UVB and supplements for leopard gecko?

[Eeviethegecko]

Hi, so I’m getting a baby leopard gecko in a few months and I was wondering if I need a UVB light and if it is safe to use with my supplements/which one to use. The tank I’m using to begin with is a 10 gallon aquarium ( upgrading to a larger vivarium when it gets bigger)
The supplements I’m using are, Repashy Calcium plus, Repti-Calcium without D3 and Flukers cricket diet for bugs to crawl around in ( I will also dust them w/ other supplements)
Thanks!

 

[acpart]

Congrats on planning to get a gecko. Some people feel that the leopard gecko benefits from UVB and will tend to bask. It's hard to know. Some of my leopard geckos are out all the time and some never are. For that reason, as you're planning to do, it's always a good idea to use the supplements since there's no way to know if they'll get enough UVB from the lighting. I don't think there's any problem if they get the supplements and bask as well. For the gecko, really all you need is the Repashy Calcium plus. I've been using that exclusively since 2009, including 8 years of breeding. The Flukers is adequate as a gut load for the crickets.

Aliza

 

[Eeviethegecko]

Thank you! I will look into getting one, is there a light that you’d recommend?

 

[Eeviethegecko]

And also I’m going to be using dubia roaches instead of crickets and set up a colony, how long before I get the gecko should I set it up, and also what do I need?

 

[panthergecko]

Start right away, takes around 1-3 months for the colony to get going. I would do a bit of research on that. A lot of info available.

 

[acpart]

If there's enough light in the room to distinguish day from night, you really don't need any other light at all.

Aliza

 

[Eeviethegecko]

Thank you for replying! I meant a UVB light, sorry.

 

[NearMeGeckos]

I wouldn't worry about it, that's why we supplement. I personally have used an led light and supplemented with zoomed Cal w\d3 and t-rex leopard gecko super food for 5 years and have had healthy happy lizards.

 

[Eeviethegecko]

Ok, I wasn’t sure, someone I know has had leopard geckos for 12 years without a UVB light, but I also know other people who say it’s important to have one.

 

[NearMeGeckos]

Ok, I wasn’t sure, someone I know has had leopard geckos for 12 years without a UVB light, but I also know other people who say it’s important to have one.

As long as your supplementing, you don't need it.

 

[panthergecko]

Ok, I wasn’t sure, someone I know has had leopard geckos for 12 years without a UVB light, but I also know other people who say it’s important to have one.

Instead of having a UVB light, you can supplement and use natural lighting to give it a day - night schedule

 

[TexAg91]

Another noob weighing in with a related question. Note, I don't have a leo quite yet. I am putting together its "forever" tank. When it comes to UVB lighting, just assuming you were to use it, everything thing I have seen also generates visible light. With Leos being crepuscular, how are you supposed to give them the UVB without mucking up their night vision? I mean, would you set the UVB lighting on its own on/off sched to just run during the "dawn" and "dusk" times? Doesn't seem like you'd want to run it all night.

 

[panthergecko]

Another noob weighing in with a related question. Note, I don't have a leo quite yet. I am putting together its "forever" tank. When it comes to UVB lighting, just assuming you were to use it, everything thing I have seen also generates visible light. With Leos being crepuscular, how are you supposed to give them the UVB without mucking up their night vision? I mean, would you set the UVB lighting on its own on/off sched to just run during the "dawn" and "dusk" times? Doesn't seem like you'd want to run it all night.

Most people put the lights on different schedules. I had anoles when I was younger and changing the bulbs was quite annoying and manually turning it off was annoying too. Also for fish tanks I had with lights, much easier to use those either manual timers or the automated ones

 

[TexAg91]

Upon further research I agree. I had a "D'oh!" moment when I realized I can put any time-based lighting on any sort of timer I want. Thanks for your reply. That helped me confirm what I thought might be true.

 

[Eeviethegecko]

So, I've looked into the UVB light more and I've decided that I am going to install one, I know a lot of people debate over this, but I think it would benefit the gecko. I don't really know how to use one though, You have to replace the bulb every 6 months, right? What UVB light would you recommend? How long should I leave it on and should I place it on the warm side, cool side, in the middle? I have an old heat lamp that I can replace the bulb with, I think it's about 5, maybe 6 inches up. I'm only going to be keeping a small dish of Repti Calcium without D3 in the enclosure and dusting with the Repashy Calcium plus, or should I dust with the repti cal too? How many feedings should I dust with the Repashy, the babies do have to eat every day, right?
Sorry for all the questions,
Thanks!

