Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im scared that:

1. my leopard gecko wont find my feeding dish
2. my leopard gecko wont drink/find my water dish
3. "" wont find/use my calcium dish
4. "" wont know how to use my moist hide
5. "" will attempt to eat my paper towel substrate

can anyone give me some calming stuff to settle me down?

p.s. of course i dont have a gecko yet

>>im scared that:
>>
>>1. my leopard gecko wont find my feeding dish
>>2. my leopard gecko wont drink/find my water dish
>>3. "" wont find/use my calcium dish
>>4. "" wont know how to use my moist hide
>>5. "" will attempt to eat my paper towel substrate
>>
>>can anyone give me some calming stuff to settle me down?
>>
>>p.s. of course i dont have a gecko yet

First off, it's good that you're asking questions before getting the gecko - that's definitely much preferable to having an animal and not knowing how to take care of it.

In answer to your questions, #1-3 are covered by the fact that a terrarium, realistically, is a very small place. A healthy gecko will go exploring right away (mine does this every time I put her back in hers after handling her), and therefore will find all three of those things. They will drink when they're thirsty, they'll eat calcium when/if they need it (mine rarely touches hers, but YMMV on that one, especially depending on how you supplement prey items), and as far as a food dish goes, I just have a really hard time believing that a hungry gecko won't find that.

#4 is not something to worry about; they know what's comfortable for them, and depending on ambient humidity levels, some of them will spend tons of time in the humid hide and others won't bother with it. Just make sure they've got the option available and they'll handle it.

#5 is really not something to worry about. Their feeding response is triggered by movement, and substrate doesn't move. Mealworms wiggle, crickets run around, paper towels lie flat. I promise you a gecko has no interest in eating paper towels. For that matter, they have no real interest in eating sand either; impactions happen when they accidentally ingest it with their prey items, which, given that paper towels lie flat, is not an issue with them.
-----
0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

My response-
2,3,4 are nothing to worry about. Your leo will find and use all of the above without any help from you.
As for the feed bowl, it is in the leo's best interest to remember where to find food, right? After you show him/her a couple of times, you may find them sitting in or on it when hungry, so that's no problem.
As for the paper towel issue- it is possible for a leo to swallow a small peice of a paper towel when eating. I have had several tear a peice off in the excitement of catching prey. Usually they spit it out pretty quick, and even if a leo does manage to eat a small peice of it, part of the reason pure white (no dye) paper towels is recommended is because the paper towels are pretty much digestable. It's really just fiber, and a MUCH easier type to digest than those hard incect skeletons. No worries there!
And I second post one- GREAT job for getting everything straight before bringing your leo home.
-----

1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 Leucistic rescue (Lucy?)
0.1 Tremper stripe from JMG (Delta)
0.1 SHCT hatched by me! (Blinky)
0.0.1 SHCTB hatched by me! (Sunny II)
0.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
Hatched: ~50 leos

thank you guys for answering my questions, i want the best possible habitat for my leo when it arrives so that it will live the best possible life i can offer it