Owners of Leopard Geckos, Please Help?

[mira_kaylee]

So I was originally under the impression that I was going to get Crested Geckos, but I went to the petstore just to hold them and get a general idea of what i was getting myself into and found myself in love with the leopard geckos instead....(this is why it's best to do your research, and not just on the internet and in books lol) so I've read up on their care and diet and such but have a few questions for anyone who currently owns one. (also, i do indeed have an account on geckotalk.com, i just like asking my questions on both sites so that i get a range of opinions and facts - I tend to learn more that way.)

1.) Anyone who owns Leopard Geckos, I would love it if you could give me an in depth list of all items used to make your enclosure. Since my gecko will be a baby, about as long as my index finger, i will be starting with a 10gal tank. I would like to be taught about substrate options and heating (ex. under-tank heater or bulb?), including which temperatures you find best suited.

2.) About how much do you spend on mealworms/ crickets a month? (estimate please?) If you aren't sure about the price then could you possibly estimate the amount of mealworms that are eaten per month? (crickets are so cheap that I'm not even factoring that into a budget lol)

3.)How often do you mist your Leopard Geckos? I don't want mine to get too dry, though I plan on having a water dish obviously.

Preemptive thank you's for any answers!

 

[chase thorn]

1) 3 hides, 1 cool hide, one hot hide, and one humid hide on the hot side... You must use a UTH and get a thermostat. (Amazon hydrofarm thermostat) A bulb won't do much good because they need belly heat, not back heat. A juvenile needs a bit more heat (94-96*F) on the warm side. A thermostat is almost absolutely needed. UTH (under thank heater) will get in the 100s very easily if you do not use a thermostat.

2) Breeding mealies is very easy... get a rubbermaid shoebox, fill it with oat meal.. (Not instant) and fill it with about 500 mealies... Let them pupat and then turn to beetles. Seperate the beetles into another contaner so they can lay eggs. Then about 1 to 2 months, move the beetles so the eggs can not be eaten.

At first you may have to buy mealies in the first couple months because the breeding takes time... Also feed them carrots and lettuce so the mealies are gutloaded..


Another thing! supplement the mealies. Get rapashy calcium +. It is an all in one. Babies need their food to be dusted every feeding so they can build up calcium.

2) Like I said, Breeding mealies is best, may cost about $20 the first 3 months. I never use crickets. They bite, cause parasite, they smell, they are harder to breed, you have to be careful and remove them if they aren't eaten, and just so many other issues. Mealies are easy to gutload, breed, feed, and they don't escape if in a dash.

3) never mist them. Just make a humid hide on the hot side.. I use a tubberware with a hold in the side with wet paper towels in theme...

The subsrate should never be loose. They vet impacted very easily. Pet stores ALWAYS give the worst advice... Use paper towel, slate, tile.

If you need some pro help, I HIGHLY recommend joining http://theleopardgeckoforum.com/...

Any more help needed, you can PM me, or join the site!!

 

[NudistApple]

I had to really think hard before putting down 10+, because there are a few factors to take into account. For one...we have more than one leopard gecko! So I'm not really sure how much it would be with just one. The only time I had a single gecko, she was an extremely malnourished adult, and I had to feed her constantly to get her healthy again...not a great basis of comparison there! (She's totally fine now, by the way, plucky little jerk. (-: )

So, I guess here is my rundown on your questions.

1. Tank: 20L tank, which I would personally use even if I had a little hatchling, they grow quickly. Repticarpet or slate tile for "substrate". You do not want to use a particulate substrate at all. Leo's are sloppy hunters and impaction is a REAL risk. Even adults. The malnourished female adult I mentioned before was in such a terrible state because she was kept on sand or crushed walnut (same thing, really) and had ingested sooo much of it over the years that she couldn't really digest food. She had to be soaked a lot to get all of that crap out of her. Literally?

Heating: Undertank heater is really the way to go. Leopard geckos are nocturnal (though it isn't even remotely surprising to see them out at all hours of the day and night) and they really do not appreciate strong light. Their "basking" spot should be 90F, and the cool end shouldn't be cooler than 75F. If you have trouble maintaing that with your single UTH (and I never have, but we all live in different areas of the world) you can use a very low wattage bulb down the other end of the tank to bump things up a few degrees. Geckos use belly heat to digest by the way. It's MUCH more realistically important for them to have appropriate substrate level temps. than air temps.

