Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, i currently own 2 anole lizards. the thing about anoles, is i want a lizard that i can hold. if i try to handel my anoles, they will stress. I would like some help on if a leo is the right lizard for me. i would like something i can hold, something that will fit in my extra 10 gallon tank. also, do these bite often/at all? i called the local pet store, and they said thay had small ones (i'm guessing babies) for 30.00. also, what will i need to make the leo happy/comfortable. thanks for the help!
Matt
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Thanks,
Matt

Sounds like you are prepared...since you are smart enough to come here and ask for help BEFORE purchasing one
You can house a baby/juvie or 1 adult comfortably in a 10 gallon. I house all of my geckos seperately in 10 gallons, and 20 gallons for breeding purposes, and a few in rubbermaids.

You will need a heat pad, the tank of course..offer 1 hide box on each side of the tank (I use old baby wipe boxes b/c I have a 2 year old) and I put papertowels inside the box, and moisten one side each day. You want to moisten the side that has the heat pad under it. My tank temps are between 70-75 on the cool side, and 80-85 on the warm side. By far the best substrate to use is paper towels...some ppl have said newspaper..but ive never used it, im sure it would do just fine.

You will need a small water dish for babies, or a larger one for a juvie/adult. I refill mine every other day.
I put a small dish of calcium in all of my adults cages.

As for food, you can either feed them mealworms, or crickets...or both. Dust the crickets or mealworms (mealworms are a bit harder to dust, so I get them a little damp with a spray bottle before dusting them) with calcium 2-3 times a week. I prefer mealworms; easier to keep alive, and cheaper. You can also feed waxworms occasionally, but dont overdue it, only as a snack.

You can also feed pinkies occasinally, also something you dont want to over due..my adults get one 2 times a week.

As for obtaining a Leopard Gecko..there are many people on this forum who breed them and can give you a beautiful, healthy gecko for a GREAT price. Alot of pet stores do not care well for their animals, so I wouldnt recommend buying one at a store. I have only bought one gecko at a store (Petco)..and I guess I can say I got lucky because he turned out to be perfectly healthy, and I was willing to care for him and quarintine him.

Also..I recommend you buy The Leopard Gecko Manual..its a great book, and its very informative. You can buy it at almost any pet store, or online.
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Crystal Light
~The Gecko Barn~
thegeckobarn.no-frills.net

Awsome... thank you so much for the help. do you know of anyone that has a leo BABY that i could get on this forum? also, what about biting... are the leo's mean, or do they not bite at all? 2 more things... i have a calcium/D3 powder i use for my anoles... is this suitable for leos... and what is calcuim that you put in the cages for the adults. thank you so much for the help!
Matt
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Thanks,
Matt

Leos generally do not bite, but occassionally some while if your annoy them enough. But they are generally very tame and docile. I find Tremper albinos tend to be particularly docile. Blizzards have a reputation for being mean. But it sounds like you just want a normal, normals usually make excellent pets as well.

I would not recommend getting an animal at a place like Petco. While you can get lucky and get a healthy one on occassion it seems more often than not the leos are infected and either die or need vet care to be healthy.

Not sure where you live, but if reptile shows come near you that is a great place to buy a leo, or if you can locate a small hobby breeder near you that is good, and you can also order one and have it shipped- I know it sounds scary but this is done all the time and as long as the breeder uses proper overnight shipping and packing and doesn't ship in extreme heat, the animals are just fine. You can get juveniles this way as well. You can find geckos in the classifieds here on kingsnake, from some of the forum sponsors, and other breeders online. Shipping is usually around $35, but it is really a small price to pay when compared to the cost of even one vet visit, and also when you consider that a healthy gecko can be a companion for 20-30 years.

Advice above is generally good except I must note warm side temps should be 88-90° on the warm side, 80-85° as stated above is far too cold.

hi, i actually bought my leo from "thegeckobarn". she posts on here all the time... i have posted a pic of her above this post, and will post another also. thanks for the help!

