Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there. I've recently purchased a leopard gecko hatchling and I know that humid hides are essential so the little guy can shed his old skin, but I'm confused as to the best way to set one up. So heres my question: What exactly do you use for a humid hide? Please be as detailed as possible.

I use small Rubbermaid containers with a hole cut out on top and use paper towels for hatchlings and some adults. I also use Bed-A-Beast for the females as their egg laying container. Paper towels are easy to clean up but it dries out quick so I need to mist it daily whereas Bed-A-Beast retains moisture to keep the hide humid, it's a bit messy compared to paper towels and more expensive.

Rubbermaid/Glad disposable sandwich containers... Try to find "off" brands, as they are cheaper and usually with them the sides are opaque.

I use a soldering iron to "cut" the door out. For substrate I use damp papertowel folding into fourths.

There are many other containers you can use... old margarine tubs, coolwhip tubs, etc... I need large quantities of humid hides regularly and the disposable sandwich containers have been the best thing I have come across so far.
-----
-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, W.Hognose and Screaming AFT's

I actually have one of those.
-----
chickabowwow

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

The best tool hands down for poking smooth airholes into plastic tubs and for "cutting" smooth entrances.

It's a life saver =)
-----
-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, W.Hognose and Screaming AFT's

You can make it as complex or as simple as you would like. A simple one would be to take a completely cleaned large butter container and put the lid on it. then cut out a square entrance and exit for the leopard gecko and then fill it with vermiculite, moss, or slightly moistened paper towls (vermiculite works best due to mold issues). As long as this area remains humid, the gecko will do as good as gold, shedding wise.

i use the medium sized driftwood from the petstore... it's an upside down U that looks like it came from a tree i lay down moss or wet paper towels at the bottom to help with humidity and shedding

i attached a picture below.

aimee

-----
1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Melvin)
1.0 Black Lab / Pitbull mix (Mikey)
1.0 Blue Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)

i have a clean jelly bean jar and i lined it with paper towles and i moisten in each day

-----
~~~~~~~HEATHER~~~~~~~

...are the empty 100ct mealworm containers they sell at the petstore. Butter containers and plastic Ziploc/Glad containers work well too, but even the smallest ones will seem big to a baby leo.

Cut a hole on the side. Don't make the hole big, just enough for the baby leo to go in. You can guess based on the size of its head. I use moist peat moss as the medium for my humid hides. You can buy a huge bag of it at Home Depot for $3. Pack it down so it's not loose. Then put the lid on and place the hide on the warm side.
-----
chickabowwow

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

mostly sour cream containers. They are large enough. Bronx was so tiny when i got him that i started using a smaller Cream cheese containter. He loves it. Dot doesn't use her whip cream container so i might try the smaller cream cheese one for her too. I use paper towels and wet them.

Red
-----
Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)
2.0 bettas

Ok I'm still new at this so you can put as much wieght into my opinion as you like. But what I did was buy one from my local petsmart store. It only cost like 6 bucks and its thick plastic, so it stays pretty humid and I won't have to worry about the plastic cracking or breaking. As for substrate I use a damp paper towel and I keep a small spray bottle by his tank so I can moisten it when needed. Like I said I'm still new so...yeah. Anyways, have fun with your new leo. I know I'm already in love with my little Sobek!

I've never seen a humid hide at petsmart. What's it look like? For Ginger, I'm using a coolwhip container, but Tang & Geo were my first leos, so they got the pricey magnetic caves that go on the side of the tank. They both LOVE them & rarely come out! I just put a damp papertowel at the very end of the tunnel.
-----
0.3.0 leos, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
0.0.5 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton & Olivia Newton John
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

It just looks like a litte cave kinda a red sandstone look too it, its pretty big, it'll last till he gets full sized I think.