Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone. Most of you don't know my situation, here's the basic deal:

I adopted two female leopard geckos who were seized from a pet store in the New Jersey area. They had been at the shelter for a period of time, so it seems that any problems from their abuse was cleared up. They're both sisters, they get along great. Right now they're in only a ten gallon. (I was originally planning to adopt just one gecko but I couldn't let one stay and the other go and maintain a clean concious) I have a 20 gallon long (30 x 12½ x 13" that I've bought, I'm just finishing up a stand I refurbished for it. They have a UTH (just a human heating pad, set on medium... It's sort of hard to get tempratures since most of the heats coming from the bottom, but it does feel warm enough to be in the digestable range. So, that's the basic situation.

How much should they be eating? They're ~6-7 months old, both female. Neither dominates in terms of food, or anything else for that matter. I put in crickets around 7PM, and when I get up the next morning I remove any leftover crickets, so they're not at a lack for food. I tried mealworms, but they won't eat them, maybe when they're older I'll try to switch them over. Also, how often should I use a vitamin supplement? (Not just regular calcium D3)

Secondly, how do I control them when being handled? They tolerate handling for short periods of time, but I'm not sure how I'd control them if they tried to go crawl on my back like my beardie tries to do. I'm afraid to try things because I don't want them to drop their tails while struggling to get free. Is there any sort of point I can gently apply pressure to so they can't go and run off?
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Zeo)
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos (Vienna, Unnamed)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever, Rocky, 10 years young

I do not know how many crickets they should eat. But my leopard gecko is around that age and ate 40 mealworms the other night. He probably won't eat that many again, but he hadn't eaten for awhile. Well about handling you can pick them up by there side by gently and only for a second cause most geckos dont like that. They will usually eat until they aren't hungry.

Don't know if that will help you at all. But hopefully it will.

Crickets should be dusted with calcium every other feeding, You should also put a little milk jug lid of calcium for them to have whenever they want it. Crickets should also be dusted with a multivitamin once a week.
As far as handling them. I try to scoop them up rather than just grabbing them. I have never experienced them dropping a tail so I don't think they do that easily.
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You can never have just one gecko. Actually it is almost impossible to have two
My Geckos