evenly dispersed. It can bother their eyes, but you just need to turn it off at night and provide plenty of cover in order for them to get away. If you notice that they are seemingly struggling with the light we can get into that.

In what location is your heat mat located on? It should be on one side for a better temperature gradient. Although you are missing a thermostat which is very necessary to control temperatures, making sure they are not too hot or too cold.

Here's a temperature guide for all leopard geckos as measured with the probe of a digital thermometer (and controlled by a thermostat set at 91*F/32.8*C):

• 88-92 F (31.1-33.3 C) ground temperature right underneath a leo's warm dry hide
• no greater than 82ish F (27.8ish C) air temperature - 4 inches above ground on the warm end
• no greater than 75 F (23.9 C) air temperature - 4 inches above ground on the cool end

Leave the UTH on 24/7. At night turn off overhead lighting/heating (~12 hours on and ~12 hours off) unless ambient room temperatures drop lower than 67ish*F (19.4*C).

Hides:
I see 2 hides, maybe 3 if there is an entrance to the rock hide. But you will need three;

• MOIST warm hide
• DRY warm hide
• DRY cool hide

I did not see a moist hide, you can make one out of an old margarine container and stuff some moist paper towels inside. These don't look the best but are essential to the wellbeing of your gecko.

---

I really hope this helps you! If you can't get all these things done by Saturday, maybe you could postphone shipments of a reptile or wait to get one depending on how you are planning on getting it?

I strongly suggest you give this care sheet a read as well!

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

 

[Toreo]

Hello and thanks for your answer!

First things first I don't use sand, this is excavator clay that will harden when it's fully dried. I am then going to vacuum it to pick up any left-over sand. I will continue to look for tiles.

I think the pictures are lying, I have a 20 gallon long tank. I think the dimensions are 60 x 45 x 45 cm. I didn't know the 31C temp was for ground, because right now I have 30C air temp. Do you think I can change this with a dimmer? Or should I just return the bulb and get a 50W. I don't think they have any less than that. Although the room I keep him in is about 20C right now, do I even need a bulb right now? The heating pad is on the left side of the tank. I don't remember the dimensions, but it should be enough to heat the ground up to 31C. I didn't manage to find a thermostat anywhere in Norway or on Norwegian websites, so I had to order from Amazon. I'll just be very careful with measuring the temperatures until I get it.

My overall plan with the bulb was to keep it on for 12 hours to heat up the rocks and have it off for 12 hours. I could return it to pick up a CHE too. You're the expert haha.

I watched a video of a girl having the heating pad right beneath the warm hide with 1cm of eco ground(?) over it. could this work? I don't remember the dimensions for my UTH, but it should be the correct size for my tank.

I got 3 hides! One for each, so I got that part under control. The brown one is the moist hide, I am going to put a plastic plate beneath it to keep it humid. So I think this part is going to be okay. The tank also has a humid percent of 30.

The big problem is that reptiles just got legal in Norway, so nobody really knows how to care properly for them yet. I'm trying my best, and I'm very grateful for your long and proper answers to help me. But I think I'll be able to get everything I need until Saturday, if not I'll just have to wait until everything is set.

I've already got to see and hold him/her, so I paid for it right away since I knew I wouldn't be able to walk away haha.

 

[Toreo]

If there's anything you don't understand just let me know and I'll try to explain it better. I'm from Norway.

 

[PoppyDear]

I always tend to make mistakes like this! Whoops! I realized I had posted on your Excavator thread, I never pay attention to usernames so it hadn't crossed my mind! It looks really orange in the photos, from videos I have seen (Of wet and dry excavator clay) it never looks that orange, and I was reminded of red calci-sands at pet stores... Thank you for correcting me!

Your tank is not a 20 gallon long from the dimmensions your provided. I converted them to cm so it was easier for you, this is how it is looking:
•Your 60×45×45 cm tank has roughly 2700 cm of floor space while the standard 10 gallon is 1250 cm of floor space and finally a 20 long is about 2280 cm of floor space.

Your tank has more floor space than a 20 long (The pictures make it look small, I misjudged that, my appologies!), but your tank does not provide the length that it needs for a proper temperature gradient, making a 20 gallon long a bit of a better choice.


I think a dimmer could work but it might be a bit on the warm side, you don't need a bulb from the pet store. A standard 15 watt you can find at a normal store would suffice. Based on your current room temperature, it isn't that cold so a bulb might be unecessary, however in Norway (Beautiful place in my opinion!), the temps in winter get cold, if your room temp drops you may want a CHE as well. Now, certain parts of Norway have different daylight cycles (I think), if it is dark a majority of the time in winter you will need a light for the gecko's day/night cycle. The light is unecessary if you have appropriate room temps and the tank receives adequate light from an outside window for example, 12 hours light day and 12 hours darkness.

This means, depending on your situation, you might want/need to get both a CHE and bulb.

As for substrates, the Eco Earth(?) Is an insulator, so heat will have a hard time getting through. You can do this with a thin layer however, and impaction risks are lower. However you may need to remove that Excavator clay due to the risk of having it over the heat mat, Zoo Med says:

Warnings: Not for use with under tank heaters (thick and/or dense substrate may cause excess heat to build-up). Avoid getting Excavator substrate on clothes or any household items as staining may occur. Place your reptile's food in a feeding dish to avoid accidental ingestion of substrate which may cause impaction.

Those babies are beautiful, I know the feeling, you know when one if for you!

 

[Toreo]

Ok so you suppose I just need a bulb and the UTH and should return the heating bulb? And what do you think about the girl putting the UTH right under the hide?

I don't know what to use over the UTH now, can I use regular paper towel until I get proper substrate? And which substrate do you recommend? They didn't have anything else as I could see on the pet store. Can I use just tiles over the UTH? And do I keep the UTH inside or under the tank?

 

[PoppyDear]

Does your UTH have adhesive? If so it is strictly an UNDER tank heater and cannot be placed in the tank.

Are you talking about "Leopard Gecko" on YouTube? I believe her heat mats are non-adhesive and meant to go in the tank. If yours is adhesive and already stuck to the bottom it should not be peeled off, they are not reusable.

As for substrate, tile can go over the UTH, but heat will be more difficult to get through to it is essential you have a thermostat. Paper towel is perfect! It may help you watch your new gecko's poops as well, just to be sure they are healthy. There is repti-carpet, which some use, but it tends to catch claws and teeth so I don't reccomend it.

When you put tiles down, make sure they are thin, also put a thin layer of sand beneath the tiles to make sure there are no hot spots.

Yes, heat mat w/ thermostat, return 100w bulb and pick up a 15w just from a normal "home improvement" store, you will also want a dimmer to go with it.

Good luck!

 

[Toreo]

No it's a place wherever you want UTH.

How thick do I make the paper towel if I don't find any tiles until Saturday? And do I have sand under it?

Thanks!

 

[PoppyDear]

No sand beneath the towels, just do 1-2 layers and that is it!

You may be able to put the heat mat in the tank then, test it first however, if temperatures are hot enough under, it may be too hot in, until you get a thermostat.