Hello all,



I had previously posted here about 2 leos that I adopted and were a little under the weather health wise, here is the old post for additional infromation:



http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=928432,928432



This is an update and then I have several questions I could use some help with:



Friday night I got both of them to eat between 5-7 crickets (dusted), 3-5 mealworms, and 2 butterworms each. They had orginally only had 1 hide, and I made another out of a butter dish. The female spent most of her time here, and the male in the dry hide.



Saturday night I made them another moist hide out of a clear square tupperware container and they ate about 3-5 crickets (dusted), 3-5 mealworms, and 2 butterworms. No one seemed to stay in the clear moist hide I had made them. They both used the restroom twice this weekend.



Sunday I was able to get them another hide, so they now have 2 rock formation hides on the cool end, and 2 moist hids on the dry end. That evening I found them both piled into the butter bowl, which has just enough groundspace for one to curl up in, so they were stacked. They seemed to sleep through the evening this time around, and didn't come out for feeding. The male emerged once, and ate a mealworm, and went back in the butter bowl with the female. It was so cramped! They both look alot better to me. This morning the were in seperate hides again.



Now for alot of questions.

1. Is there a reason anyone might think of that they do not want to use the clear moist hide? Do you think it is difficult for them to see it or the entrance? I got this one because it had more ground space for them, I was afraid the butter bowl was going to be too small. What should I do?



2. Should I be concerned that they are both stacking in this one hide?



3. I am buying a digital thermometer today to test the temps in the cage, I hadn't been able to find one yet. If I am using an UTH, do I set the probe on the floor to test the heat, or am I testing the ambient temperture on both sides of the cage?



4. Someone mentioned removing the female from the cage for now. They have been in the same cage most of their lives, and I'm not sure if this is necessary or not... They both appear to be lively and eating... what do you think?



5. I got these guys friday morning. Is it too early to start handling them to get them use to being picked up and what not. The previous owner said that they had been handled before and were very friendly, but the male seems to be startled easily and I don't want to add any extra stress to his life.



6. When I got them I removed the sand, but did not have anything on hand, including time, to disinfect the cage yet. I am picking up some chlorhexidine 2% today to clean their cage with, and am wondering if I shouldn't wait a few days to clean it so that they are not completely stressed out?



7. They were previously on green calci-sand, and I immediately noticed that some of the tips of their toes were green. My guess is that this might be unshed skin that has been turned green from the sand. I know several sites mention removed this with a wet Q-tip to avoid further infections. But as I have never before handled these guys or had leopard geckos, I have no idea how to get them to sit still and let me clean their toes! LOL Advice?



Sorry for the massive amounts of questions... new owner trying to do things right the first time around.



Thanks

Tania
-----
~~Tania~~

1.0 Chinese Water Dragon - Jake

1.1 Leopard Geckos - Chorky and Gilbey

1.0 Maltese Shi Tzu Mix - Mosley

RIP 1.1 Med. Geckos - Mary and Peter

[ Show Entire Thread ]