Leopard Gecko Advice Needed ^^

[Parad0xxy]

Hello everyone!
Around this time last month, I got myself my first leopard gecko. I had done a month or two of research on them and decided they were the pet for me. I bought my little guy and named him October. But, since I'm a first-time gecko (and reptile in general) owner, I figured I'd look for some outside advice, since I seem to get mixed answers everywhere else I go >.<

-Handling
October is only a baby; but that's all I know about him as far as age. The person that was helping us wasn't completely sure how old exactly, just that he was a baby. He's not super tiny, but he sure isn't fully grown either x3 Now then, with that being said, I need advice on handling. He's not too keen on being picked up, even after the couple weeks I've spend slowly trying to get him used to my hand. I'm just curious what kind of advice you all could give me on some other way to help him get used to being picked up. I'm also curious how long that process will take. After that, I know what to do, as I've had leopard geckos in my Animal Studies course and know how to handle them ^^ It's just the "taming" (if you could call it that) part =P

-Weather + Heating
Right now, I have an under the tank heating pad that I leave on all the time and a heat lamp that I turn off at night. I started with only the pad, but I realized that my house is much too cold and the temps were almost 15 degrees too low, so I rushed out to get the light. Is my setup alright this way? What temps do you keep your warm and cold sides at? I've heard varying answers, so I'm just looking for what works best for you all and your leos ^^
Also: My house is very old and tends to get quite cold during the winter. If I start to find that the temps are getting too low, is there any other way I can keep my leo warm?
Annd yet another thing: Storms have been bad in my area lately (Sandy being a good example >.<) and my power gets knocked out often around this time of year. What do you all recommend I do when this happens? This is the one thing I have researched that I haven't found any solid answers for.

-Vacations
I'm planning on leaving for a week long vacation next month, and I have no one that would be able to care for him while I'm gone (all our distant family/family friends that usually care for the house and cats while we're away are afraid of anything reptilian >.<) so I need some advice here. I'm planning on putting extra bowls of food and water into the tank, as that's what we do for the geckos in our Animal Studies class during breaks and they seem to be fine with that. But I have no idea what to do about the heating part. I don't want to just leave the overhead light on the entire time. Poor guy would never come out to eat and would probably fry! Is there anything I could buy to automatically turn the light on and off with the coming of night/day? What do you all do when you leave your lizards for vacation?

-Any other general tips/advice
Is there anything you think I need to know? Any cool ideas for homemade decorations that October might like? Any treats I could feed him on rare occasions? (I tend to feed my animals a treat or two on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas- I'm weird like that x3) Anything you'd like to ask me? Anything at all, let me know! :3

[RATTIE]

Here is a Leopard Gecko Care sheet that has really good info.
http://theleopardgeckoforum.com/t166-pr ... ard-geckos

This is a really good forum for Leopard Geckos
http://theleopardgeckoforum.com/index.lgf

[PuffinMuffin]

I have 2 leperds and one is 4 the other is 7 months
I put a 100 wt light in there cage i am using a 20 gallonn gace you can use 10 gal but they wont like it much
Sic i have 2 i have 2 logs ans 1 other hideout pllus 1 water dish you need to keed it like 24 crickets every 2 weeks
i just dump all the crickets on the same cage as the geckos all the time but that veries on how the gecko eats
Mill worms coverd in white calcium are great for babies
Thats all i can think of right now besises dont put 2 males in the same cage and 2 felames are fine together and unlees you want babies i would not recomend male/female in the same cage.
OHH dont put sant untill you baby is at least 3 months then you can use sand.
aND ON THAT HANDELING NOTE THEY ARE LIKE THAT AS BABIE HOLD THEN FOR 5-10 MINS DAILEY FOR TAMING THEY WILL EVENTUALY LOVE BEING HELD D
Umm heating pads are a bit of a denger to the a 100 wt heating lamp on at all times is pretty good. It works for me anyway even75 wt

