Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am wanting to get into leopard geckos. i want to know what is the best kind of flooring to get, and what heat source is the best for them. i am only going to get one gecko for now, i may get another one later on. if any one of you has a pic of your housing, or a helpful website, i would like it if you shared. i figure i would go to to people who actually care for leopard geckos rather then pet store employees. thank you for listening, and hopefully responding.

Good thinking on your part, it amazes me how much misinformation pet stores will dish out. Most of the time they are just trying to make an extra buck by selling you sand and unnecessary lighting, or spreading urban legends. I’d also recommend buying from a reputable breeder, such as the ones who sponsor this forum. You have a much better change of getting a well-started and healthy gecko.

There is always a debate going over what is the best substrate, so you may want to get server people’s options, and use your best judgment. I would recommend a substrate that cannot be ingested: those being newspaper, paper towel, repti-carpet, and my favorite slate or tiles.

For heating I recommend a UTH (Under Tank Heater). You’ll also need to buy a dimmer; this allows you to fine tune the UTH temperatures.

Spend at least a few days reading care sheets, and looking at different morphs, it will be time well spent before deciding on a leo. Use www.google.com to search for care sheets and general information. Let us (the forum) know if you have any more questions. Hope this helps,

DaveCable

Here are a few pics of my favorite setups:

Dave I LOVE that first picture. It is so nice to see so many happy/healthy leo's together. What size tank is yours? and how many leo's do you have in there?

Lisa

Thank you so much . The first and third pics are of my 40 (breeder) gallon tank, and there are 8 sub-adult females living in it; you can see them all in that pic. The third pic gives you a better idea of the tank’s over all size. They are all girls that I hatched out late last year. It’s a pretty big tank, and I was lucky to catch them all in the same area for this photo shoot. They usually all come out from hiding whenever its feeding time. I’ll try to keep the new pics comin!

I'm getting three juvies at the end of the month and planning on housing them together. Do you have any advice? or stories?. I have heard of some, like them accidentaly nipping each others tails, one recently about an adult eating a juvie. Thanks,

Lisa

if i cannot get slate, what is the next best flooring for them? about the paper towels, how does that work? also, are both sexus pretty much the same temperment? what exactly is a UTH (under the tank heater)? i am glad i went to you guys, i realize that i am pretty non-educated about this topic.

Paper towels would be the next best thing. Just put a couple layers on the bottom of the enclosure. It's extremely easy to clean up. Yes, a UTH is an undertank heater. It sticks to the bottom of the enclosure and heats up to aid in digestion for the geckos. It warms their belly. Males and females are relatively the same temperment. I havn't noticed much of a difference in temperment between mine. Actually, the male is a little more friendly than my females. Also, don't house males together. They will fight and possibly kill each other. Females can be housed safely together. Just make sure you quarantine all new geckos.

~Jenn
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Current
1.3.0 Leopard Geckos (Butch, Cassidy, Sundance, Nieve)
1.1.0 Doggies (Breckin & Cashew)
0.1.0 Cat (Chloe)
1.0.0 Peach-Front Conure (Gimpy)

Missing You
0.0.1 Ribbon Snake (Vincent)
1.1.0 Cockatiels (Buddy & Cuddles)

what kind of UTH are there on the market? i have had anoles before, stupid cheap animals, and he hated vibration.. i know reptiles are sensative to vibrations, but do leopard geckos get really bothered by them? there is yet more questions, i know how annoying i must be, but bo you think i waterfallish structure would be ok? (it does not actually flow, it's more of a trickle) thank you for putting up with my questions.

There are a whole lot of UTH available at pet stores varying from $20 to $70 (Canadian). I have the cheapest kind I think, but it does the job. I would also stay away from any heat rocks, they are known to burn the bellies of reptiles. There are also some people on this forum who use regular heating pads.

I'm not sure about vibrations. I hope they don't bother leos. One of the speakers for my home theater is on the same shelf.

As for the waterfall, I would like one as well. However I have been informed that they cause too much humidity for leos. Too much humidity can lead to viral infections and other problems. Hope this helped,

Lisa

>>There are a whole lot of UTH available at pet stores varying from $20 to $70 (Canadian). I have the cheapest kind I think, but it does the job. I would also stay away from any heat rocks, they are known to burn the bellies of reptiles. There are also some people on this forum who use regular heating pads.
>>
>>I'm not sure about vibrations. I hope they don't bother leos. One of the speakers for my home theater is on the same shelf.
>>
>>As for the waterfall, I would like one as well. However I have been informed that they cause too much humidity for leos. Too much humidity can lead to viral infections and other problems. Hope this helped,
>>
>>Lisa

My males are more skittish and tend to dislike being held. My older female likes coming out of the cage, and the new female is still getting adjusted.

My young female from a year ago doesn't mind being held, as long as she can walk all over the place. She had a bad bout of impaction a while back and it has been a little tough getting meat back on her bones since then.

i've been meaning to tell you...great wallpaper!!! all you need is a few pictures of white tailed deer and maybe some squirrels--and maybe a few pictures of ted nugent and you'd be set!!!

no really though, it looks great with the leo tanks,

amanda

Hehe, thanks! I didn’t put it up myself it came with the house, it covers one whole wall of my bedroom. But I’ve got to agree it makes a great backdrop for my juvi cage. It’s also a welcome change of scenery here in Arizona; I get tired of always seeing cactus and tumbleweeds.

Hey, I am no where near as experienced as most of the leo owners on this site, but here is a pic of my enclosure. It is a 15 gallon low tank. I have an under tank heater and a basking light (I just switched to a 50 watt blue bulb because the 100 watt red light was overheating the enclosure) for heat. A UV light, which is an ongoing debate if they are necessary or not. The substrate I am now using is slate with river stones to cover the cracks. Underneath there is calsi sand, but only to hold the slate in place. I would recomend NOT using sand, esspecially calsi sand. Leo's often ingest sand and become impacted which can cause death. This forum is extremly informative and has helped me with many of my questions. Check out this site as well,

www.drgecko.com

Hope this helped a bit,
Lisa

here is another pic

There's definately not a lot of fun things, but I have what does the trick. UTH, vinyl flooring with a little sand in the poo corner, warm hide, humid hide, cool hide, constant supply of food and water, and a 75 watt heat bulb.

~Jenn
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Current
1.3.0 Leopard Geckos (Butch, Cassidy, Sundance, Nieve)
1.1.0 Doggies (Breckin & Cashew)
0.1.0 Cat (Chloe)
1.0.0 Peach-Front Conure (Gimpy)

Missing You
0.0.1 Ribbon Snake (Vincent)
1.1.0 Cockatiels (Buddy & Cuddles)

Woah! Where did you get that tree? Also, how do you keep him from climbing the tree? Mine has a hide for an aquarium that looks likea pile of rocks and I can't keep her off it so I know should would scale that tree like a mini-mountaineer.

Joe

jsc230@psu.edu

I had that tree for my snake when I had him. I've had it for so long I don't quite remember where I got it. I think I got it from PetSmart. As for the climbing, only one of my girls has climbed it before, like twice, but she no longer does so I'm not concerned.

~Jenn
-----
Current
1.3.0 Leopard Geckos (Butch, Cassidy, Sundance, Nieve)
1.1.0 Doggies (Breckin & Cashew)
0.1.0 Cat (Chloe)
1.0.0 Peach-Front Conure (Gimpy)

Missing You
0.0.1 Ribbon Snake (Vincent)
1.1.0 Cockatiels (Buddy & Cuddles)