Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a new baby albino gecko today. Looks to be about 3.5 inches or so. He is in his new setup. Temp is hovering between 89.1 and 90. Is that ok? What is the maximum? Last time I think I was told above 93, action really needs to be taken. He was an upside down plastic bowl and coconut for hides. Paper towel as substrate. How can I keep it slightly humid? Warm or regular hide? I am worried dampening the paper towels will soak through to bottom giving him to much heat.

TIA
Matt

Congrats on the new baby! As for the humidity, the only humidity it will need is a humid hide box placed on the warm side of the tank. Instead of an upside down bowl you can use a small butter bowl with a lid, turn it upside down and cut a hole in the top that's plenty large enough for your gecko to get into. This will keep your papertowel substrate dry and the moist hide moist. When you cut the hole in the top of the butter bowl it's a good idea to then go around the hole you cut with a small file or something such as that to be sure there are no sharp edges that could cut your little one. The temps on the warm side should be no higher than 93 at the very most, I don't go above 92 with mine. Hope that helps, enjoy that little one!

Thanks for the tips. I added some paper towel and now the temp hovers between 87 and 88. I will do the upside down butter container. Do I need to use moist moss inside it or are their other options also? I am guessing crickets should be its staple diet right now? How many a day? Should I offer mini mealworms also?

Thanks

I use moist papertowel in the humid hide for little ones. Later on if you want to change to moss you can, but unless you want to breed her/him (?) I would stick with the moist papertowel even then. As for their food I use a combination of small crix and mealies, be sure that you gut-load them so your little one gets it's vitamins from them. That's VERY important. You will also need to put a small dish of calcium powder in the tank for your leo to have access to whenever it wants. Also, I recommend that you "shake and bake" the crix, put a small amount of calcium powder in a baggy, add crix and shake them gently to coat them with the calcium powder then give them to your leo. About once a week do the same thing except this time coat them in gecko vitamin powder. Hope this helps, any more questions feel free! Fran

Slightly Concerned here... I put 3 crickets and some mini meal worms in his tank last night. He ate I think 3-4 meal worms that were put in front of him. He however doesn't seem that he is interested in hunting the crickets. I removed them this morning. Also he has not gone to the bathroom since I got him Friday. Should I be concerned? I am worried he isn't eating enough. Also he wont eat meal worms put in a little dish, only ones fed in front of him.

You don't have anything to worry about. It's completely normal for a leo to not eat or not eat much when you first bring them home. Give him a few days to get settled into his new home and get use to his new surroundings. If he's not interested in the crix right now that's no big deal. The fact that he's eating mealies that you put in front of him is fine, as he gets a bit bigger he'll probably start eating them out of a dish. Some leos just like to be hand fed at times also I have 9 adults and 14 eggs incubating (can't wait for them to start hatching ) and have found that leos can have different food preferences just like lots of other animals. One of my males will only eat crix occasionally but chows on superworms. The girls wont' touch superworms, they prefer crix and giant mealies. A couple won't touch mealies, will only eat crix. I'm betting that your little guy will have an increase in appetite soon. The major thing to remember is that he must have belly heat in order to digest his food well so be sure that you're measuring your temps on the floor of his cage and not air temps. Also, has he pooped yet, and what kind of substrate was he on when you purchased him? So long as he wasn't on sand you should have nothing to worry about. If he was on sand and hasn't pooped then it could be a bit of a problem. Be sure and let me know.

there are other options I just use paper towels and just mist them works just as well ( mist morning and night )
i use crickets as staple ,
it depends i would say give 5 crickets at a time ? and if they want more give them it ( also remember to put pure calcuim on the crickets too , you can offer mealies too
( also to if you dont know what size crickets to get you can measure in between your geckos eyes .. for a size for her/him

Quick update! He did poop a little bit last night. Or at least it seemed little to me. He was on sand when I got him but I have him on paper towels. Ate about 4 mini meal worms tonight. So I am guessing its good he is at least eating something. Whats the max size meal worms a approx 3.5 inch gecko can eat? I have mini meal worms and regular but the regular seem to big to feed him. Thanks for all the advice!

It's great that he's eating the mini-mealies. At 3 1/2" I'd stick with the minis for at least a few days, that seems pretty small to give regular size mealies to. But then again those little ones can surprise ya. I've seen two "general rules" on the size feeders to give them, one is nothing bigger than the space between their eyes and the second being nothing longer than the length of their head. Is his tail fat? As small as he is I'm doubting that it's very fat as he's too young but it shouldn't be very thin either. Also, be sure to check that he poops pretty well everyday. As he was on sand when you got him you'll need to watch for signs of impaction for a week or so to be sure that he didn't ingest too much of the sand. So long as he's eating and pooping then he'll be fine, just getting acclimated to his new surroundings. You might offer a couple of small dusted crix every 2-3 days and see if he starts to show interest in them. Keep me posted on how he's doing! (I had my first two hatchlings today, am SO thrilled!! They're so tiny and their colors are awesome, I'll get pics posted in a few days Fran