Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just had a few questions....

i just got 2 leopard geckos the other day as juvilies. i keep them in a 20 gallon long tank.. with a water dish and a hide hut, and a climbing stick. is there anyything else i should have in the tank.. i hear people saying i need a bowl of calium? can someone help me explain.

also... i cant tell if they are eating. i've had them for 2 days now. i put 20 small crickets in the cage and i cant see if they are eating? can someone help me out. i know they are nocturnal and probably eat at night but i cant tell?

also, my female ( i have a male and female ) stays in the hiding hut i would say 90% of the time... even at night. is something wrong?

what temp should i keep the tank at?

at what else can i try and feed them to see if they are feeding. 20 small crickets are hard to count?

thanks steve

No problem and good luck with your new leos!

i just got 2 leopard geckos the other day as juvilies. i keep them in a 20 gallon long tank.. with a water dish and a hide hut, and a climbing stick. is there anyything else i should have in the tank.. i hear people saying i need a bowl of calium? can someone help me explain.
~you NEED a humid hide. this aids them in shedding. you can create this easily with a deli cup with a cut out part so they can enter, or cool whip container and so forth, and either put in wet paper towels orwet moss this should be good for about 2 days then needs to be re moistened. about every 2 weeks chaneg the paper towels/moss. the calcium dish is good when they feel the need for calium they will take some out of the dish i have seen them do this and it really works. you can create this from a lid from a jar, or other type shallow container. filled with calcium. also dust the crikets you are feeding every few days.

also... i cant tell if they are eating. i've had them for 2 days now. i put 20 small crickets in the cage and i cant see if they are eating? can someone help me out. i know they are nocturnal and probably eat at night but i cant tell?
~Make sure they are not in between hides and such, count them and see how many are there. it is kinda stressful to them to have crickets 24/7 so maybe just feed them a few and make sure they eat them all.

also, my female ( i have a male and female ) stays in the hiding hut i would say 90% of the time... even at night. is something wrong?
~she might not be acclimated yet a few of mine hide alot, but you really can watch them all night unless you dont sleep! so i bet she comes out when you are asleep. also do not turn on the lights or watch tv, just ekep everything off at night then you can see action.

what temp should i keep the tank at?
~The air temperature doesnt really matter but the ground temp should be around 85 degrees

at what else can i try and feed them to see if they are feeding. 20 small crickets are hard to count?
~you can try mealworms, or superworms
-----
Lauren
Leos and Uros

Hey,

Well the size of your cage is fine.. (actually maybe even to big, a 10 gallon is fine to..) As for what go's in the cage, you should really check out some care sheets, I have listed some here:

-Golden Gate Geckos

-Gecko Den

-Geckos By Design

Just go check those out, Also about the feeding, I dont think its such a good idear to put in that many crickets in at a time especially juve's, if you leave the crickets in they wont eat, it could stress them out.

And since you only have 2, You could do the same thing I do. I have 4 leopard geckos, and i just sepperate them when its feeding time, so i know exactly how mutch evryone is eating. Also it has been a good way for them to get used to me, I useally feed them the same time evry night, so when I come to feed them, there useally already out of there hides, and waiting for me..

But if you dont feel like/have the time to do that, I would just put in like 8 crickets evry night, you might even want to put in 10. since there still juve's. But just take out the ones they dont eat.