"Furniture": You will want a humid hide. Something as simple as a tupper-ware with a hold cut in the side, and a damp washcloth will accomlish this. Leos know when they need to shed, and they will seek it out as they deem necessary. I like to keep mine towards the center of the enclosure, so it doesn't dry out too fast, or be too cool. You also want two "dry hides", one on each side of the tank, so that your little buddy can thermo regulate. Additionally you want a shallow water dish, and a small calcium dish. Calcium WITHOUT D3 should be available 24/7, they will go and nosh on it as they see fit, unlike most other lizards. Once a week or so you can dust a meal with a calcium that has D3, or a multivitamin. Additional supplementation isn't necessary. That's it as far as bare minumum furnishing goes. I like to also have a repti-hammock in there (for a terrestrial gecko they LOVE to climb) as well as some driftwood and fake plants and stuff. To make things all pretty and whatnot.

2. My geckos are adults (the female is 6 years old, the male is 2), they get crickets as treats now and again, but their staple diet is one superworm every 2.5-3 days. You are going to get crazy different responses for this, because every gecko is unique in the amount they need to eat. Our male is WAY obese, and anymore would be bad for him, and it seems to keep the female at a nice weight, so this is just what works for us. Growing and hatchling geckos need to eat way more. In fact, most people suggest keeping a dish of mealworms available to them at all times. They are swiftly growing, bottomless pits. Be prepared to spend a decent chunk of change feeding a young gecko for the first several months.

3. I do not ever mist my leopard geckos. Their natural ambient humidity is 30%, and they do not want or need it any higher. I simply make sure that their little humid hide never goes dry, and they are perfectly happy little dudes.


Just remember, mealworms (and in my case, superworms) have hard exoskeletons of chitin, that can be difficult to digest. If you are not POSITIVE that your "basking" area is at least 90*F, don't feed them. Crickets are easier to digest at lower temperatures. I find mealies to be awesome in every way as feeders (IMHO only dubia roaches are better), so it's just a matter of keeping things toasty.

 

[ckidd_1999]

So for starters, leopard geckos are the best lizard I have ever owned. They are so easy to care for and are so fun! So what I have in my enclosure for my 4 year old girl is repti sand (which I would only recommend for adults), water bowl, hot and cold hide, climbing stick, calcium dish, and two thermometers. I have an under the tank heater and a basking light that is red. Only get red because I have heard tht the bright white/blue ones can hurt there eyes and make them go blind or stress ten out. So I would defiantly use both. I have found tht around 75 degrees F is the best for cool side and around 90 on the hot side.

I usually spend about $10 on crickets and $2 on mealworms. My lizard eats like a pig haha. A good trick for mealies is to stick them in the fridge when ur not using them and take them out 20 minutes before your going to feed your lizard. I usually feed my girl 2 mealworms every other feeding and like 3 crickets every feeding. My Leo is kinda fat so I'm not feeding her as much.

i would NEVER mist them. The only thing I must I'd there warm hide so they can get a nice humid spot to rest. You can maybe mist them in shed but they hate it. They are a desert species so they don't see a ton of humidity. I don't even have a humidity gauge. Iv had my leopard gecko for about a year and she's been fine without me spraying her. Just change s/he water daily and put calcium on the crickets ever feeding.
Good luck with ur little guy!! Your bond to have tons Of fun!!!

 

[chase thorn]

Take in as much correct info as possible!

 

[mira_kaylee]

I was told that these lamp dimmers from home depot


http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...oreId=10051&superSkuId=202887062#.ULE5C4XwMyk


would work as well as a thermostat. Is that correct?

---

I'm not sure that I quite understand what you mean when you say "tile" as a substrate.....do you mean like this kind of tile?

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/cat...s=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=SEARCHALL

 

[ckidd_1999]

I think you will need a thermostat. But the light dimmer might work. And yes, you can use any piece of tile in its cage

 

[mira_kaylee]

Why is the tile so highly recommended? Wouldn't large aquarium rocks do the same thing?

---

how do you know whether you got all of the beetles out?

1) 3 hides, 1 cool hide, one hot hide, and one humid hide on the hot side... You must use a UTH and get a thermostat. (Amazon hydrofarm thermostat) A bulb won't do much good because they need belly heat, not back heat. A juvenile needs a bit more heat (94-96*F) on the warm side. A thermostat is almost absolutely needed. UTH (under thank heater) will get in the 100s very easily if you do not use a thermostat.

2) Breeding mealies is very easy... get a rubbermaid shoebox, fill it with oat meal.. (Not instant) and fill it with about 500 mealies... Let them pupat and then turn to beetles. Seperate the beetles into another contaner so they can lay eggs. Then about 1 to 2 months, move the beetles so the eggs can not be eaten.

At first you may have to buy mealies in the first couple months because the breeding takes time... Also feed them carrots and lettuce so the mealies are gutloaded..


