Aside from a great terrarium, the equipment you decide to have inside of it is probably the most important part of being the owner of a reptile and is also essential for keeping them safe and comfortable at all times. Here’s what I use in my tank.
DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind that the best equipment and food will vary from reptile to reptile. While most of the items on this list apply to any tank size and reptile, it’s best to check your setup and also take into consideration your reptiles personal needs so that you know exactly what size to get for your tank, and reptile, for the items and food that do, in fact, go by size.
Leopard Gecko Equipment
Heating Mat
Many people have debated over this, but leopard geckos do not need light to survive. Unless you live somewhere where light doesn’t enter the room at all, then the natural light in your room is good enough for their day and night cycles.
With that said, I highly recommend getting this heat map from Fluker’s on Amazon. It goes underneath your tank and is very easy to set up. This along with a thermostat to regulate heat will do great for giving your leopard gecko what it needs.
Thermostat
Now that we have the heat source for our tanks, it’s important that we now make sure it doesn’t get too hot. An overly hot tank is detrimental to your gecko’s health and can cause serious issues if not regulated. Imagine being trapped in a room of 120° F with no air conditioning and no way to escape. Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.
To make sure your tank doesn’t get too hot, I suggest this thermostat from Amazon. This thermostat is one that had been recommended to me when I got my first leopard gecko and have been happy with it since.
Hides
When buying hides for your tank, keep in mind that you’ll need 3. You’ll need a moist hide, a hide for the hot side of the tank, and a hide for the cool side of the tank. Each hide serves its own purpose and are all absolutely essential for your leopard geckos health.
For my hot, cool and moist hide, I decided to go with this one from Exo Terra. It fits perfectly in my 20-gallon tank and does good for giving my gecko a place to hide, shed, and eat as well. What size you get is dependent on the size of your tank and gecko. But for babies, I would go with a small. For juveniles, I’d get the medium. And for adult geckos, which is what I have, I’d get the large. As for the size, I’d personally recommend nothing less than 20 gallons.
Thermometer
The thermostat will help keep the heat of your tank regulated, but the thermometer will obviously help you tell what temperature your tank is actually at. I got this one from Zoo Med on Amazon and haven’t been happier.
It’s cheap and it gets the job done.
Bowls
Just like your hides, you’ll need 3 bowls. One for food, one for water, and one for your gecko’s calcium. For the food bowl, I use this one here from Zoo Med. It’s really cheap and has a cool design that compliments the look of the tank.
For my water bowl, I use this one by Zoo Med. And lastly, for my calcium bowl, I use this one here. It’s by Repti-Zoo and does a good job. It’s cheap, and can also be found on Amazon.
Water Conditioner
I usually use tap water for my leopard geckos water, but with this water conditioner that I get, I’m able to remove all of the heavy metals and chlorine that they otherwise couldn’t handle. What a leopard gecko puts into its body is very important and without the right treatment, it could get very sick.
Calcium and D3 with Vitamins
If you know anything about leopard geckos, then you should know that calcium is absolutely essential for its life. Without it, they can develop illnesses, diseases, and will eventually die if they are too insufficient of it. It’s what goes on every meal they eat and is something that they can never be without. Here is the kind I use.
If you’re someone who plans on supplementing D3 through a UVB light, then I recommend this stuff called Repti-Calcium. It’s calcium without D3. You will have to buy their vitamins separately, though, as this brand doesn’t supply enough of what they need.
UVB Light
For a good UVB light, I recommend getting this one by Zoo Med. I personally don’t use UVB with my leopard gecko, but if you do, that’s totally fine. I have in the past and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. It all comes down to personal choice.
Your leopard gecko needs D3 so whatever way you choose to provide them with it is up to you.
Hygrometer
This is basically used to measure the humidity in your tank. Just like the thermometer, this will help you determine where your humidity levels are at so that you can make your adjustments accordingly.
Humidity levels that are off can hurt your leopard gecko, so it’s best to know where they’re at, at all times. Here’s the hygrometer I am using.
Terrarium Cover
I cannot recommend which cover to get because that will completely depend on the terrarium you have. I would go into detail about this specific item, but I can’t. It pretty much speaks for itself. If you didn’t know, though, it’s the cover that you put over the top of your terrarium.
Terrarium Decor
This one is totally up to you. It’s not an absolute essential, but decorations will give your tank a little more life and can even be used to recreate your leopard geckos natural habitat. I have a few decorations in my tank, but like the UVB light or D3 supplementation, it all comes down to personal preference.
Conclusion
As you can see, your leopard gecko needs quite a bit of stuff to comfortably survive. It may seem a little overwhelming at first, but once you get everything and set it all up, it’s not that hard to properly take care of your gecko.
Like stated above, these are my personal favorites when it comes to tank equipment and I believe that you can’t go wrong if you decide to go with any of the items listed above as well.