 

[TexAg91]

Abigail,
Based on experience not my own, from sources I trust, but can't confirm yet, what I have seen is UVB and some sort of heat lamp (if you choose to do that) on the "hot" side. Somewhere in the middle of the terrarium (or the cool side if its not so wide) you'd put your general lighting lamp (if you use that).

UVB index should be in the 1 to barely 2 (max) range. I know the ExoTerra CFL UVB light (for reptiles not needing much) comes in 13w and 26w. They have a breakdown as to how far away the bulb should be to achieve "x" uvb index. Note that the distance recommendations are without any obstruction. So if you are going through a wire mesh, that will reduce the amount of UVB. By how much? I don't know. If I were doing this with a diurnal reptile, I'd be very aware, but with Leos, my guess (uninformed as it is) is if lighting through a wire mesh, your closest spot to the UVB light should not result in a UVB index of more than just barely 2. If no obstruction, I'd shoot for a distance between solid 1 and barely 2.

My leo is still a baby and it will likely be 2-3 months before I put it in its "real" enclosure. I will be using UVB, natural light and a DHP (no flames, please). Right now it's in a faunarium. I am using a strong LED ring light with "sunlight color" for daylight and a 50w exo-terra blue heat lamp at night to mitigate cooler temps and simulate some moonlight.

I hope this helps in some way. Once I have my full setup running for a month or so, I'll probably leave a report on the forum.

 

[TexAg91]

Abigail,
Based on experience not my own, from sources I trust, but can't confirm yet, what I have seen is UVB and some sort of heat lamp (if you choose to do that) on the "hot" side. Somewhere in the middle of the terrarium (or the cool side if its not so wide) you'd put your general lighting lamp (if you use that).

UVB index should be in the 1 to barely 2 (max) range. I know the ExoTerra CFL UVB light (for reptiles not needing much) comes in 13w and 26w. They have a breakdown as to how far away the bulb should be to achieve "x" uvb index. Note that the distance recommendations are without any obstruction. So if you are going through a wire mesh, that will reduce the amount of UVB. By how much? I don't know. If I were doing this with a diurnal reptile, I'd be very aware, but with Leos, my guess (uninformed as it is) is if lighting through a wire mesh, your closest spot to the UVB light should not result in a UVB index of more than just barely 2. If no obstruction, I'd shoot for a distance between solid 1 and barely 2.

My leo is still a baby and it will likely be 2-3 months before I put it in its "real" enclosure. I will be using UVB, natural light and a DHP (no flames, please). Right now it's in a faunarium. I am using a strong LED ring light with "sunlight color" for daylight and a 50w exo-terra blue heat lamp at night to mitigate cooler temps and simulate some moonlight.

I hope this helps in some way. Once I have my full setup running for a month or so, I'll probably leave a report on the forum.

Oh, and if you are using the UVB with a 10g tank, you'd probably want to go with the 13w ExoTerra UVB and you might have to raise or hang the lamp in some way to make sure you aren't over doing it. You'll also want to consider/investigate reducing or eliminating D3 supplements if your gecko is actually using the UVB. In my case, since I won't use any of this with my baby, I'll continue to D3 supplement until I know it's making use of the UVB light.

 

[Eeviethegecko]

Alright, so I’ll wait until the Leo is in its forever home to add UVB. It is going to be going through a sort of wire mesh in the new tank, and the top to bottom is 12 in, the hides will be taller though, so how far should it be from the basking point? Thank you for replying!

 

[TexAg91]

The basking spot surface should be in that 89-92 range, with uvb index of 1-2. You'll need a temp gun, or go by the UVB/Temp references from the bulb manufacturer. Since Leos don't *need* UVB, if you aren't using a gun for temp, follow the manufacturer's "distance-to-temp" guide and then go about another inch away from whatever they list as the 90-92 range (to account for your gecko's height. And go a little further away than the closest distance for just barely UVB index 2 for that bulb.

The Exo-Terra REPTILE UVB100 PT2186 - 13W, at 12" distance, is just hitting UVB 2. If you have anything that it will climb on, say 3 or 4 inches high, then you're at 8-9" away from the light which is entering index 3 which is too much.

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[Eeviethegecko]

Ok, so if I leave an area under the uvb light, where there is nothing to climb on, it should be far enough away? Since it’s probably going to be on the warm side and there are going to be hides, should hang the UVB light higher, assuming it can get through the mesh? Or is the gecko going to know where it needs to be and not climb up on the hides, too close to the UVB?