Cheap $100 Leopard Gecko Setup Tutorial !

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About Brian Barczyk:
Hey, I'm Brian Barczyk from SnakeBytesTV, AnimalBytesTV and Discovery channel's series Venom Hunters. Follow the Barczyk family and I as we share our lives as reptile breeders. We post daily vlogs each day at 9:00 AM (EST)! We are reptile breeders of snakes, geckos, blue-tongued skinks as well as all other animals. I also travel around the world doing amazing animal adventures. As far as snakes I breed corn snakes, milk snakes, king snakes, rat snakes, Ball pythons, Sand boas, Woma Pythons, Spotted Pythons, Children's pythons, Carpet pythons and more! Besides breeding, I have two dogs, Burmese pythons, Reticulated pythons, Tortoises, Lizards and an American alligator. Thank you for watching and don’t forget to check out my vlogs to go around the world with me!!

Cheap $100 Leopard Gecko Setup Tutorial

Brian Barczyk

[BrianBarczyk]

Good Morning reptile army! Hope the start of your weeks are amazing! With Leopard Geckos being of of the most popular pets in the reptile world I thought a video about setting them up for under $100 would be fun. Hope you enjoyed it and it will help some people! Thanks so much for watching, Liking and commenting! All your support means so much to me! Love you guys! Brian

[justinking]

As much as I love Brian. For anyone looking to get a leopard gecko please don’t get reptile carpet or a 10 gallon tank. Minimum size should be 20. You can’t provide an actual temp gradient in a 10gallomg tank. Reptile carpet can Barbour bacteria and geckos can get their claws stuck and ripped out. You also need a humid hide for shedding.

Honestly if you just save an extra 25 or 50 bucks you could get all the proper stuff

[fuall]

Love the fact you told people to price match. I saved a lady 50 bucks by telling her that the aquarium kit she had was on sale.

[Ashtonsallfutile]

just letting people know reptile carpet can actually be really harmful to leopard geckos as it can get their claws stuck in it and it is a breeding ground for harmful bacteria’s, it’s also really hard to clean so honestly, tile or paper towels is 10x better. other then that i love this

[thechickenwizard]

Love that you're branching into using better enclosures, but this tank still has a few big issues with it:

1: obviously the size is wayyy too small for an adult leo, they need a 20-30 gallon minimum, more like a 40 if I'm being honest.

2: the substrate should either be paper towels, or better yet, natural soil substrate. Reptile carpet is super bad for their claws and feet.

3: geckos like to feel secure and hidden, and one measly decoration won't do the trick. You cab provide pretty much anything; cardboard tubes, rocks, branches, foliage, etc., as long as it's nontoxic and safe for geckos.

In some areas, you can get a lot of this for under $100, but the truth of reptile keeping is that it can be pretty expensive to set up properly, so be prepared before you get a gecko or any reptile.

[autiebleSam]

*Brian:* "So now it's time to grab my leopard gecko and see how it likes its new enclosure."
*The leopard gecko:* _immediately tries to get out_

[RobertHettick]

LOVE YOU BRIAN, I WILL ALWAYS USE YOUR VIDEOS, SO SAD THAT YOU ARE GONE

[kineticmitosis]

Hello! For anyone who is scrolling through amd consodering getting a leopard gecko here are some better suggestions for a tank

- 40+ gallon tank (36x18x18)
- 8.5 inch dimming dome with a halogen bulb
- A thermostat to regulate hot sode temps
- 7% Shadedweller UVB from arcadia
- 70/30 mix of organic Topsoil and Playsand (7 scoops soil 3 scoops sand)
- If you cant do the 70/30 mixture, papertowels work great!
- At least 3 hides (Hot, humid, cool (meaning a hide on the cooler side wothout moisture/humidity))
- 2 thermometers one for the hot side and one for the cool side
- 3 dofferent supplements, a multivitamin, calcium, and calcium with d3.
- A small bowl with regular calcium in it for your leo to enjoy.
- A temperature gun to more accurately measure hit side temps
- Fake plants (or real ones) so they can hide
- A piece (or more) of slate for a basking area

Also note- For hides, use something that can give the gecko a sense of privacy, ie. Dont use a mason jar as one of the 3 primary hides, you wouldnt want to be in a glass room sleeping would you?

You will also need a rotation of atleast 3 healthy feeders. Crickets, mealworms and dubia roaches are what i use,

Never feed them waxworms as a feeder, they are mostly fat and can cause your leo to prefer that over other food (its kind of like drugs for leos)

Make sure to follow a supplement schedule

Back to feeders, if you do decide to use superworms make sure to crush their heads (just the black part) they do bite and there is a possibility that if your leo doesnt crush the heads, the worms can eat out of your leos stomach.

Try to clean the area where they use the bathroom frequently,

If you decide to go bioactive, arid springtails are a great clean up crew and they are pretty good at controlling their population.

For basking areas it is recommended not to use bricks or other types of ricks because they are very pourous and it's easy for their nails to get stuck in.

NEVER use reptile carpet, their nails can get stuck, as well as their teeth, it also requires a lot more maintenance and get get nasty really quick 🤢

I hope this helps!!

[pythonalley]

I don’t even know where to begin… I guess first support your local pet stores NOT Petco! Carpet is TERRIBLE for a number of reasons and a 10 gallon tank is WAY to small. WTF is this? Are you just trying to get people to comment about how awful this setup is? Or maybe you just have a bunch of leopard geckos to sell right now? If you can’t afford a proper enclosure then don’t get the animal.

