Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought a pair of leos today and am a little confused on their housing. Currently the pair are residing in a converted 58 qt sterlite container on paper towel substrate, a cave for a hide and a dish with water and mealworms/calcium.
I bought an uth for their enclosure but I'm afraid that it may be getting too hot in there. What's the proper temperature gradient? Hot side? cold side? hide spot? Also, what's the best feed schedule for these guys?

I bought a book on how to care for them but most of the information is pretty vague as well as the care sheets I have read. So, if anyone can give me an idea of what I need to correct/change and maybe some of your setups it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
spec

should the hide be on the hot or cool side? What's the deal with the humid hide?
And whats the best substrate for a couple of 3 month olds?

A basic set up should have two hides. One on the cool side and another on the warm side which is also the humid hide. When using a uth you want to maintain a surface temp of 88-90 that the gecko can lay its belly on. Paper towel is a good substrate for a leo of any age and feeding daily in the evening works best as they are nocturnal.

Hope this helps,
Uriah and Tina Walker
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so the humid hide should be on the hot side? What's the best way to make on of those? And they should only be fed once a day?
How long should the lights remain on? 10 - 14 hours?

We moved everything out of tanks and into racks last year and everything is doing well. Leos don't require any special lighting as long as vitamin supplements are given. If you want to have a light on to try to make the habitat more realistic 10-12 hours on should be fine. Our animals get fed once a day in the evening, they sleep away the day for the most part. To make a humid hide you can use a cool whip container or other appropriately sized container. Cut an opening in the side and put in a layer of medium that will retain moisture (we use carefresh for our pictus).

Uriah and Tina Walker
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If you have lights AND a UTH, it would get pretty hot. Do you have a rheostat or thermostat to control the temperature of the UTH?

Since you're housing two leos together, I would keep at least three hides. (More if you can.) One humid hide, a regular warm hide, and a cool hide. Plus another one in the middle, if it's possible. That way, they can hide wherever they want along the gradient.

To construct the humid hide, you can just take an empty butter container. I use empty soup containers from the Chinese restaurant I work at. Cut a hole on the side, put some wet paper towels in, and put the lid on. Then just keep it on the warm side, but don't put the whole thing directly on the UTH. Your leos might like damp sphagnum moss (from a garden store) instead of the paper towels.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...

I wasn't planning on using a heat lamp, just a small fluorescent to light the cage during the day. My reptile room is usually around 80 - 82 degrees. Is that adequate or would I need to use the uth? And the temperature is measured inside the hide or outside?

You still need to use a UTH to get the temp up to 88-90 degrees on the warm side. And measure the surface of the tank's floor, where the bellies of the leos will come in contact.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...

I had the uth on earlier and the hide was measuring almost 96* F.

That's why you need to get a rheostat or thermostat. This will allow you to control the temperature. Otherwise, the UTH will heat to the max.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...

to everyone that responded. I'm sure that I will become a regular pain in the a$$ on this forum.

spec