Another thing! supplement the mealies. Get rapashy calcium +. It is an all in one. Babies need their food to be dusted every feeding so they can build up calcium.

2) Like I said, Breeding mealies is best, may cost about $20 the first 3 months. I never use crickets. They bite, cause parasite, they smell, they are harder to breed, you have to be careful and remove them if they aren't eaten, and just so many other issues. Mealies are easy to gutload, breed, feed, and they don't escape if in a dash.

3) never mist them. Just make a humid hide on the hot side.. I use a tubberware with a hold in the side with wet paper towels in theme...

The subsrate should never be loose. They vet impacted very easily. Pet stores ALWAYS give the worst advice... Use paper towel, slate, tile.

If you need some pro help, I HIGHLY recommend joining http://theleopardgeckoforum.com/...

Any more help needed, you can PM me, or join the site!!

 

[ckidd_1999]

Tile is recommended for babies because tht can't ingest it. Sand or babies is dangerous because they can ingest it. You can also use reptile carpet. Aquarium rocks is not the best. They can easily hurt themselves or pinch their toes in between the rocks. Count up the beetles when u put them in and watch him/her eat. You should only let them eat for about 10 min and then take the beetles out that s/he hadn't eaten

 

[mira_kaylee]

Okay, thank you doesn't the tile have jagged edges?

 

[ckidd_1999]

Okay, thank you doesn't the tile have jagged edges?

No. They are usually smooth and if it isn't then just sand it down or make sure the jagged edge isn't exposed

 

[chase thorn]

no don't feed the beetles!! haha just make sure they all come out as in put a piece of fruit in the container and they will all surface. youtube has some good meaworm breeding vids.

Beetles have to hard of body to digest in my opinion.

 

[lisa127]

I agree with the advice above. The only thing I do differently from above is how I provide my belly heat. I use a low wattage night glo black heat lamp set above slate tiles I got from Lowe's. The low wattage heat lamp heats up the tiles to provide belly heat. However, years ago when I kept a colony of breeding geckos I used UTH's. I keep the cool end in the mid to upper 70's and the floor temp of my tiles ranges between 90 to 95 degrees. I feed mostly mealworms, with occassional other insects for variety. I spend about $10 a month or a little more. The other thing I do slightly differently than mentioned above is I keep my humid hide in the middle of the enclosure. I then keep a dry hide on the cool side and a dry hide on the warm side. No misting at all.

 

[mira_kaylee]

How do you heat up the tile with the bulb without getting it close enough for the geckos to burn themselves on the light? My tortoises have an open top pen so I've never had to figure out how to position the lamps....do you just set the lamp bulb down on top of the tank screened lid?

I agree with the advice above. The only thing I do differently from above is how I provide my belly heat. I use a low wattage night glo black heat lamp set above slate tiles I got from Lowe's. The low wattage heat lamp heats up the tiles to provide belly heat. However, years ago when I kept a colony of breeding geckos I used UTH's. I keep the cool end in the mid to upper 70's and the floor temp of my tiles ranges between 90 to 95 degrees. I feed mostly mealworms, with occassional other insects for variety. I spend about $10 a month or a little more. The other thing I do slightly differently than mentioned above is I keep my humid hide in the middle of the enclosure. I then keep a dry hide on the cool side and a dry hide on the warm side. No misting at all.

 

[ckidd_1999]

Yes, you can just set the heat lamp on top of the screen lid

 

[mira_kaylee]

I seeee. Thank you I feel kind of dumb asking simple questions like that but I don't want to do anything wrong....

 

[chase thorn]

A bulb is still not ideal for a leo... A UTH with a stat will do best and have the best outcome for a healthy leo. The humid hide should always be warm no matter where you put it as cold and humidity equals a RI.

Although I am on a leo forum... I would never ask them about tortoise advise I suggest joining a leo forum for any later issues. Here you will get a lot of mixed info.

 

[mira_kaylee]

I am going to get an under tank heater and a red head bulb for my gecko, i am getting a thermostat, and i will have 3 hides. I think that it's kind of silly of you to assume that asking questions about a gecko in the Lizard section of these forums will result in incorrect information....just because someone owns a tortoise doesn't mean that they can't own another pet and give correct information on it. I am part of 2 different forums concerning geckos and as of right now I have always gotten more answers in the tortoise forum than i have from both other gecko forums. I don't know if it's just because those forums aren't as active or if it's because I'm newer to them, but still lol.

 

[ckidd_1999]

Alot if tort owners own leopard geckos, like me. U should always tho go to many sources that u trust for info and compare it

 

[mira_kaylee]

Alot if tort owners own leopard geckos, like me. U should always tho go to many sources that u trust for info and compare it

Those were my thoughts exactly