I live in Africa and we import cages (sorry for calling it a cage) from the US... So they're a bit more expensive. But the plastic cages (good quality and good looking) cages are generally a lot cheaper. But can I put a heat pad underneath a plastic cage? Maybe put a reptile carpet or something between the cage and the heat pad? Lift the cage up with change money? I'm planning on using slate tiles as a substrate, MAYBE reptile carpet, unless anyone had an alternative, I'm not a fan of papery towels except for the moist hide. It's not very cold here, summer goes between 28-31..sometimes reaching 33, so I think a heat pad is fine and winter isn't bad. I'm very glad I found this board, theres many others but this one is just the best! Sorry for spamming the forums, I'm just someone that likes to ask a lot of questions, I doubt my own opinion. I only want the leopard gecko to be happy when I get it, I did the same when I started with hamsters and fancy rats I'll try to help others once I'm into this One final question, does it matter what gender you get, I only want one. I know male hamsters are more melo and relaxed and the same with fancy rats I'm sorry for any miss spellings, English is my 2nd language and I use it very rarely. Thanks! -Tim ---- I really meant to say heat pad...it's a very embarrassing mistake...second time it's happened :|
Okay so plastic cages are called Faunariums, I guess a heat pad might heat up the plastic too much maybe... Could it help if I put something between the pad and the faunarium? Faunariums are just a lot cheaper for some reason (Exo-terra imported from the US to stores here)
I use heat pads on a couple of glass tanks, and I think it more would depend on the heat resistance of the plastic. It shouldn't do too much damage to acrylic, if it's a thick acrylic. In my opinion, Faunariums are just plain bad for anything besides a temporary housing while cleaning a small lizard's tank OR raising certain bugs for feeding, such as moths. I never had a gecko, but I'd imagine since everyone says they're a ground-dwelling species, a 10-gallon (sorry, I am using U.S. gallon measurement here as I don't know the African equivalent and I know British gallon volume is different from U.S. gallon volume) seems to be commonly used for them here. I have very limited experience with small lizards, and even most lizards period as my Nile monitor was around for quite some time, and THAT lizard took a certain special type of attention, but what little experience I do have shows that small lizards don't get as scared when you open a tank from the front, so maybe try an Exo Terra front opening tank? Front opening tanks also seem much easier to work around in. Just be sure not to make the glass wet while the pad is on if you spray the tank, because that can make the glass crack, assuming you change your mind and go with a glass tank. I broke a Wardian case that way once while planting a decorative piece. Sorry if I sounded condescending, but you said that English is your second language, so I tried to keep my explanation simple to understand. The English you do speak seems pretty good, by the way.
I'll admit I only had time to skim this topic, so I will return later to review the postings more in-depth and elaborate a bit. But I do have a suggestion that may work at least temporarily. You can use plastic storage bins to permanently or temporarily house you leopard gecko. The major downside is you lose the nice visibility that glass offers, but they do hold some benefits. Plastic tends to conduct and hold heat better and are lightweight and inexpensive. You could use one as a temporary/quarantine home if you need to or if you don't care about visibility as much... but usually this caging is used by breeders or collectors with many animals to save on cost and space of housing. Here's an example - ignore the setup, as this is a home for a ball python:
