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RE: New Leopard Gecko Mom

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Posted by: kinyonga at Sun May 3 12:42:01 2009   [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by kinyonga ]  
   

Go easy on the mealworms...they have been known to cause impaction.

From the twitching and staggering, I'm wondering if he could have MBD. Does he hold his body up (high) off the ground when he's walking? Can you post a picture of it please? I dust the insects at almost every feeding with a phosphorous-free calcium powder. Twice a month I use a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A in it and twice a month I use a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder.

If you think he's blind you will have to hand feed him....and then you wouldn't leave the crickets in the cage.

Here's a care sheet that I did for leos...
LEOPARD GECKO CARE SHEET.

Leopard geckos, Eublepharus macularius, are found in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India. They live on the ground in dry to semi-arid habitats where temperatures fluctuate greatly between day and night. They are active at night or during the twilight hours, but will occasionally bask in sunlight.

In captivity, leopard geckos have been known to live over 20 years with proper care. They become sexually mature between 16-24 months, but may not be ready to breed until their third year. Leopard geckos have eyelids that can blink unlike most other geckos that come out in the evening and nighttime. They have toenails. They lack the adhesive pads on the feet so they can't climb glass. Hatchlings are about 3 inches long and generally striped, and adults can reach 12 inches total length and come in many colors and patterns.

They generally and can learn to accept handling. Adults rarely bite, and tend to move slowly once acclimated to their surroundings. They tend to hide during daylight hours but will come out to investigate disturbances to their cage. Babies will make a shrieking noise when disturbed for the first couple of weeks of life and then they get used to you and don't do it anymore. Despite their small size they will lunge at you and try to bite for the first few weeks too.

ENCLOSURE: A 20 gallon aquarium will be adequate for keeping up to a trio (one male and two females) of leopard geckos if several hiding shelters are available.

The bottom of the enclosure should be covered with something safe and easy to clean...paper towels, etc. Don't use substrates like soils or sands for babies because they tend to ingest it and might become impacted. NEVER use calcisand, wood chips, mulch or gravel. Regular washed play sand is acceptable.

You can provide low branches climbing on, natural rocks to bask upon, and shelters to hide in.
Warning: Do not stack rocks on top of each other to form a shelter...they might fall over and injure the lizard. Plants may be added either artificial or real...but wash both before using...both sides of the leaves.

LIGHTING: Its controversial as to whether leos need UVB light to be healthy, however since using one on the cage should cause no problems as long as the gecko has a hide to go into to get away from the light as it would in the wild, I would use one. The UVB may be beneficial. UVB tube lights can be purchased from a reptile shop. The UVB florescent bulb must be placed no more than 12 inches from the basking site, and should be on a timer to provide about 12 to 14 hours of daylight and 10 to 12 hours of darkness. The UVB willl serve no purpose if it passes through glass or plastic. It must be replaced every 6-9 months because the UVB fades. A balasted fixture can be purchased at places like Can. Tire and Home Depot and sometimes, Walmart. (Non-balasted fixtures will not come on with a timer.) I recommend putting the lights on a timer. I use the kind with the little pegs since the digital ones usually need to be reset each time the power goes off and the peg type just continue on from where they left off.

A regular incandescent light in a hood can be used to provide heat...but be careful not to overheat the cage. It should be placed at one end of the cage. Make sure it is not possible for your animal to come into contact with the bulb as this will cause burns. A human heating pad can be placed under one end of the cage on a timer so that it comes on at night when the other lights go out. The idea of putting the heating pad under the tank is that it will not come into direct contact with your animal. Having the heat-light and the pad at the same end of the cage provides a variation in the temperatures from one end of the cage to the other so that the gecko can move to where its comfortable. This light can be put on the timer with the UVB light. Do NOT use heat rocks as these can get to hot and may burn your leos. Remember these lizards are ectothermic (require heat from outside sources).

TEMPERATURE: The daytime temperature of the tank should be between 80-86° F with the basking spot of 88-90° F. Select the wattage of the bulb to provide the proper temperature within the tank. At night the temperature should drop to 70-75° F. When room temperatures are below 68° F at night, use the heating pad . Two thermometers can be in use to monitor these temperatures....one at the hot end and one at the cool end of the cage.