[SpitefulJD]

I hate giving engagement to a video that promoted this bad of a setup, but I couldn't not say something
-I've already seen people talk about it but reptile carpet is horrible, it harbors all the bacteria within the 9 realms and has the possibility of yanking out their nails, generally for quarantine just put paper towels or butchers paper, meaning a bare minimum of 1 month, some people quarantine for upwards of longer than half a year or even a year depending on the animal. After that you can use a loose substrate mix of 60% topsoil without additives/coco coir and 40% playsand, this allows them to burrow just as leopard geckos do.
-20 gallons is not large enough for a leopard gecko, the updated minimum for a leopard gecko is 36x18x18 inches
-You have no thermostat, if you have a light based heat source you'd need a dimming thermostat of some sort, otherwise you can have dangerous fluctuations in temperature and its a fire hazard, for a leopard gecko you don't even need a light based source of heating though, you could just get a ceramic heat emitter since their basking isn't that high and then use a simple on/off thermostat, now thats how you save money without compromising the safety and health of the animal
-Splurging for a single thermometer isn't splurging, it's good that there is a thermometer, better than a solid chunk of people, but there rlly should be more than one to properly monitor the gradient
-As for UVB, generally tube lights are better, but even then you could promote another money saving method, just not having UVB for a leopard gecko, if you supplement their diet properly you don't even need UVB, you just need to maintain a proper balance of calcium without D3, with D3, and multivitamins.
-I do like that there was at least mention of extra stuff, but I think there was a underestimate of the importance of it, there rlly should be more cover, you can just use fake plants from the dollar store if you want, just wash them with warm water and dish soap and obviously not the ones with glitter, and you should add some climbing and stones because enrichment, I've seen so many leopard geckos make all the possible use they can out of climbing
-Lastly, one thing I probably would have emphasized is covering some sides of the enclosure, its good for helping them feel secure and not exposed from all sides. And I would recommend more hides, the minimum standard usually recommended is 3, one for the warm side, one for the cool, and one on the warm with wet spagnum inside to create a humid environment to help with sheds
I hope this helps some people, I did sink a pretty extensive amount of time into this, and I would like to point out, theres nothing wrong with being on a budget, but keep in mind what is reasonable and what is necessary for the animal to thrive, unless you're getting multiple things for way below market price, 100 dollars is not realistic for building a proper enclosure for pretty much any animal.

[hadiyafowler]

I love your videos but I have a few personal critiques. I use paper towels instead of the reptile carpet because their claws can get stuck and it can harm them. I only use a regular basking lamp it’s really not necessary to use a UV lamp but you can if you’d like. He forgot to mention in the video that a moist hide is needed as well and that will help the leopard geckos to shed because it will loosen the shed. So 3 hides are needed not just 2. Also depending on how big the leopard gecko is I’d get a bigger tank. A 10 gal is good for a baby but when they get bigger they will probably need a bigger tank

[josephday]

If you are new to reptiles at all then please do not have this tank. This is way too small, and has not near enough hiding spaces. If you actually want a reptile, please give it the proper care it needs. That is probably 300-400$

[wyaspence]

Just to let everyone know, reptile carpet is not the best choice for leopard geckos. it harbors bacteria, can catch their claws, and is very difficult to clean. I recommend paper towel. A lot of people think sand can be ok if you feed from a water dish, but in the wild leopard geckos will lick rocks for calcium so they tend to lick the sand which causes impaction. A leopard gecko also needs 20+ gallons and at least 3 hides (warm, cool, and humid)

[reptilianmentality]

Please, don't follow this advice 😭 I beg, if your interested in getting a reptile the first thing to understand is that they are SO EXPENSIVE. Purchasing a proper enclosure, heat, substrate, enrichment, decor, foliage, security, etc is all so complex and I advice doing years of research beforehand.

[Ashtonsallfutile]

an adult leopard should probably have an at least 20 gallon tank, but a 40 gallon is ideal.

[Movementninja]

THIS IS HORRIBLE, this set up is in no way safe or good for a leopard gecko please remove this video, Leo’s need to be in a minimum of 20 gal tank, and need 3 hides minimum to hide away in to feel safe, they need a hot hide, a moist humid hide for shedding and a cool hide, they need plenty of roaming space, and that hide in that viv, the Leo won’t even be a belt o fully hide itself so it won’t even feel safe or secure, and then there’s the fact of reptile carpet is one of the worst substrates because it harbours ALOT of bacteria and is harder to wash, that viv might be safe for a baby Leo but any Leo over 4 months absolutely not! DELETE this video it’s misinformation and harmful to Leo’s, and anyone watching this don’t do this, it’s cruel, and if your on a budget look at second hand vivs or just don’t get one, save up some more, if you can’t give your animal the correct care don’t get one.

[PrimalKevYT]

Can't believe you still endorse this kind of awful husbandry in 2023...

[surfpanther]

I just got my sister a crested gecko and built a really kick butt bioactive tank. They are definitely cool little buggers

[ukucon]

literally every bit of info is incorrect. all of this is incorrect husbandry, from the size of the tank, to the repti carpet, to the lighting. i watch you everyday, love your video so so much and plan on visiting, so it’s very disappointing to see you sharing misinformation :( please do more research on an animal before trying to “educate” people!

[drippypandad]

Oh my leopard geckos cage cost 1000$ because I made a custom background a lot of soil mixed with play sand to make a burrow to hide a lot of hides that look like a rock I bought rocks and a basking rock a basking light a heat lamp and a light I bought them toys and alot of plants. To clean the tree stump I put it in my oven with like idk what it’s called but it covered it and somehow didn’t burn (if you try this at home be prepared with a hose) then I hosed it down and put it in. Somehow some bugs did not die to the heat so the geckos ate them