new to leopard geckos

yeah true lol ... think ill do that coz he as a place he always poo's... he never gose anywhere else lol

yeah do it .. yeah they are always like that, its weird. my other pets poop all over the place which is annoying

can i use vinal for my viv?? and could someone tell me what type of leo-gecko my gecko is

here is a pic

it looks like a mack snow, like mine. but I would need a close up pic. what colour is it?

does it look like this?

he is brown and has a faint bit of yellow in him and white on his tale...

A lot of the issue with finding a long blue moonlight bulb is I don't know if your long hood will hold a screw in type bulb or if it needs a prong end bulb like whatis in a fluorescent light say on a fish tank. The moonlight blue bulbs DO come in a long screw in style


but if it needs a bulb shaped like this



Then you might need to use a higher wattage black light bulb maybe 50 watt.


The light that would be put out by using a standard fluorescent bulb for a leo is that it would be way too bright.

Imo the easier solution would be to upgrade your uth to a better/higher wattage uth. What brand/size are you using now?

As for the vinyl tiles for your tank, yes they can be used but they MUST be the high end vinyl tiles. There are no off gasses that you would need to worry about until your tank got over 110-120 degrees F. Here is a pic of my tank that gothicgurl was talking about


Areal view shows his litterbox, moist humid hide, and the vinyl


front view


During construction

*shows the tile pretty well*

cheers kermit big help... yeah my buld has a two ended tip like so should i go for the black bulb?

so i would need to get one that is 50 watt y is that??? im currently usein a uv 25watt bulb and how often would i put the black bulb on can i have it on like i use my uv ( 12 hours a day )

I would suggest 50 watt because the heat output is going to be lower on a colored light than a white light and if you need a prong end then you likely would have to go with a black light. You can use a regular 15-25 watt incandescent light (if you have a bell hood that it can screw into) during the days if you want but the black light can be left on 24/7 as the light value that it emits is undetectable to leopard geckos much like the blue moonlight bulbs. HIs habitat will just seem a bit brighter to him but it won't look the same way to him as it looks to you. I think it's gonna be kind of hard finding a blue moonlight bulb that has a prong end. Or you could put it on a 12/12 cycle so that your night time temps are slightly lower than your days to simulate the natural temp changes he would experience int he wild.

Still waiting to find out what kind/size your uth is tho... I think a simple upgrade in your size there should fix all your temp problems but since you're not too far off the mark and if it doesn't get any worse during winter, then you could get by with just adding the black light. If it is within your financial means you might just want to ditch the lamp bar and add a dome light so that you can use a variation of screw in bulbs to suit your additional heating needs. THey shouldn't be expensive and I'd imagie you would spend under 20 pounds to get the dome fixture and the bulb.

what do u mean by the size of my uth?? thanks for that that helps me ... i have seen a few black light would 18watt be enough??.... or dose the black light have to be bout 50watt??? .... for the vinyl i went into bnq and they only have the self adhesive ones with the sticky bottem?? what ones do i need? do i need proper hard tyles... but then again i looked at them and they look to thick bt the vinyl ... im guessin i need to get the vinyl without the sticky bit on the bck?? is that correct ... sorry so many questions bt want to get it right lol xx

You can use the ones with the adhesive backs. that is what I use with out any problems, but again (and I can't stress this enough) they MUST BE high end vinyl tiles. No cheepos here. You can stick them directly on the bottom of your glass tank with no ill effects. It keeps everything from getting under there such as moisture, feeders etc. They are quite thin and heat up a "hot spot" wonderfully. Using regular ceramic or porcelain tiles are a bit of a different mess. The natuer of ceramic and porcelain is to act as an insulator (think coffee mug here) and will not permit the heat to pass thru as much as you may need. Natural stone or slate tiles are also an effective substrait but they too pose their own specific problems ranging from being too thick to heat thru properly and the nature of stone is to disperse heat thru the ENTIRE surface of the stone making an entire warm area rather than a hot spot. Altho they do work well for a lot of people I find the issues that can arise either thru thickness of the tiles or the conductivity of the heat aren't worth the fight with the tiles.

As far as your uth size goes... they are usually measured... I use a 6x11 7 watt cobra heat mat on my leopard gecko and a 23x11 ultratherm heat mat on my son's ball python's tank. Your uth should take up approx 1/3rd to 1/2 of your tank's floor surface, and for a 20 gallon long tank (29 inches by 12 inches) the minimum wattage I would suggest is 7 watts.

