Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok Thanks to everyone who answered in my previous post.
I definitely think a leopard gecko is for me!

Can you give me a shopping list for everything im going to need before i get my leo.

Also what are your opinions on substrates. I know a lot of you use paper towels. But Im looking for something more natural. Would large gravel(to bug to swollow) or sandstone or slate tiles be safe to use?

Thanks S

For just one leo you can use a ten gallon tank, for two to three a 20L. Slate is good for the floor and you can have it cut to size at Home Depot. You'll also need two hides, one for the cool side and one for the warm, an under tank heater, water and calcium dish (snapple or milk caps work well for the calcium), a thermometer, and any other decorations you may want to make the habitat more realistic.

Hope this helps you out and good luck,
Uriah and Tina Walker
geckoville

You can use fine play ground sand or slate but I wouldn't use any type of gravel. For sand your Leo must be at least 6 inches long, Use paper towels if not till its big enough. Otherwise u need a humid hide, a cool end hide, a food dish, water dish and a something to keep a little calcium in for it to lick, and a heat source(UTH is best). Those are essentials, other hides and things to climb/decorate can be added to your taste.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.5 Tokays
1.4.0 Leos(3 albino)
0.0.2 AFT's

Id go with what geckovile said with the addition of a humid hide which is simply a plastic sandwitch or margerine container with a hole cut in the top and moist paper towel, moss, or some other moisture holding substrate....
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-Bryan

i HATE paper towels it looks so sterile. so since your only talking about a 10 gal tank use the zoo med terrium carpet ! works great for me in my ten gallon male tanks. it's cheap and none of your feeders can dig in it get lost ect. leos will go in the same place every time so what i do is just put a paper towl square where they go and they go n the paper towel square.
than i use a zoomed UTH works best again for me temps under the warm hide stay 88-90°F and are 78-80 cool side. for a feeder/calcium dish and a water dish the best thing i have yet! is a salsa sauce top the tostedos kind. screen top and flour. fixture if you want but DO NOT BY FORM PET STORE. since the guys don't need uvb Home depot makes an 18" strip light all in one little unit with a toggle switch made for under the counter lighting for 6 dollars and it comes with a bulb.expect to spend oh i would say about 45 dollars roughly on your set up. now i like to use natural looking hides but the one hide i i use that isn't natural is my humid hide and i am using one of those larger size shakers . for like mixing up protien shakes ect i just put a small amount of spagnum moss or vemiculite in and hide it behind my rock type structure hide that is warm but not humid and it looks great and is efficant! BTW also what i do is i get 2 zoo med thermomoters on for the cool side on the back glass than i stick one to a little ruler i cut mine at six inches little school ruler and use that and i just lay it face up on the ground where ever i want to get accurate ground temps like insde hides ect. alot of people want there ambiant air temp to be 88-90 on the warm side i think that isn't realy nesscary if the ground temp is that temperature . for instance in my ten gallon the area around there warm hides ambiant temp is about 83 but in there hides and on the ground next to there warm hides is 88-91 make sense ?
mat price

I use the decorative floor tiles that they sell at Home Depot. Mine are a bluish/granite color. They transfer heat really well, look nice, and are safe. Slate is awesome too, but make sure the large pieces are thin enough for proper heat transfer.

You will need for a single leo:

1. A 10 gallon tank w/screen lid (20 gallon long tanks are even better)
2. A reptile UTH made for 10-20 gallon aquariums
3. A rheostat or thermostat for temp control
4. Substrate
5. 2 hides (humid/dry)...three or four hides can fit comfortably in a 20 gallon long tank
6. Water dish
7. Food dish
8. Miner-all Vitamin/Mineral powder (or something like it)
9. Food (crickets or mealies as a staple).

Good luck!!!

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

Ok first you would need a tank, assuming you dont already have one. You can use a 10 gallon for a baby but I recomend upgradd it or just go ahead and get, say, a 20 gallon long. The reason behind this is a 10 gallon is very small and although a leo can live in it they wont get as much exercise and possible be as happy as they could be in a larger tank.

Now you need a UTH and I also recomend using a termostat, but you dont have to. The termostat pluges into the UTH ad keeps it at a constant temperture that you set. Leos dont need any UV so no lighting is nessasary. You will need a hide box for both sides of the tank, so he can be warmer or cooler, and also a humid hidebox. If needed on of the side boxes can be the humid hide. I make my humid hides out of cool whip containers with peat moss as the substrate, keep these moist. You will also need a water dish and a calcium dish. As for substrate I use paper towels, but if want more natureal slate or tiles are fine. I highly recomend not going for any loose substrate as leos can get impacted on them.

Now for the feeding part you will need some vitamins and also some calcium. I use Herptivie and miner-al but you can get Reptocal.

I think this is all the vital stuff. Have fun! :-]

Heres a list of the essentials to keeping a leo, and what would make him a little happier and give him something to do...
-10 gallon tank (20 gallon long better, not so cramped)
-A reptile heat pad with a rheostat to keep the warm end at 88-90 ( lights are not as good since leos are nocturnal and like itt dark, aswell they need/like the belly heat to digest their food)
-slate tiles. You said you want something natural looking, and this pose no risk of impaction, and are very easy to clean.
-a humid hide. This you dont really need to shop for just find a container around the house, cut a hole it the top, and fill it with....
-peat moss or potting soil, keep it damp in your humid hide, helps them shed.
-dry hides. can be fancy or again something you find around the house but there has to be atleast one on the cool side, with your humid hide on the warm side.
-calcium/vitamin dust. many people use mineral (I), which provides everything your gecko will need in vits/calcium.
-calcium dish
-food dish
-water bowl
-branches/rocks to climb on. not needed but gives them something to do, but using a ten gallon you wont be ablee to fit aanything but the basics in there, thats why a 20 long is better.
later
mac

Thanks for the replies. So o heat pad would be better than say a red lightbulb? Just thought the bulb would make nightime viewing easier. Would the leo not bask in the light occasionally?

Had a look in my local hardware store today they didn't have slate tiles but they did have sandstone or granite ones. would either of there be safe?

Cheers S

Leos would benefit more from the belly heat, as they dont really bask, though there are exceptions. So I would say go with the uth. That tile should work, as long as it is thin enough for the heat from the uth to be transferred through it.
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Josh
My Email

So the heat mat then. I just wondered if it was possable to have both? I saw a thermostat on the net that would turn on a light if the heat pad wasnt heating the tank enough. Also the leo i have my eye on is using a setup like this at the moment at the breeder's house. He seems to like to bask in the light for a while when he first wakes up. Sounds a bit complicated though.

Cheers S

Sure, you can have both, just dont let your temps get too high.
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Josh
My Email

Yeh the heat getting too high was the first thing I thought about. But I think The thermostat will fix that. It also has a timer on it which could turn the light off at night and on in the morning.

Also can you clarify one thing. Do leos need or benefit form UV light source? Some things I've read say they don't but person I'm getting my leo from says it will help them.

Cheers S

Leos dont need UV and will thrive without it. I am pretty sure their skin wont absorb the UV. So, just save yourself $30 and dont get one.
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Josh
My Email

OK thanks for clearing that up!!

Cheers S