all sorts of problems

[wood_nymph]

i'm setting my gecko up his big cage for the first time and i'm having all sorts of problems with the eqiuipment.
1. i have a small waterfall for him (for humdities sake) but when i set it up it seems to leak out the back to the point when the pump sounds like its strugling for water. any suggestion?
2. the heat light- i got stuck using a 75W light for a while, in short it broke itself within 4 days in a very strange way, is that too high for a gecko, 50W better? and should i get one of those cage covers for it?
3. what substrate should i use? sand (very paranoid abot impactions through), repti-bark or one of those kitty litter type ones products?

any help/suggestions here would be appreciated

 

[hornet]

what gecko do you have? no need to use a heat light, just use a heat cord, i would use (depending on species) sand or peat moss

 

[grimbeny]

What type of gecko?

 

[morgs202]

With the leaking waterfall, try using some aquarium silicon to patch the leak. Just be sure you give it a couple of days to dry. I would definitly use a cover for the light.

 

[wood_nymph]

marbled velvet gecko and i think its leaking from the join in the waterfall that's meant to be there (they come in several parts that slot together) so i can take it apart for cleaning. it's almost like its got too much water in it but i'm sure it hasn't.

 

[hornet]

if i were you i'd take the water fall out, get rid of the light, if you want to keep the light make sure it has plenty of hiding places to get away from the light but a heat matt or cord would be preferable and i'd use a peat moss substrate

 

[wood_nymph]

stupid me i forgot to say its a red light, i realise a normal one would freak ot a nocturnal species. i orginally chose the light so i could actualy see the lil guy when he comes out at night. with the peat moss substrate i was actually warned off that by the breeder because of the danger of fungal infections and since they live naturally in arid environments in QLD.

 

[hornet]

actually there is very little risk on fungus in peat moss as it is acidic, mould or fungus is never a prob and i have been using it for 4-5years

 

[hornet]

i'd ditch the waterfall since they are from arid areas

 

[sxc_celly]

Please let us know what species you have, as light cover and subtrate depend on the species.

1.
Go with what Morgs202 said about the waterfall. Even (if you can) take the pump out and try it in another pool of water and see if it does the same thing? It might be a hole in the pump hose, or waterfall has a crack or the pump might be on its way out!

2.
I use 75watt with my geckos but its a nocturnal one so i can view them at night because this is when these 2 species come out and play, and it doesnt put anywhere near as much heat out as a daytime one with the same wattage. In one of my enclosed (only with a vent) enclosure is heats up to 30-32deg, but in my geckos (since they dont have a lid (cant climb or jump) only heats to 26-28. It depends on the enclosure and the subtrate and ventilation too. Id have a thermometer for sure, and a thermostat if you can. Depending on the gecko whether you need a cover for the light. Ive got levis Levis and Also U Milii and dont use a globe cover at all. Simply because of the fact they cant climb, and cant jump very high at all. Theyre more than 32cm away from the globe.

3. We need to know what gecko you have to what subtrate you should use, and this will also aid in our advice on globe cover too. I'd be using what they live on in the wild. For example: My Levis Levis (Smooth knobtailed geckos) are on a sand subtrate because they live purely on and in sand in the wild. Thats all theyre accustomed to. They dig burrows into the sand in the wild and bask on the heated sand at night, and i would think it cruel to use anything other than sand, for their pleasure and well being, and im sure they would suffer on something like carpet. Let us know, and I hope I've helped.

Cel

 

[sxc_celly]

Sorry, that was written before i knew the species.

 

[wood_nymph]

i'm still a bit confused how the 75W bulb broke. i let me husband mist the cage (trying to keep hunidity up to 50% without the falls) i think he may have got some on the bulb, not directly through. the water was room temp, anyone think this could have caused it to pop?

 

[hornet]

hes already said what gecko he has, an oedura marmorata

 

[hornet]

nope i do that all the time with my dragons, always get water on the bulb no probs but year got rid of the water fall, cover the light since its an arboeal gecko and sand should also be ok, would look a little better then peat moss

 

[wood_nymph]

i have a full messed top so ventilation is good, the bulb is at least 20cm from the ground when moved to the top of cage and yes i do have thermostats and thermomiters, the temp was sitting perectly thanks to the thermostat and for the breif time the falls was in there (which is brand new) the humdity was perfect as well. the conditions are fine, it just the equpiment i'm worried about.

 

[wood_nymph]

thanks hornet, sounds like a plan, i'm just going to replace the fitting anyway and buy one of those fnacy caged in ones with the cord already attachted.

 

[hornet]

i have had a red globe pop just from being plugged in so may have just been a dud, try another

 

[Tatelina]

Just keep him in a lunch box with newspaper under your bed...

...just kidding. DON'T do that.​

 

[wood_nymph]

does spag moss have the same antu-fungal properties as peat moss? and i think i've found the trick to the waterfall, there's actually an intake power thing on the very bottom of the pump, it was turned right up and i think it was pushing the water too hard making to splash and run out over the edges. bloody hell exo-terra make good products, but they really need to put some instruction in, or at least a diagram of the unit

 

[wood_nymph]

Just keep him in a lunch box with newspaper under your bed...

lol, he's been in a 12L container for the last 6 months and that's extactly how i felt about putting him in there.