Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi!

So, I've mostly had furry animals and when mentioned to my dad I wanted to get a gecko he wasn't too sure. I have always loved reptiles, and have always wanted one. But my dad has never let me. They kind of freak him out. Anyway, I FINALLY convinced him that I could take care of a gecko. I have done research, I've talked to reptile owners/pet store people.

So, my story is basically, since I don't have to pay rent anymore (yay!) at least for the rest of the year, I decided I'm going to get myself a new friend. I have a cat at the house already, but I know better than to let her go unattended with my new pet. SO, I was trying to decide. I wanted a reptile, so I did some research of good ones for beginners. Milk snakes, Anoles, and Leopard Geckos were my main choices. Milk snakes are cool and snakes in general are awesome, but my dad would have a fit because they can grow up to six to 7 feet long. Anoles are pretty, but because of their size they aren't great for handling. So, I settled on a leopard gecko.

Before I go on to my questions for you guys, I want to share my experience with the pet stores I 'interviewed' while gathering information.
So, I called a few stores and asked them the 'usual' questions. "Are they taken care of in the store, are they bred/raised in captivity, how much are they, and basically any more information they could share with someone for their first gecko."

The one at (let's call it MallStore#1) answered my questions like this: Yes, they are looked after daily, and well cared for. They have specialists at the store that specialize in certain animals (small animals, cats and dogs, reptiles, fish etc). They do not support taking animals from the wild and they are always handled with care. $59.99. They are handfed so they are quite tame and used to human contact. Sweet, this store was a major plus on my list.

StoreA: Yes. Yes. $69.99. They're only babies. Okay, so this one wasn't as helpful.

MallStore#2: (first, I'm going to point out that every time I've been in this store I want to take every single animal home with me. They all look so sick and not-cared for. It actually brings a tear to my eye. I seriously want to have this place shut down. It's aweful.) I asked the first question: He hung up on me. Yeah, this store wasn't getting my vote.

So yeah, I'm going with MallStore#1. ^_^

Alrighty, here are my questions. Please forgive me.. they might sound stupid, but keep in mind it is my first reptile. And you probably know that you can't always get all the information you need from research.

Question number one: Something that has been bugging me for a while. It's about the crickets. (get it? Bugging? Ha.. >_> ) Anyway, how do you catch them? Like, I know you buy them at the pet store in a container of some sort, but how do you get them from their 'house' to the 'shake'n'bake' container, then into the actual aquarium? They're alive, right? So won't they jump around and be hard to grab and such?

Question number two: Heating. Do I absolutely NEED a Under the Tank Heater? It's getting close to the summer and the weather is nice. Is natural sunlight from a window good? Like, if the tank isn't 'heated' that's okay, right?

Question 3: I'm getting most of the stuff (hidey places, crickets, cricket feed and vitamins) the day I get my gecko. That's okay too, right? I've read that you should have the tank ready for your gecko as soon as you bring it home, heated over night and so on. Am I going to do anything wrong in doing in the other way?

Question 4: I got my tank second hand. It means a lot to the previous owner and he does not want it thrown out. However, it has a crack in it. It's not a serious crack, it's not sharp or anything and the tank isn't randomly going to shatter. But, to be safe, is it okay to put something against it? Like that nifty poster background you get for fishtanks? Just so if my gecko decides to lean on the glass it won't catch a toe or anything. I just want to be safe. I'll definately be getting a new tank when I can, though. This is only temporary.

So, yeah. That's all I can think of for now. If I think of anything else, I'll post it.

Input and personal experiences appreciated.

Question number one: i feed mine on meal worms find this a lot easyer n less chance of escape. a place them in a meal worm dish with the calcium already in insted of 2 seperate dish sprinkle vitamins every other feeding i buy them in bulk its cheaper, i sepearte them into small tubs with oats for them to be gutloaded and a peaice of potato for water, i keep a tub out and put the rest into a mini fridge (parents wont let me put them in the main fridge) a take the worms out one a week or so so they can eat when the first tub is running low i will just get another tub out the fridge. i do have 6 geckos n 2 other lizards so i do go through about a tub a week so u might not need to do this.

Question number two: i recomended a heatmat controlled by a thermostat as sun heat can over heat ur tank far to quickly and is hard to control the temperature also leopard geckos need bely heat as in the wild they absorb the heat from rocks after the sun goes down

Question 3: i picked my last gecko up as a rescue and ddnt have the tank set up before i got him as i didnt no i was getting him and he turned out fine very chubby n healthy now just make sure u have everythin as soon as u get it make a list so u dont forget n so u can work out a budget

Question 4: as its second hand i would give it a clean with reptile disinfectant. dont take that the wrong way not sayin ur mates unclean or out its just most lizards have differnet bacteria and they can be harmful to ur gecko, eg, a leopard gecko has different bacteria to a collered lizard n the collereds bactira could cause problems for a leopard gecko and also if another lizard has died in there it may still have germs in that may harm ur lizards. also the crack shouldnt be a problem my old tank had a crack in it i made sure the lizard couldnt touch it just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesnt get wirse n replace tank when u can

hope this helps