Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought my first pair of leos on Sunday. Right now they're residing in a 58 qt sterlite container with a hid on the cold side and a moist hide on the hot side. I have one of those double dish dogfood bowls, one side water, one side mealworms and calcium. I also have a uth set at about 90. Is this a suitable setup? Anything sound like it needs changing?

Also, I haven't noticed either leo eat anything. How long can they go without food and how long before I start worrying? I think they're both about 3 1/2 months old. The female usually stays in the hide on the cold side(which is around 74* F) and the male generally stays in the moist hide(which is around 88* F)

As I stated before this is my first pair of leos and I don't know if I'm neelessly stressing. Anyone that can help a new owner out please do so.

spec

Your set-up sounds right, but i'd add more hides on both the cool and warm side of the enclosure. As long as your geckos aren't loosing weight you shouldn't worry, but try to get them to eat asap. Try handfeeding or dropping the mealworms or what ever food item you have, infront of your leo. Also, i would suggest that you separate them as soon as they start showing signs of sexual maturity because it's not healthy for them to breed at a young age. Hope this helps.
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Just Another Herp Crazy Person

~Allan~
My Photos
1.2.2 Leopard Geckos - Lea, Cleo, Helios, 2 un-named and going to be sold
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon - Luna
1.0.0 Fire Skink - Blaze

Also you said you were using a doggy dish, have you seen them use it. it may be to high for them to see in or use. you need a very low shallow water dish and I use a clear flat sided ash tray about 3/4 or 1 inch high for a food dish. they can see the movement in it and will fiquire out how to climb in to get to the food. maybe you have a very low profile one but the ones i picture would prob be to high. just a thought, good luck.
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My posts and replies are my experiences only
1.2.6 Tokays
1.4.5 Leos(8 albino)
0.2.0 AFT's
0.2.0 Stenodactylus Petrii(Dune Geckos)

actually they are able to climb into it very well.
A few minutes ago I actually caught him out of his hide and he was lying in the water side. The female doesn't seen to be very active though. I still haven't noticed them eating any of the mealworms. Do you think a more shallow dish might help?

spec

I would also recommend a shallow feeding dish. I use very shallow lids, the only problem is some mealies get out of the dish. I don't consider it a big deal, but some don't like loose mealies in their tanks. My advice is this, the easier it is for your geckos to see their food the more likly they are to eat. Mine are very movement oriented, they tend to ignore the mealies until they move. You can also try putting one in front of them, once they see movement their hunting insticts usually kick in. Also, they might not know that mealies are food. When I first introduced mealies to my bunch, they didn't know what to make of them. I hope this helps.
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Mommy of 6 Leopards
Milo(my male) Mongo, Raptor,and Spaz
My babies Popeye and Boo(named after Monster's Inc. Character)
2 Dogs
Baby a Peekapoo and Meshu a terrier mix
And a Cat named Mr. Kitty

You might want to try separating the calcium and mealworms. I have one leo who refuses to eat anything that's heavily dunked in calcium powder. The calcium you could just put in something really small, like a clean jar lid. Also, my leos tend to walk in their containers. I've seen mealworms get caught in their foot and end up in the water, so it might not be a good idea to keep the food and water so close to each other.

I agree with Marcia that you should add more hides. Put them all along the thermal gradient, so your leos can pick where they want to hide. Also, make sure the humid hide is either big enough for the both of them, or have two humid hides.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...