Hi! (lilyskip's housemate) & lighting help?

[tangysmile]

Hi everyone! I am indeed lilyskip's housemate (and i'd like to thank her for introducing me to this excellent forum ). We've been really enjoying the new member of the house; i never thought i'd ever have a reptile of any sort, but now i can't believe i never considered it before, considering how much the furry creatures smell and bite and nibble and all that. this new leopard gecko is much more my speed. anyway, it's lovely, currently 4.5 inches long tail included, and resembles the gecko in matt_k's post on 7/14/03. we'll name him/her tomorrow.

while i'm here, i wonder if anyone can give me suggestions on lighting as a heat source. i don't want to hurt my leo, but needless to say, my wallet is not bottomless. what's the most inexpensive way to provide a heat gradient for a gecko its size?

i've read that i can use incandescent lighting as a heat source; is lighting only important as a heat source? that is to say, does a gecko need any sort of special UV rays or whatnot that an ordinary light bulb will not provide? can/should i use a normal light bulb positioned in a desk lamp directly over one side of the tank? (my house is not air-conditioned, so maintaining warm temperature is not a major difficulty; it's about 82F already without any light bulb at all above the tank). if not, what lighting would you recommend?

anyway, thanks in advance for your advice
i'll let you know when we pick a name!

[Neo]

Leopard Geckos are nocturnal and dont really need that much day light. For a heat source u can use a UTH (under tank heater) and usually costs around 25$.. I use a heat lamp. You don't really need the special ones at the pet store.. I got one at true value for 5$. and of course u need a light bulb to put in it.. keep in mind leopard geckos cannot see red. So for night use a red heat bulb. Have a thermometer on each side of the tank. Day time temperatures for the hot end should be around 90 or a lil lower. Night can get down to the high 70s.. geckos need i think 83 degrees to digest things properly. Yeah, u could use the desk lamp over one side.. just watch the temperature

congradulations on your new addition to the house. Good luck w/ it!

[tangysmile]

sounds good to me. i'm going to give that a shot.
Thanks Neo!

[Dark_Angel_x322]

keep in mind leopard geckos cannot see red. So for night use a red heat bulb.

I did not know they couldn't see red... none of the stuff I read said this... is it ok that I am using a blue light for them?

[LISA127]

Yes, a blue light is fine. the reds or blues are fine. However, at night leo's can definetely go below the high seventies. Even down into the high sixties would be fine. I leave an undertank heat pad on 24/7 for belly heat, tho.

[lilyskip]

hey liz I'm diggin' the user name!

[Invictus]

For using a light bulb instead of a heat bulb, it depends on the depth of the enclosure and the temp you want to reach. If the room is warm, you may not need anything. But, in a 1 foot high enclosure, a 40 watt bulb can give off quite a lot of heat. Try one of those, and if you don't get the heat you want, go with a 60. I wouldn't recommend a 100 watt though - those can create dangerously high hot spots.

[Alicewave]

Nice to see some more Connecticut girls around here. Welcome to the forum! I'm going to have some baby leos pretty soon and I'd rather find them good homes with people I stay in contact with than just sell them to the pet store, so drop me a line when the addiction kicks in.