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Leopard Geckos!

3K views 26 replies 4 participants last post by  LaLaLeyla 
#1 ·
I might possibly get a baby leopard gecko for my birthday in April! I just have a few questions. Whats the best way to go about heating a tank? Last time I had a leopard gecko our power went out and he ended up freezing to death. I was devastated. :(
 
#2 ·
What I do is I have a under tank heater under one side of the tank, hooked up to a thermostat, and since my house is cold, I have night lamp over the tank 24/7 to warm up the air in there. I don't know how your last one froze to death, unless your house was doesn't have heat and it was like, snowing...My power has gone out and my leo was fine
 
#4 ·
I love my Leo! To heat it, I use a heat pad on half the tank. (Make sure half is not heated and half is, so they can adjust their temperature.) I use sand as a substrate (fine grain), as it acts as a heat holder so even if the power goes out the sand is warm. If a long power outage ever happened, I would probably throw a blanket on top of her tank and keep her close to my body.
 
#6 ·
Personally I would use reptile carpet or paper towels. I used to use paper towels but I swithed over to reptile carpet because i felt like I was wasting a lot of paper and I am actually very pleased with it...And so is my gecko lol
 
#9 ·
It's really just a matter of preference between those two. My ex has had his leo for over 10 years also and she is on sand...If you are getting a baby though, I would say put it on reptile carpet or paper towels at first, and then switch to sand later if you'd like. Having a feeding dish for meal worms helps to eliminate impaction risk...
 
#11 ·
Yeah but once they are grown sand is usually fine (and looks better). Don't use calcium sand though, because that encourages them to ingest it and I heard it can clump in their system which is all bad...
 
#15 ·
My mom surpised me and actually bought me a baby leopard gecko at petsmart!
He's in a 10 gallon tank with repti carpet, 1 cave, 1 food + 1 water dish
He has a 50 watt bulb in his lamp and he has 4 mealworms in his bowl coated with calcium dust
 
#16 ·
#19 ·
Under tank heater and a lamp is your best bet.
If the power goes out you MUST move your babies somewhere with heat. I had a good friend (or two) on call that were always willing to take the tank if the power went out. I'd visit daily to feed and socialize until the power was back on. You need to have a thermometer in the tank so that you can regulate the temperature. 50W is usually sufficient with the addition of an under tank heater, but getting a lamp that's too intense isn't good for your baby.

And I usually stick with paper towels or carpet as a substrate (esp. for babies). It's easier and safer!
 
#21 ·
I have a thermometer in there right now and right now it's at 70 f. When the power went out it was at a house we don't even live in anymore and the house we live in now hasn't experience a power outage.

So far on our shopping list is an under tank heater and some moss (which we all have coupons for yay!)
 
#23 ·
You'll want to try and get the hot side to around 85 degrees and the under tank heater should help a lot. You can try a bulb with a higher wattage as well (70+). The cool side of the tank doesn't need to me as hot but each side should have a separate hide if possible.
 
#24 ·
I just found out I'm suppose to use both of the heat lamps my kit came with. Now his hot side is at 80 and the colder side is 70-73

This is what I get for not reading the directions

He's up and moving and licking his calcium dust like a weirdo. He actually ended up eating one mealworm c:
 
#25 ·
That's much better! Closer to 90 is preferable, but that's not bad and the fact that he's already eating is wonderful! :-D
 
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