Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I've never had reptiles before, so this is all new to me. I've already read alot from some of you breeders' sites and caresheets so have a good understanding of leos. I'm getting a gecko this Saturday at the reptile show here. I already bought a UTH, multivit and a calcium supplement, hides, peat moss for humid hide, and a thermometer and humidity gauge, cover for tank, and am going to use a 15W bulb to provide a little extra heat if needed. I have a few questions. One, I'm using newspaper as my substrate, so how thick/how many layers should I use? Another question is where is a good place to store your crickets and other live foods? The gecko is going to stay in the bedroom but I'm worried about the smell from its food. Another question is is it okay to feed your gecko grasshoppers if you pull the legs off, and other insects as treats if you're sure the source is safe (ie free from pesticides, etc.)? Thanks sorry for long post and let me know if i should do anything diffrently.
Heather

Since I am only going to have one gecko, is it best just to buy crickets and mealworms from a local pet store and other places that sell live bait? Thanks for any replies.

Sounds like you have everything you need, except for one thing. You need a thermostat or rheostst for your UTH. Without one, they can get up to 110 degrees and burn your pet. You want the ground temp to be around 90 degrees. Adjust the thermostat until it reads around 90. You dont need a light, but its fine for a little extra heat to heat the air with.
Crickets generally dont stink that bad if you keep the cage clean. I for one, HATE crickets. A better alternative is mealworms. Alot easir to keep clean and they dont chirp. Another good staple food is superworms. These are like mealworms, but alot bigger and mean little things. Just a couple alternatives besides crickets, most people dont like these, especially when they escape in you house.
If your only getting one gecko, it would be fine just to get your gecko food from a petstore every week or so. thats what I do, since I only have two geckos. The only problem I find is stuff sells out fast at my petstore so half the time i have to get something besides what i came for.
hope this helps
Mac

I use two layers of paper towel to cover the entire bottom of my enclosure. I personally don't want ink rubbing on the bellies of my geckos. I mean, I don't think it would hurt them, but still. Since your leo will establish one corner to be its bathroom, you can just put an extra layer there for easy removal instead of having to replace the entire substrate everytime there's poop.

Looks like you have what you need, except you don't really need a humidity gauge. You want the humid hide to be the only humid part of the tank, and it's not necessary to monitor the humidity in there. If anything, you just don't want it getting too hot in there so you'll only part of it positioned directly over the UTH.

Store your feeders anywhere that's a comfortable room temperature. Superworms don't need to be refrigerated. I keep them in my room (all 1000 of them lol) because they're quiet and don't smell. I store my crickets in another room out of my cat's reach. Buying your feeders from a petstore is fine. But during the winter, the petstores do run out. You will quickly learn where all the nearest Petcos and Petsmarts are. lol I would recommend buying your crickets from the store once a week, and maybe ordering the superworms or mealworms online. You don't want to buy crickets in bulk because they're more maintenance, more stink, more noise, and most of them will die before you get to use them. But mealworms and superworms have a longer shelf life.

I've heard that other bugs are good to feed once in awhile. They even sell grasshoppers in Asia (and I think Europe?). But if you catch them from outside, they're more likely to carry parasites. I think if you really want to improve your leo's diet, you can achieve that by changing the gutload you provide to your feeders.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...

I forgot to add that you do need a rheostat or thermostat. This will allow you to adjust the temp of the UTH. Otherwise, it will heat to the max, which will likely be dangerously too hot.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...

OK thank you both for the help. I will look for a thermostat/rheostat. Do they have reasonable ones at hardware stores? Also, how exactly do they work? And as for the humidity gauge, the thermometer came with it, so i figured it couldn't hurt

Rheostats are $20 at Petsmart. Or you can buy them online (reptiledirect.com or petguys.com are the cheapest sources I've found). You plug the UTH into the rheostat, and then the rheostat plugs into the outlet. The rheostat's got a dial that goes from Low-Med-High.

Thermostats are $30 and up at Petco. A probe goes into your tank, and then you select what temp you want to maintain. It will automatically adjust the UTH.
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Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams...