Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Every since I've had my bliz (he is full grown now) for the most part he stays a dark color. What raised my concern is when my friend kept him for me in the pass my bliz always turns this bright color. Is it something that I'm doing or not doing that makes him stay a dark color with me but turns a bright color with my friend? I have checked the heat I have the lights on timers blah blah blah. I even went as far as changing he diet a little.

Thank you in advance

My first thought is, what's different from what you do compared to what your friend does? Are all conditions the same as when it's at home? Something obviously makes him happier at your friends home LOL. Also, could you be more specific about your set up? Temps warm side cool side, hides etc., etc.

Quig

I would say if you have the setups exactlly the same, then you may want to look at your house. Room temp, natural light coming in, air quality. Any furry critters, smoking, amount of traffic in the room the leo is being kept, anything that might be different in each house?
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6.16.1 Leos
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okay this is the deal with my set up.

I have 2 lights day/night (just for viewing) and an under tank heater all are on timers. I leave for work before day light I have a lot of window so I open the blinds to make use of the natural like. The under tank heater turns off 3 mintes after the day light comes on at 7:30am. The night heat lamp turns on 3 minutes before before the day heat lamp goes off at 5:30. The under tank heater comes on 10 minutes before the night heat lamp goes off at 12am. The temp reading in the tank during the day can range from 85-95 at night it range from 75-80.

I have carpet with a double layer on the side that the under tank heater is on. This does two things limits any possible problems and makes a quick poop clean up between my bi weekly cleaning of the tank.

I have a shed box and 2 hides one hide is in the center of the tank and the next is at the far end of the tank.

water, food and call dish......

AS far as food the bulk of his diet is crickets and mealworms. I throw in a waxworm one in a while. I give him 2 pinkies every 2 weeks (boy does he love them)

He eats well doesn't turn down food unless full he is active so i'm not worried about that. I have seem him breed so I know he is okay in that department. His offsring looks great and eats like babe so... I'm more looking at his color being that i have seen him look better. A few months ago him to the vet for a nonrelated issue I ask the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong with him.

Have you thought of mold or mildew in your house that might not be in your friends? No offence.

umm i have thought about airborn stuff but my house isn't dry dry but on the dry side

Mold and mildews like humidity, not dry. How old is your house?

From what i gather this apt building is like 40 years old but for the most part I keep my place up

40 years is a long time for stuff to grow. Hold old is this guys house? You say your other geckos are fine? I wonder if geckos can have allergies...?

well you still didnt mention what might be different between your buddies house and yours, but i say get rid of the lights and just use the windows and i try to keep all my leos at about 92 degrees all day long and night but it does drop to about 88 on the warm side. also it all depends on were the hide box is and the heat pad. you want their hide to be at 90-92 degrees and the floor around it. and cool side should be around 80-82. im sure you know all this already but what do you use to read your temperature and where is it located? if it is one of those sticky clock like thermometers, those s**k. you would need something better. do you want the temp of the glass or go you want the temp of the substate? yes, you want the substate temp. okay im done blabing but what kind of powder do you use to dust your crickets? that could be a big factor. normally when my patternless girls are dark they are cold. they arnt anything special with genetics so they are always a little dark though.

The only thing that stands out that is different about his place and my place is he lives in a house I live in an apartment. The shed box sits right over the heat pad. As far as telling the temp we both use the same thing. I also have 4 other leos and they look great. Now what I have noticed about him is when I feed him a pinky his color gets a little brighter. I'm sure he is getting enough food cause i don't feed him everyother day or anything like that. I keep food in the tank so he can eat when he wants to. All of my leos never miss a meal.. they are big eaters. Now as far as the cal I use Jurassic cal.

well im not to sure what jurassic calci is but is it formulated with other vitamins as well or is it just a calcium supplement? if it is just a calcium you should maybe try mixing in something like "leopard gecko dust" by T-rex.

Just a calcium dust. I will try the mix and see how it works.