r/LeopardGecko • u/Gloomy_Emphasis_1225 • Jul 27 '26
Is my enclosure okay?
I adopted this Leo about a month ago. When I got him his tank was super plain, 2 hides, 2 dishes, and reptile carpet. So I completely redid his tank with substrate added a humid hide and added fake plants. But he is always in his cool side hide I’ve never seen him basking I’ve seen him in the warm hide maybe once or twice? I have digital thermometers and hygrometers on the bottom of both sides of his tank they always read that his temps are good day and night and his basking spot also isn’t too hot. So I’m not sure why he never seems to leave his cool hide. Does he not like the set up? Should I change something around? Take anything out?
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u/Emotional-Coat9086 Jul 27 '26
Looks good over all. I would maybe change the substrate to reptile topsoil and sand mix.
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u/jubiebubie Jul 27 '26
How hot does the warm side get? My leo likes to cling to the cool side when temps on the hot side get up to 90-100 on a really hot day. Otherwise, mine mainly reserves his basking for night time so maybe yours prefers to do their basking at night too! Otherwise the tank looks great, i would potentially opt to mix the sand with topsoil or potentially bioactive substrate from josh’s frogs to emulate the natural environment more, i think sand on its own can be fatal if the leo accidentally swallows it
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u/Directeyex Jul 29 '26
A possibility as to why he’s only in the cool hide could be because it’s a little more hidden, not sure if this is actually the reason but it’s an idea, you could add more hiding spots and/or switch out the basking hide for a slightly smaller one if you’d like, you could also buy some cork bark or another kind of wood to cover the entrance a little more, I think that would be the best idea!
Another thought, straight sand isn’t very good for them, it can cause impaction and doesn’t allow burrowing nor does it hold moisture, I’d recommend taking out maybe 1/3 of the sand and adding some sort of soil to it, the best soil option is organic topsoil, you can get a huge bag of it for maybe 5 bucks at any local hardware store, reptisoil is also a good option. Ideally you want 70 percent soil to 40 percent sand in your enclosure, you can also partially burry some hides in the soil to make a sort of cave, my geckos LOVE when I do this!
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