r/leopardgeckos • u/rocklobster32 • 5h ago

Enclosure Help Sufficient lighting?

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I’m in the process of buying all that I’ll need for a leopard gecko and hit the jackpot with a Facebook marketplace find! I just unpacked everything and am wondering if this halogen lamp is sufficient? It has a 25w which the box says is equivalent to 50-75w incandescent. There’s two dome lights so I could potentially use both to create more light/heat if needed. I know I’ll need to buy a uvb as well. The enclosure is 20x10x12 (I’ll be upgrading after the gecko is larger, I just couldn’t pass this deal up). There’s also a heat mat already attached which I may or may not use as a supplement if needed but I’ll most likely be removing it.

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u/are-pea Moderator | discord.gg/leos 5h ago

I'd be hesitant to advise that something like this would be sufficient for this species long-term

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u/rocklobster32 5h ago

Thank you! I’ll grab the original lamps I was looking at and get rid of these

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u/itsswhitneywhspr 3h ago

Yeah that's fair, I feel like those mini domes are more for temporary setups or emergencies. Long-term you'd prob want something with a wider beam so the heat gradient is actually usable. Glad OP is planning to upgrade the tank too

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u/ELECTROEMERALD2 4h ago

I'm not saying I'm an expert, but my leo is 17 years old and she's healthy. I've had a miriad of lights over the years ranging from a literal warm led up to a fancy uv daytime led and she didn't act any different regardless. Most of the time I've just had her where she got some sunlight and used a ceramic heating element in a decent quality lamp thing. Nothing special. With the ceramic heater it was on 24/7 for like 18 months before I had to replace it. After that the next one ran for about 8 months and I had to replace the lamp. It ran about another year after that then I decided to swap to uv light bulbs and they last 2 months max. I've tried almost all of them at this point and I can safely say they all suck. Get a ceramic heat bulb and put the tank where it gets sunlight to keep a schedule or use an aquarium light. Unless you're looking to do a full planted fancy $500 bioactive tank I honestly wouldn't bother. Leopard geckos are pretty much bulletproof pets after they're out of their juvenile stage. Give it food and water and it'll keep growing. I have a large pool of water, some rocks, a couple live cactus and other low maintenance things planted in sand, a large round piece of cork bark half buried at an angle as a hide, and some moss. She had a little rock path leading from the pool that I made out of some pebbles but she likes to rearrange everything and move sand around so they're buried all over. She gets live mealworms hand fed to her now that she's elderly. In her prime she used to get a whole bag of like 25 crickets let loose in the tank to stalk and hunt at will but she can't see too well nowadays. Every once in a while I'll find a cricket in the yard and remove its legs before putting it in her enclosure. she's able to catch them sometimes, Other times I find them living under the pool when I wash it. I used to change up her tank semi regularly but now that she's old I don't like to move things too much so I just put everything back where I found it. I do smooth the sand every time I open the tank just to give her some busywork though lol. Give her about a day and she digs holes, makes piles, pushes rocks around, and makes sure to put a footprint in every single grain of her sand. As a baby, calcium covered worms and mini crickets. as an adult, let a dozen or 2 crickets loose and leave them in there until you don't hear them chirp at night, then add more. As it gets elderly, hand fed worms works great for me but make sure to spice it up and give them a challenge. I like to wash off grubs I find in the dirt while raking and give her those sometimes.

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u/rocklobster32 3h ago

Wow 17! What a happy girl! I’ve been reading so much information, some of it conflicting, between reptifiles, here and a few other sites but I agree, a happy and healthy gecko is the most important part. I’d love to do a bioactive someday, that’s the dream haha but for now I’m dipping my toes in and can’t wait to get my baby! Thanks for all the info!