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what watt incandecent light bulb will get my 10 gal. tank to about 85*-90* ?????

brandon

geckos rule

Bblackmon19,

Not to be rude or anything but the variables are so many anyone would be hard pressed to give you an answer and if they did I would doubt just how accurate they would be...

A couple suggestions...

1) Go to your local hardware store or Lowes or something and spend $15 on an Indoor/Outdoor digital thermometer. It will be one of the best $15 investments you can make for the health of your Gecko. Simply place the little "outdoor" probe under where you hope to have your 85-90 degree basking area and the move your heat lamp up or down in height until you achieve the desired temps...you can also simply lay the whole unit on the "cool" side to see how your whole viv is setup to insure the animal is getting all his temp needs met.

2) Leave the digital probe in place or very close to the place you hope to have as the hot spot to insure consistent and accurate temps. I personally use a rack system but have at least one if not 2 separate digital thermometers setup in the tubs...one on my upper shelf of the rack and one on the lowest shelf...you'd be utterly amazed at how different the temps can be just 12" away from the "perfect" setup.

3) My guess would be that a 75watt bulb would be more than enough....but as I mentioned a lot of variables can change that...how high is the bulb/reflector placed off your basking area/substrate, is the viv located in a drafty room, what part of the country do you love in? FL, ND? Outside temps and inside house temps that fluctuate a lot can effect the viv temps greatly...I think you can see what I'm getting at...buy a thermometer, buy a 75 watt bulb/reflector and simply start to play with it until you get the desired temps your looking for...Good Luck.

Hope that helps and I hope you didn't take this advise the wrong way...

Lee Slikkers
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1.0 Fattail - Amel het Stripe
0.2 Fattails - Normal het Amel, het Stripe
0.0.5 Fattails Juvies - Amel het stripe
20 Corn Snakes (many different morphs)
2 tubs of Mealies, a ton of Roaches and too many crickets

Since Leopard Geckos are nocturnal and do not come out in the daytime sun, they utilize the heat absorbed in the soil and rocks. Belly heat is will ensure their digestive system, metabolism, and immune system are funtioning properly, so under tank heating (UTH) is recommended rather that overhead heat.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com