Leopard Gecko Colouring, HELP

Question
Hello there

We have a female leopard gecko who is roughly 2 years old.  We have in the last three weeks treated her to a new all glass terrarium which is 60cmx40cmx40cm, we a heat mat in half the side of the terrarium, complete with one inch layer of calci sand.  We originally put here hide on the heat mat side, but felt she may be to hot in her hide, so we moved it across to the cool side.  She seemed to love the new home, but for some reason has changed to a dark colour and i'm growing abit on concern about her now.  The heat mat is on a timer and the daylight lighting is on for about 12 hours a day during the day, then the moon light is on for the remaining time of the night.  The temp during the day when the light is on is about 30c and during the night when the moon light is on its about 23c.

Is there anything you can see we are doing wrong, or can you give us abit of help as we want our Lou-Lou to be happy and well.

Hope you can help!!

Answer
Hello Fiona, you need to have two hides minimum one on the cool side and one on the warm side. Preferably another one in the middle.

That way she can thermoregulate.

Because they are cold blooded they depend on the heat (sun) to regulate their temperature. They need to be able to move around to cool down or warm up. And because they hide during the day they need to be able to choose.

Either sleep on the warm side because they feel cold or sleep on the cool side because they are too warm.

Dark colors usually mean stress or illness but is it possible she is getting ready to shed?

I suggest taking out the sand to prevent impaction and other medical problems. Use reptile carpet or paper towels.

Good luck
Yexalen