Leopard Gecko info needed! ASAP

[katlovesaandw]

Ok, one of my daycare families offered me their leopard gecko because son doesn't care for it, etc. GREAT!
Had beardies, chams and anoles in the past...love lizards/reptiles so sure bring it!Never had a gecko.
He dropped it off today.
I have read online about care, several spots.
He has her in a 20 gal. tank.
He has a heat pad on one end.
He has a red light bulb on her all the time.
Her cage is filthy both inside and out. No water and been dry for a bit.
She appears healthy though.

So, here are my questions.

Question 1:
I read that she needs a light source that comes on and off like sunlight with full spectrum.
He has a red bulb only that he leaves on ALL THE TIME.
What is right?

Question 2:
He has a small heat pad at one end, about 5" x 8" and stick-um is gone so need to replace anyways.
Picture I saw online shows a pad across the entire bottom of the cage.
Which is it?

Question 3:
He has a small dish for water.
I read that they need one for drinking and bathing.
Does she need a larger dish?

Question 4:
Read that a 20 gal. is TOO large for a single gecko and makes it harder for them to find heat source and food.
Should I move her to a 10 gal?

I have to run to store tonight anyways so want to know before I go so I can get correct stuff for her.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

1. I use a red or blue bulb that stays on 24/7 to maintain temps. Night temps are more important to these guys since they're more nocturnal. There is a hide that blocks out all light so they can go sleep without being bothered by the light. I also use a UVB bulb that is on during the day. The common opinion is that they do not need UVB because they're nocturnal and many do fine without it. However there are some recent studies that show that they do benefit from it so I provide it.

2. I don't use a heating pad because of the risk of overheating and burns - those little sticky heating pads are super unreliable and often spike really high temps. So I use a bulb to maintain temps more consistently - see above.

3. Yes, they do need a water dish. I've never seen mine soak in them except for when it was under the heat bulb so it was like a hot tub. But I've definitely seen them drinking from it plenty.

4. Nah, think about them in the wild - are they confined to a 10 gallon space? They can go wherever they want! And food isn't given to them, they have to find it. It's a silly argument to make but I've seen it a lot. So in captivity where you are providing them food they will be just fine even in a larger tank than that.

Make sure you have a humid hide available at all times to help with shedding. That tends to be one of the most common things people are missing. I just use an upside down tupperware with a little door cut out of it and put wet paper towels in it - works great and very easy to keep clean. Moss tends to grow bacteria and mold being wet too much and they can eat it on accident. Paper towels work great.

I also provide a little dish (a bottlecap) with calcium powder directly in the cage. One of my geckos just munches on calcium powder whenever she feels like it. She started off with really bad MBD (which is why she ended up with me) so I let her have as much as she wants.

 

[katlovesaandw]

Okay thanks!
What size red bulb do you use or would you use for a 20 gal tank to maintain heat from above?
Heat pad is plugged in right now and she is back to her hide hole that is over it. The only incandescent bulbs I have on hand are HOT ones from my cham or beardie so she will just have to survive until tonight.
I read that about the moist hide. Thanks for the input and I am pretty sure she doesn't have that. There is a dish of moss in there, dried up of course....sheesh.
As soon as kids go down for nap, I will be correcting what I can, cleaning tank, etc. and prep the rest for tonight after the store.

 

[katlovesaandw]

Could I use a UVB tube lamp?

I have a spare tube light fixture that was from Chams old cage. I can get a UVB tube light for it plus the red light for her tank for heat.
Would that work?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Yep, that's what my setup has.

 

[kinyonga]

I use a people's heat pad with three settings under one end of the cage. It's the type with three heat settings. They're csa approved and I've never had one malfunction. I put it under one end to create a warm end and a cool end. I don't use any light at night. My geckos all lived to be over nineteen. They bred well for the most part. Everything else I did like ferrit described.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I have had trouble finding a human heating pad without an auto shutoff feature! It's very annoying.

 

[kinyonga]

I've heard that. I'm in Canada so maybe it.makes a difference.

