Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I'm setting up for my leopard. I'm adopting a two year old unknown-gender leopard gecko. Now, I have most of my cage set up. My current setup:

- Ten gallon tank
- One hide spot on what'll be the humid side, and I'm in the proccess of coating everything with butter so I have something for a hide spot on the warmer side.
- A small dish
- Reptile carpet for substrate
- A small light w/ a nocturnal bulb to keep the heat up at night

Now, some questions...

Are two hide spots really neccessary? I'm hearing some say one, some say two.

Also, calcium. If I dust my crickets, should I still offer a dish of calcium? And how often to dust crickets? Every other feeding? Also, how often should the crickets be dusted with a multivitamin?

You need at least two hides. This is based on the assumption that if your leo is going to shuttle between the warm and cool sides, he's got to have a place to hide on both ends, with the humid hide being on the warm side. That's at the very minimum.

In my ten gallon tank, I can fit two dry hides and two humid hides. I posted a picture so you can see how it looks. I only stuck the second humid hide in, because my leo was gravid and really had a desire to dig at the time. She seems to really like having it there, so I never bothered to take it back out. I spoil her. She doesn't even have to step out in the open to walk into her humid hides.

Dust your food, but leave calcium in there, too. Just a small cap (from a gatorade or minute maid bottle) will suffice. Since your leo is already an adult, you don't need to dust as often, probably only twice a week.

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chickabowwow

3.2 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)
and 3 eggs a' cookin'