Housing for babies?

I am about to get one (possibly two) young geckos. I have no idea how old but at least 3 months. From the pictures I've seen they are still very small. I was thinking about getting a a plastic reptile keeper that is not high but pretty long. It has a divider but I probably wont use it. Since its plastic it wont have a heat lamp. Is a heating pad enough? Will the pad melt the plastic (i can't imagine it would get hot enough- right?). I am putting eco carpet as flooring. Is this ok? I have a 10g tank for my two juvies and its just your typical "desert" terrarium. I am just worried with the newbies they might need more basic without intense lighting.

Please let me know!

NO leo really NEEDS lighting. Lighting should only be utelized as an addition to suppliment heat or for an overly dark room that they're kpt in. Depending on the size of the tub you're using most will do fine with just a heat mat and paper towel for substrait. Most people that use a tub and rack system opt for paper towel substrait. Seeing as how you're not going to be letting your temps get over 96*F, that is still lower than your body temperature which will not melt the plastic, but you WILL need a method of regulatring the heat mats whether that is a rheostat or thermostat you will absolutely need something. Repti carpet isn't recommended for juvies as they get teeth and claws stuck in it when eating or walking around, all leos do for that matter, plus it is very difficult to keep it sanitary. You might want to check out the DIY section I believe there's some pix of peoples rack systems that could give you a better idea of how to make yours.

A desert set up... I hope that doesn't mean sand... juvies will eat up mouth fulls of sand when eating food which is way bad for their delicate little systems and could lead to potential disaster.

Hope that helps.

Kermit wrote:NO leo really NEEDS lighting. Lighting should only be utelized as an addition to suppliment heat or for an overly dark room that they're kpt in. Depending on the size of the tub you're using most will do fine with just a heat mat and paper towel for substrait. Most people that use a tub and rack system opt for paper towel substrait. Seeing as how you're not going to be letting your temps get over 96*F, that is still lower than your body temperature which will not melt the plastic, but you WILL need a method of regulatring the heat mats whether that is a rheostat or thermostat you will absolutely need something. Repti carpet isn't recommended for juvies as they get teeth and claws stuck in it when eating or walking around, all leos do for that matter, plus it is very difficult to keep it sanitary. You might want to check out the DIY section I believe there's some pix of peoples rack systems that could give you a better idea of how to make yours.

A desert set up... I hope that doesn't mean sand... juvies will eat up mouth fulls of sand when eating food which is way bad for their delicate little systems and could lead to potential disaster.

Hope that helps.

Hey thanks.. I'll try just the mat for now see how the temps looks. And yes I have sand but I do not put any food in the tank I feed them in separate plastic bins with crickets and mealworms. That way I can tell who is eating what and minimize chance of aggression. They are unsexed still so we will see how it goes when they get larger. I like the sand because they snuggle in it and its easy to clean and looks nice. It's just temporary anyways I am planning on getting a fitted slate piece this spring when my garden center re-opens.

No sand! For babies that young your best bet really is paper towels in my opinion. It may not look "natural" or "cool" but the cool part should be the juvies themselves, not where they live!

I have a post in the Showing off section of my 6 new Leo's i just got a about a week ago and there all in a rack system and i have pictures of it on here so you can check that out as well for an idea here is the post

http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t2937-6-new-leo-additions-and-new-repti-bator-d

thanks! i just got them im about to start a new thread let me know what you think~!