I'm not sure if an 18 watt black light would put out the additional heat value you would need. A regular 15 watt incandescent bulb only adds about 2-3 degrees of heat to your tank, I imagine a 18 watt black light would be similar. At least with a 25 or 50 watt black light you would get at least 5-8 degrees added heat.

in england we do not have what u call high end vinyl tyles..... im gunna get some lyno and use that should do bout the same thing... see hw i ge on with it ... so a uth is a heat matt... well it is the biggest one u can get it fills just under half of my 3ft viv ..... and i dnt want to use adhesive because it will stick to my heat matt coz it is inside the tank ... i went to bnq today bt the most wattidge they had in the size of the bulb i need for my tank was 18w and that is not enough .... so think im just gunna go by a moonlight one and just have to make a few more holes in the viv lol

Can you post a pic of your viv? Do you have large chain hardware stores in the UK like Home depot where you can buy floor tiles by the piece? They should have a selection of tiles ranging in price from cheap to expensive (expensive being "High end tiles") ... you want the expensive ones to make sure there are no off gasses produced from the uth heating the vinyl or adhesive.

It sounds to me that if you have to keep your uth IN your tank that maybe you should just get a nice thin piece of slate or natural stone tile and put that over the uth and use sand possibly on the other side as long as you feed him on the tile side. With out a picture it is kind of hard to advise.

Also why do you have to poke holes into your screen top to put a light on? It should be find just sitting on top of the screen.



I have a wire screen top on my leo and when he sheds I use his moonlight bulb to make his sauna hotter/foggier (not in this pic) and have no problems with the dome lamp sitting on the screen in his or my son's snake tank.

my viv is wood its not like yours ... its solid .. well lyno will be alright wont it coz it the same as vinyl really init?? on the left hand side i have sand n on the right hand side i have kitchen roll in the botten

Ok... looking at your viv, how are you monitoring your hot side temperatures? Just those little dial thermometers that are stuck on the glass? Or do you have a probe thermometer somewhere in there on the floor monitoring floor temps? If you don't have a probe thermometer you need to get one. It is the floor temperatures that matter most to your leo not ambient (or air) temperatures. You need to monitor directly on the floor over your uth for the most accurate reading. This temp is the one you want between 88-95*F. Proper belly temperatures are crucial for proper digestion for your leo. If you've been thinking that your temps are too low because you're monitoring them midway up your tank you may be surprised to find your floor temps are a good amount warmer.

If you mean Lyno like linoleum then some can be good. You want to look for ones that can be used with in floor heating systems as those are meant to with stand heat application with out making off gasses OR you can check and make sure that they have a heat rating of at least 110 degrees (all flooring should have a heat rating (the temperature at which the flooring either melts or becomes unstable) listed in the manufacturer's information somewhere).

I hope that you are using a uth like Ultratherm that is moisture/water resistant since you have to use it inside your tank insted of being able to use it outside as they're suppose to be. Using a heat mat not rated for in tank (it will say it on the package, use for inside our outside of tank) use could be very hazardous to your herp as it could be shocked.

no i havent got a probe thermonitor i think i will have to invest in one of them.... the only way i go by my temp is from that lil thing i have bt it aint on the glass it is on the bck of my tank on the hot side.... that was all i was told i need... im gettin some lyno that is about 3mm thick bout as thick as a pound coin and it is not the cheap stuff.... and as for the heat matt im not worried bout that i have defo got the right one of them lol would this one be ok??
<LI>Minimum Temperature : -60°C
<LI>Maximum Temperature: 70°C
<LI>Measurement: °C & °F
<LI>Type: Air, Digital
Ideal for: Education, Hospitals, Home
Functions: Alarm, Detachable probe, In & Outdoor, Min/Max, Probe, Water resistance
Calibration: Can be calibrated
Main Unit: Hanging or table standing
Manufactures Warranty: 1-Year
Brand: ETI
Material: Plastic
Temperature Accuracy: /- 1°C
Temperature Resolution: 0.1°C
</LI>

You can go that complex or you can go a little simpler with something like one of these:



which usually runs about $7 american. For now tho I would put that dial thermometer directly on the floor of the tank. At this point for all we know your hot side floor temps could be well over 95*F.

You can fix it to the floor with a little electrical tape like this



Looking into Eros' Hot hide:


Sometimes tho your leo will likely use it as a pillow

ok thanks alot for ur help hun xx

I see Kermit has got it pretty much cleared up for you here Sarah;

Just a few things to add to this from me though

- First, the UTH heater inside the tank, should be checked. It can be safe, and i know with some vivs it has to be done. Some snake vivs in my house have the UTH in the viv and there have been no problems, but i think it may be a good idea to keep a good track on the actual temp directly on the heat mat, so if the leo finds its way to it, it won't burn itself.

- From experience, the digital probe thermometer you should get is the Exo Terra. It looks like a little black box with a screen on it, they are really quite accurate.

- Them circle thermometers are complete rubbish, any humidity or moisture and the cardboard bends in them, rendering them useless. And also as Kel says, the floor temp needs to be monitored not the air temp.

- and just one more thing, would it be okay for you to use proper english within the posts. So 'you' instead of 'u' etc...
Text language is allowed within the chatbox, but please use proper english in the forums if thats okay. Thank you

yeah cheers