Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright, so I lost a good amount of my crickets, and ran out of food for my leopards. I figured this wasn't a huge deal, because I had a ton of superworms they could eat until I had more crickets.

So last night I went to feed again, and I found this.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/post4space/1-2.jpg

Are those regurgitated superworms?

Also, when I got both females, they were the same size. One of them has grown slightly larger than the other, and now seems to be aggressive towards her cagemate. She even tried to bite me last night. It doesn't happen too often (i'd hear them, i'm in my room a lot), but i'm torn on what to do. SHould I seperate them, or let them duke it out? I realize one could be bullied into not eating, and that's something to watch for, so there's always that. What would you guys do? If they're seperated, they're both going into 10g tanks.
-----
2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

Those definitely are regurgitated mealworms. It's probably cause by the too cold temperature. You need to bump up the temp somehow. What kind of heating system do you use? I find that if you cover the the screen lid with layers of towel, it helps keep in the heat better. That's what I do and my gecko never throws up eating lots of mealworms right now. What I find also work is to the raise the air temperature to 95 degree on the hot side. Using light bulb makes it easy to raise the air temperature. The wattage you use is dependant upon where you live and how cold it gets. You may need a higher wattage if where you live gets really cold, or you may need more than one heatlamps. When I say 95 degree, I mean it should be 95 or a little over 95 under the light. That should help with the mealworm digestion because they are higher in chitin than crickets. You should definitely look into the rack system since everything is well insulated...no screen top. Remember heat is lost through mostly the screen top because hot air rises. If yo have an open screen top and you use undertank heater, it may actually get too cold for digesting the food they eat because the colder air may actually lower the surface temperature. That's why the rack system works better because it traps in heat from the heat tape or heat mat; hence, the the surface temperature and air temperature is higher. That's why when it gets really cold and you have a screen top, you should look into getting supplemental heatlamp(s) to try to raise the air and surface temperature.

Hey, I just gave a heat transfer lecture on the crested board ... at least you get it. But one problem, the digestion is done via belly heat: that means the gecko is in direct contact with the substrate and UTH, air temp really has little to play. The resistance to heat movement within a gecko is a lot less than air, so more heat from the UTH "chooses" to move into the gecko than into the air. The heat paths don't fan out across the substrate, but try to get to the belly. Doesn't seem very intuitive unless you've studied electricity, which has the same concepts. Covering a enclosure will only send the currents around, but it can hold in humidity (heavier air).

95F at night seems rather high, which would be when I would be feeding, but I don't feed mealworms, so I'm out of my element here. I can tell you it was -18F last night here with a -30F wind chill, when you live on the top floor and a corner apartment it gets quite cold, but the 10/20 gallon UTH held its heat just fine with a screen top, for the reasons I said above. 86F at 5mm above the surface.

I would guess bullying is playing a bigger part than you realize. Could be either the larger one over gorged herself or the smaller one was so stressed it threw up any it was allowed. I guess, since I'm not a fan of rack systems since I prefer more interaction with my little "family", I would try separating them so they have their own food and own UTH. 10 gallon is OK for most geckos for their whole lives, it is just the spoiled ones like ours that "need" a 20. (Could also split your 20 and install another UTH if the first isn't too big. If that makes sense.)

Good luck.
-----
0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

It was a rush entry this morning, as I was late for Chemistry, so let's see if I can't fill in some holes.

Temperatures have been a bit colder than normal, and I havn't been turning on their light normally. I was going to try giving them a season this year, but that hasn't really worked terribly well. As for belly heat, they've got two 20g UTH heaters running right now (my temp gun is dead, so I can't figure out what they're running at), but at least there is something.

As for bullying, Violet has been a cranky girl lately. She even tried to bite me last night. Thing is, she's not nasty all the time. Now, the size difference between the two girls isn't extreme, but it can be noticed. They're both about 8 inches long, though Spaz is a good deal skinnier than her cage mate.

Spaz

Violet (the Rude)

I'm going to try giving them heat first, to see if that's the reason. I watch them feed every other night, so I know if food competition gets out of control. If the lamp doesn't solve the problem, i'll be seperating them, cage wise.

I should have come to expect this sort of thing by now. If it's not one of my animals, it's another. With the cresties finally eating CGD like they're supposed to, it's only fair that the leopards start having some kind of issue.

And, I know this is a crummy picture..but those aren't eggs, are they? She's not been with a male (at least since i've had her). Whadya think?

-----
2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

Okay, so maybe Violet is closer to 9 inches, but I do believe her tail is longer.
-----
2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

Well, isn't this just annoying of me.

The weight difference between Violet and Spaz is 11.7g.

Violet is tipping the scales at 58.7g, while Spaz weighs in at 47g. Not a HUGE difference, but difference none the less.
-----
2.2 Corn Snakes
1.2 Leopard Geckos
1.1 Crested Geckos
1.2 Green Anoles
1.0 Russian Tortoise
3.2 House Cats
0.0.1 African Millipede

RIP
Alice, Bruno, Lars

Think % wise, I'm guessing that is it, at least in part. Hard for me to tell from your pic, but if one of your girls has virgin eggs (completely normal) she could be producing some hormones or something to throw off what was once probably a friendship. I could tell you about PMS time in the girls' locker room, but that is more than most guys want to know, I wouldn't be surprised if something similar transfered into geckos, whether it be the gecko that is producing or the one that is not (maybe frustration.)

PS Good to hear the cresties are back on the CGD wagon. You want to take mine now? We left for a week and had some friends (who are leo people exclusively) so to make it easy we said just feed everyone the crickets we left. Sure enough, just as we sorta expected our crested is refusing to eat her CGD and "using her water bowl for uses not intended for" if you know what I mean. And I thought she loved me at least a little bit.

-----
0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock