Question about cage setup

[Rex Taylor]

So i recently got a baby Leo and I wanted to know if the cage it's in is a proper setup for it, or if something needs to be changed on it to allow it to be happy.

the baby has a food bowl, two water dishes, and a calcium powder bowl (heard that they end up licking it up on their own from time to time, so its there in case the food's supplementation falls off the insects). The gecko's hot hide is on the right of the picture, and the damp hide on the left has moss inside it to make it damp. There is a heat lamp on the heat side that bring the basking spot to about 90 degrees, and a UVB on the cool side, which stays in the low to mid 70s. Theres also many plants and other things to hide under as it walks around so it doesnt feel exposed and get scared. These lights are on a timer to shut off at about 7:30 pm and come on at about 7:30 am. The wires coming from the bottom of the take are from 2 heat pads (we had two mid sized ones instead of one large one) which i plug in only at night so tht way the baby can stay warm during the night. The lining in the cage is green repticarpet. Is this a proper set up for the Gecko to be happy or do i need to change something?
Thanks for any and all advise.

 

[Rex Taylor]

Side note: No the name of the Gecko is not Godzilla, this was a cage we had for a while and that's the name of a Bearded Dragon we have that was moved from this cage to something larger.

 

[kjsmith]

I would definitely use the heat pad all day but with a thermostat that you can set to a certain temp and it will stay that way. They need the belly heat in order to digest their food not just for heat. Also the stick on thermometers are not reliable. I would get a thermometer with a probe to keep an eye on the air temp. They don't need lights. If the air temp gets too low I would get a ceramic heat emitter also with a thermostat. They don't bask exactly. So don't need a heat source for that just for air temps.

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[kjsmith]

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[kjsmith]

Picture above is of my Thermostats. Thermostats for the heat pads and ceramic heat emitter. I have two heat pads because I had to split my tank in half due to my two females fighting.

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[kjsmith]

The heat pads should be under the hide on only one side of the tank. On the hot side.

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[Rex Taylor]

thank you for the quick reply. The thermometer i used wasnt the stick on ones, i used one of the ones you are talking about, but i just place it in there when i feel like i need to check the temps. Is the interior that i described ok for the baby, or should i remove some stuff or is it all good for the inside?

 

[kjsmith]

The branch looking thing be careful with if it's slick the gecko might try climbing it and fall off. They can't climb so unless it's textured where they can grip on then that would be a concern. Other than that should be alright.

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[Neon Aurora]

Agreeing with above, you should definitely use a thermostat with your heat pad. Also, if that stick on is the only method of measuring your temps (you didn't say) and it is measuring 90 F, it's too hot. Agreeing with the thoughts on lighting, but would like to add that I would definitely remove the UVB. Leopard geckos are nocturnal and very sensitive to light and UV can honestly be dangerous, as most of those bulbs are too powerful for them.

If you really want to have a light for viewing purposes, I would recommend it either being LED or fluorescent and to make sure your gecko has very dark places to escape to.

 

[Rex Taylor]

thank you for the advise. As i stated above, that stick on thing is not how i measure temps, the cage is an older one and i just never took the time to get rid of it.