Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My mom said once I get the fish tank emptied and start cleaning it a little we can start picking up supplies for a leopard gecko (my first nocturnal lizard...it's funny that we're going to have the lizard that only comes out at night in the family room, while the diurnal lizards are all up in my room...that's just the way it works out though).

So anyways, I've heard conflicting advice on lighting/heating so far. I've heard that all leos need is an undertank heater going all of the time, and a flourescent light on in the day to aid in the day/night cycle. I've also heard that I need a heat pad as well as a heat lamp. What is it. The cage is small (for now...until it gets bigger and I decide minimum just isn't good enough...like I did with my bearded dragon and mali uromastyx, who both have big new cages being built.

I guess one thing that I need outlined is why a gecko would need either forms of heat, or both. Like, why would they be better suited to a heat pad...why would they be better suited to a heat lamp...why would they be better suited to both...and the one that's puzzling me. Because they are nocturnal, why would I need a heat lamp on in the day, but only a heat pad at night?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Jeez... it actually seems like lighting/heat setups for diurnal lizards are a little easier to figure out for me. It's a pretty simple concept to grasp...brigh hot light in the day time, no light or heat at night time (if your house is in the 70's, which it is). The nocturnal thing is probably simple too, I'm probably just not getting it quite yet.

Thanks.

It depends what type of environment you live in if you need a heat bulb to. The only reason that you would need a ceramic bulb is if you couldn't reach the desired temperatures with just a UTH...(90-95 degrees on the warm side during the day, 80-85 degreese at night *I THINK*. Im not sure about the cool side though) I hope this helps, But you should definatly wait for input from other leo owners.
~Sara
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I would have to disagree a little bit. Undertank heaters increase the chances of burning your leos stomach, though it probably won't happen it still could. Also undertank heaters do not increase the air temperature as well, which I need because during the winter the temperature outside gets to like -30 degrees celcius so my house air temperature usually isn't that high. But I do think that they can help keep a good temperature because you can change their wattage, I guess it is all personal preference but I don't think they are needed

The heat mat would be safe, because I've already decided that if I go that route I'm going to have a thermostat on it. I'm just wondering if it really is the right route to go. It's hard to tell which method more accurately reproduces what they experience in the wild. I would think that at night there would be a cool air temperature with some heat retained in the rocky terrain. I guess it matters more just getting the temps right for the gecko than really trying to replicate nature.

I'm just undecided for now I guess. I like the idea of a heat pad in that they don't burn out like heat bulbs (so they last much longer...I assume), and they use a lot less power, like only around 8 watts. A heat lamp would be more around 45-60 watts, but the initial setup would be less, especially if I wait until I finish the new cages for my bearded dragon and mali uromastyx, because then I'll have a spare 5" clip lamp. Then I'd just need a nocturnal bulb and a dimmer (they make it much easier to get the right temps).

But I'm still confused about leos and the night time temp drop. With my bearded dragon and mali uromastyx, the temp drops right down to room temperature at night (around 75 degrees), but with leopard geckos, do the lights and/or heat mat just stay on all of the time, keeping a fairly consistent temperature night and day?

I think I may end up using a heating pad on all of the time on a thermostat, and a regular light bulb over the tank that would be on about 10-14 hours a day to keep the ambient temps up and give the gecko a good photoperiod.

The one thing I'm not sure about though is what to set the thermostat attached to the heat mat to. How hot do they usually get? Should I just set the thermostat at around 90. Would the heat mat itself bring it up to that? I'm just curious.

Thanks for the help so far. I think this is probably a good plan to go with, from my research so far. I want to put a rush on beardie and uro cages then, because if I can get those done soon, I won't have to buy a clip lamp, because I'll have some spares.

If I do this setup, would it make any sense to also have a flourescent over the cage on in the daytime, or would that be too much light? I was mostly just thinking because I'll also have a surplus of those, and I thought it might make it look really nice in the family room like that.

Thanks for all of the help so far.

You betcha!

I assumed belly heat was probably an important part of a nocturnal terrestrial lizard's life. The only way they get good heat to digest in the wild is probably from rocks that retain heat. I'm assuming the rocks don't retain heat all through the night in the desert, but I know it doesn't really take all night of sitting on warm stones to digest a meal. In captivity they just have the luxury of doing so. I suppose an overhead red heat lamp could probably give the same effect. I would just make sure that there was some nice rock or something underneath the heat lamp so the gecko could get belly heat. A leo could probably get about the same benefits from basking under a nocturnal basking light, but I would think that with their background in the wild, they would be more used to having only their stomaches at the higher temps at night.

I think the only way to really understand how it all works in nature is to really research it and probably even take a trip out there to see what it's like...but for most of us, that's not going to happen, so I guess it's safe to stick with the tried and true husbandry techniques.

I am new to owning geckos, but have recently set up a 30 gallon long tank with a heat lamp 150watts at one end on a timer(as well as a flourescent light) for 12 hrs and on the same end a red incandescent light that goes on at night for the remaining 12hrs after the heat lamp goes off. I almost didnt but the red light but it seems to give off a good amount of heat and the geckos dont register the red light so I can view them when they are active at night. Not sure about the UTH. Good Luck

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Duffman

2 Leopards geckos

I think if I was dealing with a slightly bigger tank, I might do a lighting setup like yours, and have some slate or something under the red bulb to give the leo some good belly heat. However, the tank I will be starting with is only 10 gallons, so if I did that setup, even just having a red heat light and a normal incandesecent bulb (for extra daytime heat) up on top, in 5.5" clip lamps, it would be pretty hard to keep a good gradient, especially in the daytime. Eventually I might end up using a larger tank, because I never seem to stick with the "minimums", and when/if that happens, I'll probably try different heating setups.

For now I've just gotta make this 10 gallon setup work. I should have no problem with an undertank heater and a small household bulb.

By the way, I see you have some sort of crushed walnut shell substrate. That can be very harmful to a lizard's digestive system if ingested because of the sharp edges. If I were you I'd get rid of it. Just my 2 cents though.

Thanks