Soon to be first timer

[Freebo]

Hello people, I have been looking around these forums for last day or so and have got to say the amount of information is brilliant!

Anyway, I am planning to purchase a Leopard gecko some time shortly and just wanted to ask a couple of questions.

1. Temps: How can i regulate how hot the heat mat etc is? can you buy them with thermostats etc on?
2. How can I measure the surface temperature? any special things I can buy etc?
3. Do i need UV lighting? a vid i saw said they need 2% UV or something.
4. I want to buy 2 of them, ofc buying 2 Males is out of the question so i presume 2 Females are fine(?)
5. When cleaning the Viv is it ok to leave them in a small tank of some sort? is heating needed on them?

Thats bout all i can think of at the mo, just wondering what I would need to buy, so far i came up with the following:
-Viv tank (wooden with glass front)
-Kitchen towel to begin with (until adault then slate chippings or whatever they are)
-A couple of hides for warm and cold area (cold one with damp moss in)
-Heat mat (with thermostat)
- Shallow water bowl
- Feed (and their food)
- Small plastic tank for temp use (another to keep the food)
- Vitamin powder


Urm, cant realy think of much else, if anyone has opinions etc please feel free to share them.

[Meko]

Temps - yep! you need a thermostat. Habistat do them at a reasonable price - matstats. Available on Ebay, online and shop reptile stores.

surface temp - 2 digital thermometers, one in the hot end on top of the substrate and one in the cool end.

UV - you don't need uv lighting as they're nocturnal but some people do say it brings out their colours. a 2.0 shouldn't hurt and can offer the day / night cycle.

2 off - yep 2 females. Best to buy 2 babies or 2 that have lived together previously. If you get 2 from 2 different places you'll need to quarentine them to ensure they're not passing any nasties on to each other.

cleaning - as cleaning doesn't take ages you'll be ok just popping them in a tub or letting them roam free.

3 hides are best. warm area, cool area and cool moist.

vitamins, something like Neutrabol, dust their food twice a week and leave a milk bottle (for example) top full of pure calcium such as Calypso so they can help themselves.

[leopardgeckos4me]

1. Temps: How can i regulate how hot the heat mat etc is? can you buy them with thermostats etc on?Yes you can buy Matstats they turn the mat on and off or cooler.Or if you use bulbs you can use a dimmer.
2. How can I measure the surface temperature? any special things I can buy etc?You can buy a digital thermometer for the most accurate measurings or a cheaper stick on thermometer.
3. Do i need UV lighting? a vid i saw said they need 2% UV or something.can Be used but not beneficial..not been proved yet..i use one
4. I want to buy 2 of them, ofc buying 2 Males is out of the question so i presume 2 Females are fine(?)Yes i have 2 females
5. When cleaning the Viv is it ok to leave them in a small tank of some sort? is heating needed on them? No you can put them in a box with no heat thats fine as long as its not FREEZING

Thats bout all i can think of at the mo, just wondering what I would need to buy, so far i came up with the following:
-Viv tank (wooden with glass front)
-Kitchen towel to begin with (until adault then slate chippings or whatever they are)
-A couple of hides for warm and cold area (cold one with damp moss in)
-Heat mat (with thermostat)
- Shallow water bowl
- Feed (and their food)
- Small plastic tank for temp use (another to keep the food)
- Vitamin powder
-cap of pure calcium

[Ned]

Hi,

1) You should use a thermostat to regulate the heat mat, the Habistat Mat-Stats are the best option for heat mats.

2) You can use any thermometer to monitor the surface temp, however the Infra red ones (such as the Lucky Reptile Infra Red Thermometer) are excellent, you just point them at the substrate/surface you want to measure and hit the button.

3) No, you don't need UV. Although you could use a 2% UV bulb and Starter to offer a day/night cycle or just to make the tank look better during the day. You can use Red Bulbs for night time viewing, as the geckos cannot see red light.

4) Females are normally fine together, best if you get them both as babies.

5) No heating as its only a short period. I tend to put the plastic tub I have on the heat mat when they are in it but that's due to it being easily accessible.


A Good basic starter setup would be:

- 2ft Vivarium
- Kitchen towel as you said, or Reptile Carpet which is superb.
- 2 x Dry hides, 1 x Wet Hide
- Heat Mat
- Thermostat (Mat-Stat)
- Infrared Thermometer
- Water Bowl
- Feed Bowl
- Pure Calcium (Calypso Pure Calcium Dust)
- Nutrobal Supplement

Maybe a fake plant or two

Hope that helps.

- Ned

[smilo]

I use and would deffinately recommend this thermometer: Lucky Reptile Thermo-Hygrometer Deluxe PRO, Digital Reptile Thermometer, Digital £19.99 - Pet Zoo Online Reptile Shop & Exotic Pet Store as it measures the temp at both ends of the viv at the same time, plus it lets me keep track of my night time temps by checking the minimum temperature that has been measured since the last reset.

[K.J.Geckos]

basicly everything that has been said really.you dont need a uv though for a day/night cycle as normal day light can provide that.some people use them but most dont.i cant see them benifiting them myslef but its up to choice in the end really.

some females dont get on together so if your having 2 i sugest you get 2 from the same place as you will know if they get on or not if they are kept together.

[leopardgeckos4me]

as above ..

And also you may want to buy a Moist hide EACh as they will have a bite or two if one is DOMINATING one hied so get 2 if u get 2leos as they like there own space

[Freebo]

Thanks for all the help people, got another question, when cleaning out the tank, can you just use normal cleaning stuff? (IE Bleach).

Also which heat mat will be good for the 24"x18"x21" viv? will the 11"x11" do good? also would the heatmat go on the side of the wood or underneath the carpet stuff?

[Meko]

i wouldn't use bleach. You can get reptile friendly detergent.

For the heat mat you want it to cover 1/3 to a half of the viv and put it on the floor under the carpet stuff. They come out at night in the wild and feel the heat through the surface which has been warming up by the sun during the day.

[Freebo]

Do you think spending roughly £200 on setup alone is a bit too steep?