>>Questions:
>>Where should the the under tank be placed? I've read that leos regulate their temperature on their own, so I was wondering if I should put the pad in the middle, or to one side. Since I will also be using a lamp later on, will I also be placing that to the left or right on top of the heating pad, and will that get too hot?
>>
The under tank heater goes at one end, and should not cover more than 1/4 to 1/3 of the floor area of the enclosure at most. They regulate their temperature by moving between the warm and cool ends. Putting the heater in the middle would not allow them enough of a thermal gradient.
As far as the lamp goes, you need to monitor the temperature in the enclosure. The way I run mine, which seems to keep my leopard happy, is to have an automatic timer that turns the lamp on, and the UTH off, in the morning, and the lamp off and the UTH on at night. This maintains an appropriate temperature range while also giving the gecko a good day/night cycle. Your mileage may vary on this depending on the ambient temperature in your house/apartment, so please get a thermometer in the tank (preferably a digital that you can just leave there to get a constant read of what's going on) and actually measure the temperature - this will let you determine what is best for your situation. They need the warm end to be at around 88-90 degrees F during the day, obviously getting a bit cooler at night.
>>I was also wondering if it's a problem to add leopards into the same tank with each other after one has come accustomed to being alone. I would like to get two more leopards, but I don't want to do this until I can find out if mine is male or female, to avoid fights and otherwise unwanted problems.
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In general, as long as there is enough space (say, around 10 gallons/lizard, with the limit probably being 3 of them in 20 gallon if you have a lot of vertical structure so they can all have their own 'personal space'), you should be ok, but never more than one male per enclosure, as they WILL fight. Also, I'd generally avoid putting males and females together unless you're prepared to deal with and then find homes for lots of little geckos. Also, when adding any new lizards, always quarantine new animals for at least a month to prevent the spread of disease/parasites, and then carefully watch how the new animals interact with the old. If anybody is being significantly aggressive toward anybody else, you'll need to separate them. Finally, you need to make sure that they are all getting food. If one is dominating another and/or is significantly bigger than another, that one may prevent the other from getting any food.
>>I have 3 different kinds of calcium..is UVB needed for leos as it is for tortoises indoors? Also, can I still supplement their food with TRex products?
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There are several products from T-Rex for leopards, and I actually use the leopard gecko dust from them to dust the crickets for mine. Works out just fine for me. As far as UVB goes, you'll get many different answers from many different people on this. Leopards are nocturnal, so theoretically they don't need it. However, I have seen them become more 'perky' and eat more when given a full-spectrum bulb during the day.
>>Lastly, is it okay to use black-light, or other non-light bulbs for viewing reasons, or will this bother the leo too much?
>>
My understanding is that a red light will not bother them at all, and I think, but am not completely certain, that a blacklight is ok too.
>>Thanks for the help everyone!
No problem, and my last bit of advice is that you should probably pick up a copy of the Leopard Gecko Manual by Philippe de Vosjoli. It's inexpensive, informative, and will tell you the vast majority of what you need to know to keep your new pet happy, and for anything you can't find in there, or just need to know right away without digging through a book, you've already found a good resource in this forum.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear
