Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone,

I have my one female leopard gecko in a Zilla 20 gallon critter cage with a screen top. She has 3 hides in her cage, and she usually spends her time in the one on the far cool end. However, this hide only gets up to the temperature of 74-76 degrees F. The one in the middle of her cage is warmer because its closer to the heat lamp. It can get to be from 79-83 degrees. Her other hide she never seems to use. The hottest part of her cage gets to be about 90 degrees or so.

Since she is spending more of her time in the cooler hide, should I get a heat pad for that side of the cage to warm it up. I figured, if she didn't like her body temperature, she probably would move on her own. I have had her for 5 years and she has always been healthy and a great eater. So, maybe I am worrying a little too much, but I just want to make sure her temperatures are ok. I have a moonlight heat lamp on her right now. My other gecko is in a melamine cage that holds heat inside better as it does not have a screen roof.

Also, just another quick question for some opinions. My geckos get a varied diet. But, I give them silk worms and appropriate sized horned worms quite often. As far as I know, silk worms are very good nutritionally. I give them crickets still from time to time, but I don't get crickets too often because I hate looking after them. They also get superworms occasionally. Do you think I should give them crickets as more of a staple diet and less silk and horned worms?

Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you!

Your temperature gradient is perfect. This is the time of year that adult females will seek cooler temperatures as part of the breeding cycle. Even if you don't plan on breeding her she is still experiencing natural internal cycling. If your other gecko is a male she may be smelling him and reacting to that too. You may also notice a lessened appetite too as part of the cooler ambient temps, which is also very normal.

When I bred geckos and had a few hundred, I mainly fed crickets to my collection. Many others preferred feeding their geckos mealworms, but that didn't work well for me. In the past few years, various types of roaches can be easily bred/reproduced thus keeping your food costs down from having to buy crickets and/or mealworms. I have to be honest that I'm not too familiar with silk or horn worms.

Thanks a bunch for the feedback, makes me feel quite a bit better now. I have personally never bred my geckos, and breeding is not really my specialty in the reptile world. However, my other female did lay 2 infertile eggs a few years back.

Thanks again for the info!