[Parad0xxy]

Thanks Rattie! I'll definitely give them a look through ^^

@julia7723 - Thanks for all the info! As for the problem with the heating pad; The only bad thing I saw about the pad was that it could burn them if it was too hot, but because I have the pad on the underside of the tank and the reptile carpet as substrate, it's actually a bit on the cold side for him. Plus, they benefit from the belly warmth, not the warmth from above as much, don't they? Even if I wanted to, I couldn't leave the heating lamp on at all times because I have everything set up in my room, and I do need to sleep eventually x3 I need it pretty much pitch dark to sleep, so leaving it on all night would make it impossible to sleep lol. The heating pad keeps it at least warm during the night and doesn't emit light, so that's why I kept it.

[PuffinMuffin]

I understand. They do however make purple and red with puprle admits little no no light.

[Parad0xxy]

The bulb I have right now is one of the blue nighttime ones, since I've read that the red/white ones might bother the leo's eyes. It doesn't give off nearly as much light as a white one, but still some light anyway.
I do have one question though; Don't leos need a regular night/day schedule? If the light is left on at all times, then won't they get confused and think it's day all the time? I've seen many places- such as local pet shops and the like- that appear to leave the overhead lights on into the late night hours, so I'm sure it's not harmful. But I'm just kind of curious ^^

[Saracirce]

The heating pad is much better for Leos then a heat lamp. They need belly heat to digest food.

I'd toss the repti carpet. I have only ever heard bad things about it. It can catch toes, promotes bacteria growth and just gets plain yucky. Use papertowels or butcher's paper instead. That's assuming, of course, it doesn't get too hot for your leo down there. If it does, your better bet would be to use vinyl tiles. (read the care sheet linked above for more info)

If you're having trouble keeping the temperatures high enough, you could try insulating your tank with pieces of foam. Tape them to the OUTSIDE of the tank.

Also, you're right. Leos have a circadian rhythm just like every other animal. You should have a light in your tank (if your room is dark) to help regulate his internal clock. It does more then just tell them when to sleep and when to wake, by the way. It also tells them when to eat and when it's time to get up and move about. If you have truly have a bulb that emits little light, it shouldn't affect his rhythm much.

[Parad0xxy]

I had never seen anything about it catching toes when I was researching before I got everything set up, and the place that I bought him from used the repti carpet, so I didn't really think much of it. I do wash it regularly, but I suppose using something else would be a good idea. I'm just not sure what.. I feel as though the paper towels would let in too much heat from the pad, and that the tiles might let in too little, though the tiles sound like a good alternative, because they would hold in the light from the overhead and provide belly heat when the bulb is off, wouldn't they? I'll have to experiment with it, but unfortunately, I don't have the resources (more like no car to get anywhere in x3) to go out and fiddle around with it. I'll keep a good eye on it and see if he's getting caught on it when he's out and about. If it's not too bad, I won't worry about it until I have the time and means to get a better substrate. If it does seem like a pressing issue, I suppose I'll have to replace it with paper towels and monitor the heat for a while.

Foam? That's a great idea. And I know I've got some of that around here somewhere. That ought to work well. Thank you! (:

As for the light bulb, I may have exaggerated on the amount of light it produces xP It is still pretty bright, just not as bright as your everyday white lightbulb. It's also softer because of the blue glass on it, so it isn't as harsh as the white lightbulbs either. But it still is pretty bright. I have to turn it on and off as the sun sets/rises because it is usually pretty dark in my room. I have my shades closed most of the time to keep in the warmth/fend off the cold drafts.

[PuffinMuffin]

There nails wont be long enought yet for it to catch and leo.s are nocturenal so they sleep al day anyway and for me having the light on 24/7 has done nothing to them so not shure

[RATTIE]

I use light dimmers to control the temperature of my heat mats. Here is the dimmer that I use http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-TT-300NLH- ... B0000DI241 .