It's just that a few years ago my friend bought two of them from a shop called 'snakebite' (which has closed down now, thank god)
It just seemed strange to me that they had like 4 or 5 large geckos kept in boxes. Which the only thing I can compare them to is strawberry boxes.

But anyway - she bought 2 of them and they started to lay eggs. They are in a nice plastic viv with the heat mat and everything, but she doesn't dust the crickets and they don't have a basking light.
Now, I'm not sure on this, but I thought most reptiles needed a basking light??

She wanted to sell them as well, but the pet shop said they weren't in high demand and so wouldn't take them. Should I buy them off her?
It just doesn't seem they are being taken care of very well

They should have basking light and proper temps. Does she have a thermometer in there to see if they are warm enough? They should also have a 12 on and 12 off day/night light cycle.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

AFT are nocturnal but they still do need light.
The purpose of the basking light is to create different temperatures within the enclosure. They need a warmer area to increase their metabolism for digesting food. As well a cooler area to cool down when their body temp gets too high.
It does sound like she has a very basic setup and wasn't schooled properly in their care.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Yesum, she has a thermometer (don't know what temp its at though) and a humidity box thing, for shedding. Just no light source at all.

Just think about how crazy people in Alaska go when its dark out all the time for a few weeks. Light cycles are important.

Here is a copy of our care sheet. Maybe print it out for her and highlight the important parts. I did that for a friend with his turtles and wouldn't you know, 2 weeks later they had a new, and very large home instead of that 40 gallon tank.

http://www.herpcenter.com/african-fa...caresheet.html

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Aside from using a light to create basking areas and varying temperature ranges, light is also important for maintaining a steady photoperiod (day/night cycle of light and dark) so that they can tell when it's "day" and when it's not.

__________________
+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

I have to partly disagree with some of the previous post, as well light is important, proper temps are more the concern with the set up stated.

So long the heat mat provides the proper temp range. Most night-active reptiles can be kept in a well-lit room and have a proper photoperiod.

All my corns in my reptile room have no heating and no light elements in their cage, with the room being heated (most the year) it would just get much too hot for them. The light from the window leaves a natural phtotoperiod year round. My really warm and UV loving herps have an extra light in their cage, but as long as they have proper temps and a day/night cycle I wouldn't be too concerned.

__________________
http://www.ig-phelsuma.de/
http://dght.de

I agree. As long as the boxes are transparent or translucent, the room light is fine as long as the temperatures are correct. Many keepers have their animals in sterilites in racks and the only lighting is what comes thru the front of the boxes.
Now if the boxes are opaque and do not allow light in at all, thats different.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

It's this one and it's kept on the floor in her bedroom.

Yes, as long as that is in a room that gets natural daylight, then no additional lights are needed, as long as the proper temps are maintained.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.