Here's one...
http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-731-5-12x15-Moist-Heating/forum/-/-/1?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B00075M1T6

One more supposedly available in the USA..
http://reviews.walmart.com/1336/192...views/reviews.htm?sort=submissionTime&dir=asc

 

[Andee]

LEopard geckos should not have any sort of light on 24/7 (I am breeding them)

I use a heat pad 24/7 and a thermostat or dimmer to keep it the right temp. They do need a 12 hour day cycle to where they just have a regular 60watt or so basking bulb on the warm side of the tank.

Temps:

Ground Temp on warm end:88-93 degrees in the warm end (Farenheit)
Air Temp on warm end: no greater than 85 degrees F
Cool end: No great than 75 degrees F

20 gallon longs are a perfect size for ONE adult leo, 20 gallon breeders are ok.

DO NOT use an uvb in such a small enclosure. Only uvb for 4 feet tanks and up. It is possible if provided with too much uvb in such a small space that your gecko will have eye issues (even if it is a tube) or get sunburned.

Three hides are needed at the very least, a humid hide (on warm end), a warm dry hide, and a cool dry hide.

I personally would never provide a calcium dish in a leos enclosure, there is a lot of recent research out there that shows they can overdose on it.

The heat pad should only envelope 1/3 of the bottom of the enclosure. There should be plenty of air flow so I prop mine up on the same sized books or little pot feet that I find garden's stores.

And if this sounds rude I really don't mean it to be >.<' this is just the way I care for all five of my leos. I learned it on the gecko forum I am a part of and many people agree on this method.

 

[Cait0420]

LEopard geckos should not have any sort of light on 24/7 (I am breeding them)

I use a heat pad 24/7 and a thermostat or dimmer to keep it the right temp. They do need a 12 hour day cycle to where they just have a regular 60watt or so basking bulb on the warm side of the tank.

Temps:

Ground Temp on warm end:88-93 degrees in the warm end (Farenheit)
Air Temp on warm end: no greater than 85 degrees F
Cool end: No great than 75 degrees F

20 gallon longs are a perfect size for ONE adult leo, 20 gallon breeders are ok.

DO NOT use an uvb in such a small enclosure. Only uvb for 4 feet tanks and up. It is possible if provided with too much uvb in such a small space that your gecko will have eye issues (even if it is a tube) or get sunburned.

Three hides are needed at the very least, a humid hide (on warm end), a warm dry hide, and a cool dry hide.

I personally would never provide a calcium dish in a leos enclosure, there is a lot of recent research out there that shows they can overdose on it.

The heat pad should only envelope 1/3 of the bottom of the enclosure. There should be plenty of air flow so I prop mine up on the same sized books or little pot feet that I find garden's stores.

And if this sounds rude I really don't mean it to be >.<' this is just the way I care for all five of my leos. I learned it on the gecko forum I am a part of and many people agree on this method.

This is also how I had my old leopards tank set up, it worked well.

 

[kinyonga]

Anderson said...."do not use an UVB in such a small enclosure....eye issues.....get sunburned." I never set the light on the top of the cage but about three inches above it but they could sit on a log or rock and be about five inches from it.

I also had the dish of calcium in all the cages and as I said all my groups lived to be over nineteen and reproduced. Babies from the groups also lived that long. None of them ever had calcium overdose issues.

Just my experiences.

 

[Andee]

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...s-demo-video-4-jan-2013-update-d-toxicity.jpg

This is what I go by. Though I don't usually rely on my vet unless they need more calcium than usual. Right now I just do calcium maintenance, and multivitamins on occasion. Which means I only powder once a week (when it is recommended twice a week) with calcium d/3 and multivitamins twice a month when it's recommended once a week. But then again I make my own gut load and make sure it has the powders in them along with other beneficial stuff.

 

[kinyonga]

Didn't check out the Site since it requires registering.
I dust/supplement the same as I do for veiled chameleons and gutload/feed the insects the same too.

