Decided on a leo...

[blueberrypancakes]

Ok, so... I guess I'll start with heating... When I got my BP I bought all kinds of stuff (that I was told I needed) only to find out that it was all wrong! Quite the learning experience- in BPs and also in general reptile ownership. I have an overhead ceramic heat lamp, bad choice for a snake, but would this be a good choice for a leopard gecko? Does anyone use UTHs for geckos? Do you have yours on a thermostat?
I read that they don't require special lighting, true or false?
Do these little guys require a night/ day temperature change?

Haha, thanks for your input, I know that's alot of questions... and I'm sure I'm missing something!!! (oh, yeah... is there anything I'm missing here?)

[Clementine_3]

You could use over-head heat if you have a ceramic tile type substrate, something that would hold the heat. They do need belly heat so UTH's are usually used (on a thermostat, 88-92).
I actually use RHP's and UTH's in my tanks, probably over-kill but it works
They don't need any special lighting, ambient room light is sufficient.
They also don't require a night temperature drop.


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[purplemuffin]

With our leos we use the UTH method because we have paper towel substrate. Later we plan to switch to tile which can hold heat GREAT from an above lamp, giving the gecko warmer air on the hot side as well as that good belly heat. I've always struggled with getting the air temp to change much with the UTH alone, we managed to get it done, but it was a bit of a pain for us.

[Jessica Loesch]

Leos are similar to ball pythons. They do not require overhead heat/light as they are nocturnal. However they need a humid hide more so than a humid cage. So as long as you have that, a ceramic overhead heat (no light) won't be a huge issue to keep temps up as long as you have a source of belly heat.