HUMIDITY: Locally humid spots can be created...but most of the cage should NOT be humid.

WATER: Provide a shallow water dish that is large enough for the whole gecko to soak its body. Lizards often defecate in their water, so it must be replaced daily and the dish disinfected at least once a week. Sometimes they will chose to lay their eggs in the water dish...so if you are going to breed them, you need to be aware of this. The eggs will be no good if they sit there for very long.

FEEDING: Leopard geckos are insectivores. Insects should be chosen by size (appropriate size for the size of the gecko). Hatchling leopard geckos should be fed daily and eat two-three week old crickets. Hatchlings can eat as many appropriately sized crickets as they can eat in a couple of minutes. Adults will take six-week old (full grown) crickets. An adult will usually eat between five to seven crickets at one feeding...and can be fed every second day. Adults and subadults can be fed crickets, superworms, silk worms, and once in a while waxworms that have been fed a nutritious diet and “gut-loaded”. Pinkies (infant mice) may be offered occasionally after the gecko reaches one year of age, and can be useful to help condition adults for breeding...but I don't usually use them as a food source.

As I said...the insects should all be gutloaded with a nutritious diet before being fed to the geckos. For crickets I use greens (dandelion, kale, collards, endive, ROMAINE lettuce, etc.) and veggies (potato, carrot, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, celery leaves, squash, zucchini, etc.). Do not just use one or two of these things steadily.

SUPPLEMENTS: leopard geckos require phosphorous-free calcium supplementation dusted on the insects at most feedings....especially important for hatchlings. A small lid of calcium powder can be left in the cage as well. (Fruit flavored TUMS crushed to a powder works well.) Most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous so this helps to make up for it.

I also dust with a vitamin powder twice a month making sure that it is one that has beta carotene as its vitamin A source. Preformed vitamin A can lead to overdoses but beta carotene can't. Excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD (metabolic bone disease).

I also use a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month. D3 from SUPPLEMENTS can build up in the system too...so don't overdo it.

HEALTH: A young leopard gecko can suffer from MBD if it doesn't get enough calcium or produce or get enough D3 or if it gets too much PREFORMED vitamin A. It will have rubbery a jaw and limbs, may not be able to hold its body up off the ground when it walks, etc.

If the gecko can't get the shed off its toes or tail tip its important that it is removed. This retained skin can cut off circulation.

Never mix new geckos into established colonies until they have been checked out and in quarantine for at least 6 months. Every new reptile you get should be quarantined from any you already have...even if they are CB (captive bred).

REPRODUCTION: Female leopard geckos can produce eggs even without being mated (infertile, of course). Mating will start in about February and will continue until about May each year. The females will produce one or (usually) two eggs at a time once they are sexually mature. One male and several females may be kept in the same cage...but two males should never be kept in the same cage once they are 4 or so months old.

The eggs will be soft shelled and should be removed for incubation. Place the eggs inside a plastic deli-type (approx. 4" high type) container on dampened vermiculite and cover the container with a lid and place it into the incubator. One or two tiny holes can be punched in the lid to allow air exchange. The vermiculite should be the coarse type and when you take a fist full of it when its moist, you shouldn't be able to squeeze any more than a drop or two of water out of it. Check the container every few days to make sure the vermiculite maintains moisture and to let fresh air into the container. Make sure you check the containers often when its close to hatching time and remove hatchlings as soon as they have hatched.

The sex of the hatchlings is determined by what temperature the eggs are incubated at. To produce females the eggs should be incubated at 80-83F degrees. To produce mostly males incubate from 85-88F degrees.

The eggs usually hatch out at about sixty days, depending on the temperature incubated at. The higher the temperature in the incubator the sooner the eggs will hatch but remember, the higher the temperature in the incubator the more males you will produce....and if the temperatures get too high or low you will kill the embryo.

The hatchlings will not feed until they have had their first shed, which usually takes about five days after hatching.


   

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