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Thanks,
Matt
Owner of:
1.0.0 Brown (Bahaman) Anole
0.1.0 Green Anole
HOPEFULLY SOON
0.1.0 leopard gecko!!!

Interesting abberrant pattern, I'm sure it will make a great pet. Yoiu are to be congratulated as well for doing research BEFORE you bought the animal. Oh and you had asked eralier, yes leos do need calcium supplement. Make sure it is phosporus-free and be careful if it has D3. A little D3 is good but leos can get too much of it, probably best to have a nother supplement without D3 to be offerred in dishes, and use the D3 once a week or so to dust the crizx or mealies. Baby leos need a dish of pure calcium available at all times.

Congrats and I wish you and your gecko and long, healthy and happy relationship. Babies don't like to be handled, and may scream, but once they get a little bigger they will calm down and adults often seem to enjoy being handled, at least I find that with mine.

ok, thanks you very much !!! ill keep everyone updated on how she is!
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Thanks,
Matt
Owner of:
1.0.0 Brown (Bahaman) Anole
0.1.0 Green Anole
HOPEFULLY SOON
0.1.0 leopard gecko!!!

Your warm side temps of 80-85 are way too cold. Warm side temps should be 88-90°

The room I keep my herps in is generally kept pretty warm, if I upped my temps too much they would sky rocket b/c of the temperature in the room. Which is why my incubator is always set lower than the temp I desire.
Especially in this Texas heat!
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Crystal Light
~The Gecko Barn~
thegeckobarn.no-frills.net

www.goldengategeckos.com

you can buy your gecko from there,i got mien fromt here,great quality animals and the lady who breeds them is very very nice.also on that site you can read the care sheet,it coveres everything.

thanks alot adam, but i actually am buying from "thegeckobarn" she has helped me very much, and has a really cute baby for me. thank you very much though!
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Thanks,
Matt
Owner of:
1.0.0 Brown (Bahaman) Anole
0.1.0 Green Anole
HOPEFULLY SOON
0.1.0 leopard gecko!!!

Heres how I take care of my leos :-]

First off, you can keep a baby leo in a 10 gallon but I highly recomend getting a bigger tank for him as an adult, such as a 20long. The reason being they will not be so cramped, has room to roam and exercise and also more room for you to put cage stuff in :-]. As for heating a UTH (Under Tank Heater) works well, and you should use a termostat with it (this is so the UTH doesnt overheat)and the temps should be 88 on the warm side and 78 or room temp on the cool side. Since Leos are nocturnal you will not need any lighting.

For substrate I recomend paper towels or slate/tiles, this is so they cant get impacted on the loose substrates. He will also need two hides (one on the cool and one on the hot side)and he will also need a humid hide (which is one of the hide boxes filled with peat moss, bed a beast, ect) and keep moist, this helps them shed quite a bit and they can also get more humidity if they want. you should also two bowls, one for water and one for calcium powder, I highly recomend Minerall, or Reptocal. He will also need vitamins, herptivite is a good choice. These are too be dusted on his prey idems, say, the calcium every other feeding and the herptivite once a week.

For feeding, I use crickets, mealworms and superworms (only give the supers to adult leos) you can also use silkworms, and waxies/pinkies (these are treats, use very rarely) I ussually rotate between these food idems to give my guys some variety. Leos will do well on a stable of mealworms or crickets. Your feeders should also be feed well, I put my mealworms in a mix of oatmels, bran, grain cereal, wheat germ and sometimes powered milk. I also use a gutload formula found at www.gexfiles.com, this forumla is more optinal and many different people use different things. Also I feed my adults every other day and babies every day.

As for getting a leo, I strongly recomend going with a knowledgable breeder, there are many who post on this forum. This way you can get a healty leo, unfortunently many leos/reptile sold in pet store tend to be very unhealthy and sickly.

Also read as many caresheets as you can, the webpages at the top of the forum are good places to go and also pick up the Leopard Gecko Manual :-], and good luck!