i got a adult leopard gecko 2 days ago and both nights I havent seen him out of his hide. I thought they were active at night. i also woke up at 2am (dont know why) but since I was up I thought I would see what it was up too and both nights in the hide. he did come out yesterday at around 4pm and was basking on the heat pad and under the light that is on during the day also exploring his cage and then went into hiding about 4 hrs later. seems he likes his cool hide because that is were most of the time is spent. he isnt thin and ate 2 crickets the first night and then 4 yesterday. is he still just gettin used to his new digs. or is this just normal. also what is the preferred light to use during the day. I curently am using a infra red heat lamp and a small heat pad during the day. also use the lizard carpet as my substarte. the air temp on hot side during day is 88 and the surface temp over the Under Tank Heater pad is 115F (ir temp Gun) and the cool side air temp is 78 this is a 20 gal long. should I shut off the Under Tank Heater heater during the day and only use the basking light or just keep both on and just turn the light off at night.

he is probably still adjusting...hence the more than average hiding time

__________________
Don't be jealous the voices only speak to me...

www.herprecon.org

Sounds like he is fine in his new surroundings. Leopards are nocturnal by nature. So they hunt at night. I see mine mostly at night looking for water and food.

I provide crickets and a small dish of a few meal worms. The dish I use is clear glass so the mealies' can't climb out and the leopards can see them.

Most care sheets will say to make sure they have 4 food items per day and I've seen a few that states only every other day.

I guess like mine I'm already seeing their feeding habits of looking for food about every other day. So I guess it depends on the gecko.

Mine do on occasion come out during the day. I provide a substrate of the coir, which is that stuff you buy in a brick. He seems to love that the best and during the day I'll give it a mist to keep the substrate a little moist. That should help with his shedding.

It'll take him awhile to get used to you and his new surrounding.

During the day I use an overhead light with a 60 watt bulb, which warms him up to around the mid 80's and if it's really cold out at night a red light to keep him warm during the night. My leopard in in a breeders tank (short)

I don't know how others feel about the use of red lights, but I try not to use them if I can help it.

__________________
Thanks For Reading My Post

bob/stano40

so u dont have a Under Tank Heater heater?

i have an under tank heater on 24/7 and a red light on during the day for a basking spot to help with digestion etc. i leave that on for about 12 hours a day

No, I don't because of the substrate. The Under Tank Heater would only create a problem in drying it out too quickly. This way I can have small potted live plants inthere with my geckos and the substrate will support that with only light misting.

It seems to work fine for them and I've never had a problem, yet.

__________________
Thanks For Reading My Post

bob/stano40

do any of you have a mosit hide and if so what side you have it on

Yes my male has a moist hide.

__________________
Thanks For Reading My Post

bob/stano40

well its now 7pm and I havent seen him outside his hide since yesterday at 8pm well I threw in about 5 crickets and he came out and munched on 4 of them and didnt care for the last one so I took it out. then he went to his warm hide and has been in there for the last 15 min or so. so I did get to see him for about 5 min lol

give him a couple of weeks to adjust. Don't take him out or spend to much time messing with the cage. Try to only disturb him by spot cleaning and feeding. Then slowly increase the amount that you are around...

__________________