If what you're doing works for you then there is no reason to stop it....which is why I've never changed what I do for them.

Scan down to "creatures of dusk and dawn"..."one of the authors of UVB guide UK provides uvb fluorescent tubes as daytime background lighting formally her geckos, with observed improvements in fertility and health"...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/whatreptilesneed.htm


Interesting article talking about vision and light...
http://reptileapartment.com/reptile-care-articles/reptile-health/lighting/colored-lights/

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

LEopard geckos should not have any sort of light on 24/7

With enough hides that they can escape light completely they still get a regular day/night cycle. Since geckos are crepuscular at minimum and have nocturnal activity I do not believe that a night light is detrimental to them as long as they can escape it if they choose.

I use a heat pad 24/7 and a thermostat or dimmer to keep it the right temp. They do need a 12 hour day cycle to where they just have a regular 60watt or so basking bulb on the warm side of the tank.

I did this until the heating pad shorted and temps were measuring much too hot irregularly. With the right heating pad I agree this is a great method to maintain temps but those little sticky black ones aren't reliable.

DO NOT use an uvb in such a small enclosure. Only uvb for 4 feet tanks and up. It is possible if provided with too much uvb in such a small space that your gecko will have eye issues (even if it is a tube) or get sunburned.

A common myth that I do not buy into. The same is said about turtles and tortoises and yet I've never seen it and I've been keeping them for over 20 years. My geckos are doing just fine with a CFL over their 20g. I provide UVB for about 6-8 hours a day rather than a full 12 like my diurnal lizards.

I personally would never provide a calcium dish in a leos enclosure, there is a lot of recent research out there that shows they can overdose on it.

Can I see this research?

 

[fluxlizard]

Just a few notes for husbandry comparison-

I never used UVB with my leopard geckos and they produced great eggs and healthy babies, etc.

Kinyongia- just curious if you are able to not use d3 at all in conjunction with the full spectrum lighting for these guys. Do they "bask" and self regulate to produce d3 from the lighting (move closer to the light and spend more time out during the "light on" time period)? Interested in your observations.

Speaking of supplementation- I never needed to put a dish of calcium out, enough was gotten from dusted insects ot keep the lizards healthy and producing good eggs. I know many gecko breeders do the bowl of calcium though.

Lighting- I had no problems keeping healthy geckos with and without "heat" lights. Over the years I used red or "blacklight" incandescents 24/7, ceramic heat bulbs, heat tape, and even buried old hot-rocks left over from the olden days in the substrate a couple of inches, and the geckos thrived and produced babies in all situations.

Leopard geckos are very nearly bullet proof. They are very adaptable. 2 things I've seen others locally do over the years a few times that will harm them- dirty tanks (invite bacteria - their skin is sensitive to bacteria from dirty tank) and waxworms. Sometimes those worms are like crack for these lizards- they eat them and refuse to eat anything else, and they are fatty and bad for the lizard in large numbers, so they spell trouble over time and the lizards eventually refuse to eat even the waxworms. Occasionally is OK, but when fed for a week straight or something leopard geckos sometimes become like that. I'm known as the lizard guy around town and as a result I've had several parents with kids who had sick geckos come asking for help over the years and those two issues were always the culprit.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

The great thing about leopard geckos is they're such easy keepers, like you said! Lots of ways to do things that are successful with these guys. Hard to go wrong with them if you put in at least a little effort. Mine were on brink of death from MBD (all legs and jaws broken) and missing all toes from retained shed so it was clear whoever had them first just wasn't even trying at all. They recovered very well at least after a few months of TLC and assist feeding. It seemed they did recover faster once UVB was added, but given their MBD status that didn't surprise me. Lots of people keep them without ever seeing UVB without any problems at all. Leopard geckos are easy/forgiving.

 

[kinyonga]

I never tried not using D3 lightly twice a month.

Mine seemed to come out in the evening when the lights were still on. They moved all over the cage but didn't necessarily sit in one place to bask...but stayed out in the light.