Getting a Tank

[Jay_Bunny]

Do leopard geckos have a specific breeding season? Or like some animals, can they breed at any time of year. I do plan on breeding my leopard geckos eventually, so I want to understand as much as I can about them before I even have them delivered to my house.

[mlededee]

their natural breeding season begins in the winter months (around february i think) and then they begin to lay in the spring. they can usually be bred any time of year though, although with some it takes stimulation via changing light cycles to emulate that of their natural breeding season.

[Jay_Bunny]

Oh ok. Isn't that true with snakes too. I think the ball python breeding season is in the winter months and they lay in spring.

[mlededee]

bp breeding season starts around october and they lay in the spring to early summer (approximately). they can also be stimulated to breed any time of year though.

[Jay_Bunny]

Ah ok. So would you advise using a heating lamp for the tank I described above? It came with a heating pad already stuck to the bottom of it, but I have no stand for the tank. It will be sitting on a fairly large end table (it holds a 10g filled aquarium, so a 20 sitting sideways is fine.)

[mlededee]

i prefer flexwatt heat tape controlled by a thermostat to heat my leo cages. you can use a heat lamp but they dry out the air considerably. i feel like i have the best control over the temps with the flexwatt and a thermostat, don't have to worry about replacing a bulb and don't have bad sheds because of the humidity being so low.

[Jay_Bunny]

What humidity do leopard geckos need to be kept at normally? And in times of shed?

The humidity in my room (where they will be kept) stays anywhere from 15-28% without misting. When I mist, the humidity reaches around 58%. I do have a humidifier I was thinking of using to boost the humidity for my corn snake. Could this work if I use a heat lamp?

[mlededee]

good lord your house is dry! i grew up in virginia and whenever i go there now to visit my parents in the winter i feel like my skin is going to dry up and fall right off. (it's really humid here in georgia where i live and i've gotten used to it.)

leo humidity should be around 30% or so out in the cage if you are using a humid hide. they can do fine in drier atmospheres but they do need the warm humid hide to help sheds. they live in desert type climates in the wild but they burrow under ground where it is more humid to sleep and hide. as long as you keep a nice humid hide at all times you can probably use the heat lamp and not worry about the room humidifier. if you do notice that they have stuck sheds on their toes or anywhere else then you may want to mist and/or use the humidifier. i don't know what age geckos you are getting, but keep in mind that hatchlings and juvies do need it to be a more humid than adults do to help them shed so several good mistings a day will help them a lot.

[Jay_Bunny]

Yes, it is dry here. I have a hard time keeping Zim's humidity up.

I'll be getting adults and breeding them in the future, so I will need to know about the humidity needed for hatchlings and juvies.

I'll figure out how to use the humidifier and find out how much it boosts the humidity in Zim's tank.

[mlededee]

sounds good. hatchlings do need to be misted and kept more humid to help them shed. once they are several months old they usually don't need to be kept in as humid of conditions. when i had hatchlings i misted them down well every night. since it is dry where you are something like once in the morning and once at night would probably do it.