Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone I hope someone can help sort out a few of my confusions. I have been reading up on Leopard geckos for about two weeks since I decided I wished to purchase one but still have a few questions.

The tank I wish to make into the habitat is a 29 gallon tank with the following dimentions

30 inches long
12 inches wide
19 inches high

I have decided to use Cage Carpet as a substrate and that is about the only choice I have been able to make. I also wish to use a Nightime basking light and an undertank heater.

What I need to know is how large of a heater do I need and what wattage of bulb will provide good heat to my herp. no books or articles I have read have a clear answer on this one.

Also any other suggestions to making a stress free display tank for my leo would be appreciated. Most of my ordering will need to be done online as my somewhat local (20 minutes away) Pet shop did not impress me this afternoon.

I've read that the heat pad should be 25% of the cage floor
mine now are more like 1/3
I've also read of toes getting stuck in reptile carpet and leos dropping their taile sbecause of it.

I use tile, the stuff that you cover your floor with. They hold heat really well. and Easy to clean, your reptile carpet will need to be taken out and washed.

Just some suggestions

Also if you live near the ocean try driftwood in the cages, clean pieces without splinters look really nice

i started off with reptile carpet but i was horrible for my baby gecko, the thing had problems walking around from day one, it was like it had velcro on the bottom of its feet, its feet was getting stuck to the carpet with every step. i think it was causing the poor guy so much stress, i replaced the carpet with good ol' paper towel, problem solved, it started feeding more too, prob from not being stressed. so dont go with reptile carpet if you getting young ones, i dont know about adult, will try it again when my gets big, but it's going to be paper towels for a while.