Leopard Gecko Heating & Lighting

One myth surrounding the leopard gecko is that they are nocturnal, so they don’t need any light in their habitat. This is not true. Leopard geckos need regular periods of both light and dark to regulate their sleep cycle. During the day, they sleep, bask and digest their food.

You have options when it comes to gecko lighting. You can choose to add a light-only bulb to your tank, but then you’ll need to also include a separate heat source, like a ceramic heat bulb or a leopard gecko heating pad. Another option is a leopard gecko heat lamp that provides both heat and light. The downside of this option is that you’ll need to turn the heat lamp off at night, which means you’ll have to provide a secondary heat source.

One important fact to note is that it isn’t a good idea to rely on natural light for your tank. Natural light can overheat the tank and won’t provide the UVB that supports optimal gecko health. Learn more important leopard gecko facts and information.

Not necessarily. A heat lamp can be a useful part of a leopard gecko lighting setup, but it isn’t required as long as you provide an alternate source of light and heat. Plenty of pet parents prefer to use a non-heat light and a separate heating source, like a ceramic bulb or heating pad. However, a leopard gecko heat lamp has the advantage of providing both heat and light from a single source during daytime hours.

If you are setting up your leopard gecko habitat, you can find all the supplies you need in our leopard gecko shop.

Leopard geckos require both heat and light, but pet parents have several options for how to provide those two things. Leopard gecko heating can come from a heat lamp during the day, a heat mat or a ceramic bulb. Just know that you’ll need to turn off the heat lamp at night to give your leopard gecko nighttime hours. A ceramic heat bulb provides heat with no light and is an excellent option for nighttime heating. Finally, you can pair a ceramic heat bulb with a light-only bulb for your leopard gecko lighting. This way, you can turn off the light-only bulb at night while the ceramic heat bulb continues to provide warmth for your leo.

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