Light/heat advice

Vgil81

New Member
Messages
4
Hey, I need help!!! Lighting/heating is confusing me!
I am getting a leopard gecko an I am struggling to figure out what lighting to use. I have a thermostat to control the heat, do I use a basking light only? Should I have a ceramic heating light as well?!
Thanks for reading.
 

The lizards

Member
Messages
88
For a leopard gecko, I prefer under belly heat such as a heat mat, but that's just me. If you have a heat lamp, that's all you should need. (But just so you know, leopard geckos don't generally bask.) For the lighting, they don't need it. They just have to be able to tell when the day and night is.
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,119
Location
Somerville, MA
I think the under tank heat mats are the best solution because they don't turn off at night. I agree that as long as there is enough light in the room to distinguish between day and night, no additional lighting is needed. Sometimes putting a heat lamp there in addition to the under tank heater makes the air too dry and the gecko can dehydrate. Some of the "leopard gecko kits" at the pet store will come with lights and fixtures, but they're really not necessary.
The thermostat should ideally be used with the under tank heater. I think it you connect it to the light it's going to turn the light on and off a lot. So, the simplest thing to do is to get an under tank heater (I like the ZooMed heat cable which you tape underneath the tank because if you change tanks you can just pull off the tank and use the cable again. There are instructions with the cable about what configuration to use).

Aliza
 

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