Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am 11 years old and the new owner of a leo. My 20 gallon tank has a 75 watt reptile light on one side of the tank and the temperature is a steady 83 degrees. The pet store owner told me to keep the light on 24 hours a day, should I do this? The house is air conditioned and is 72 degrees all day long. I have read that you should only keep the light on for 10 hours a day. What do you suggest? Josh

Leopard geckos are nocturnal, leaving the light on for 24 hours will bother them. Is this one of the "red night lights"? If you have a heat mat I would use that as the heat source instead of a light. Good luck with your new pet.

Thanks for the quick reply. I am not using the red light. I have a white light which is the source of heat. The white light allows me to view my leo because he is in a dimly lit room. If I switch to a heat pad what type of light should I use for viewing and is there a better time of day for watching my leo. Josh's mom

I use 2 lights undertank heat mat for my leos. A 60W white bulb set on timer for daytime (7:30am to 6:30pm), then red heat bulb from 6:30pm to 1:00 am. They can't see red light, but you can; so you can watch their night activities.

The red lights are fairly pricy, but worth it if you can afford them. One suggestion, keep your receipts, I'd say half of the red lights burn out within the first week. I would definitely get an under tank heater though. You could still use the white light, but yes only for 10 hours. Personally I would try to get the temp up to 85-90 during the day. Make sure you are taking the temp from the floor of the tank, not the air. My favorite leo website, with the best information is www.drgecko.com, it really helped me out in the past. If you have any other questions you can e-mail me at lisa_cristin_callow@yahoo.com, I would be more than happy to help out if I can. I only have four years of experience with leos, but I have done quite a bit of research on their housing requirements. If you treat your leo right they can live 20 years. Good luck

Lisa
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0.1 Hypo Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Blizzard Leopard Gecko
1.0 Albino Pacman Frog
1.0 Lovebird (Tony)
1.0 Elkhound Cross (Otto)
0.1 Malamute Cross (Paris)
6.0 Bettas