Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a Leopard Gecko a few days ago and I use a heat lamp. I got the lowest wattage bulb the store suggested and a thermometer that sticks to the back of the tank. I've been told by many people to keep the warm end of the tank anywhere from the high 70's to low 90's. When the heat lamp is on the tank's temp goes up to about 90 really fast and I worry I'm going to over heat the little guy so I take it off for a few minutes and repeat the process. However, when I got to school this week I'm worried he'll overheat when i can't keep taking off the lamp. Any advice? Also, would a regular light bulb work ok to provide heat? Right now I have a reptile spot bulb but i was wondering if just a light bulb, low wattage would still work ok and help keep the temp down.

when i was starting out I tried heat lamps and they were hard to get the proper temp by changing your bulbs your best bet is to either get a rheostat or better yet a heating pad and a rheostat and the temps should be 84 to 88 idealy place a therm on the ground directly below the heat lamp or directly above the heat pad.

oh yeah your best investment is to go to the pet store and buy a book called leopard gecko manual it has all the basics in there and is farely cheap. you dont want a regualar light bulb or any bulb that represents daylight on 24/7 your best bet is a red or blue bulb on 24/7 if that is the way you are going

Go buy a Cobra heat mat and tape it under your tank with strips of duct tape. Leave an air space under the tank to prevent heat buildup. I took the advice of others here and it worked better than I ever imagined. Look above for discussion on heat mat. BTW - You didn't say what size your tank is. RR