Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have just purchased 2 baby Lepoard Geckos (approx 3 inches or so). Did all the required reading, and have setup a 10 gallon tank (temp until they are larger, then they will be moved to a 25 gallon). Have 1 Heat Pad and 2 75 Watt incandesants (moonlight). Temps (Hot area) Range from 80-90, and (cool) 75-83. I have setup multiple hides in all areas and have a great humid hide in the middle (half in hot and half in cooler). One of the LG's has already had one successfull shed since I have had him (1 week).

Couple o' questions....

1) I am feeding a mixture of live crickets (Gut loaded with LG poweder, and carrots), and Meal worms dusted with the same powder. I have noticed that the Meal worms are not being eaten now, and that they primarily are going after crickets. Is that normal

2) The moonlight bulbs in the incandescents are supposed not to screw up their day/night cycles, but they both are not very active and tend to stay in their various hides. Is that also normal??

Thanks for your help!

SH

I do not use lights/reflectors for my geckos because they are in my room which has 5 windows in it, and they allow the sunlight to pour into the room, so that their day/night cycles are actually managed by the natural light outside.

All of my leo's have been eating mealworms for the past few months, and only mealworms. I have been told, though, that younger leo's like crickets more because they move more than any of the mealworms do. If you want them to eat the mealworms, then gutload them with whatever you prefer (I use oatmeal, powedered milk, and baby ceral with whatever fruit I have on hand for moisture which is either an apple or a pear, and a the only vegtable that I use is carrots.) Then, after they have been in the container then get a pair of tweezers (if you use your fingers they may not distinguish the mealworm from the rest of your finger ) and pick the mealworm up by the head, so that it will not bite at your gecko while you hold it infront of them. Usually the mealworm will flail around and your gecko will readily gobble it up. If it does not move, just shake your hand from side to side so that the mealworm looks like it is moving, and it will intice them to eat. Also, make sure that the mealworms aren't to large for your geckos. If they are babies, I suggest to use the smaller mealworms. Although it will take more for them to get full, it limits the ammount of impaction (which I have heard caused from mealworms) and the "Eyes Larger than the Stomach" syndrom, lol. If they are juvi's, use the medium mealworms, or what I buy for my juvi is the "Great Mealworms" or something like that, from PetCo. And for my adults I buy the "Super Mealworms" which they love. Make sure to dust the mealworms with calcium for the babies/juvi's every to everyother feeding. And for the adults everyother feeding if you don't just add the calcium directly to the gutload, which I do, and still lightly dust them for the juvi to make sure that he gets enough calcium. Also, when they are adults you can leave a bottle-cap full of the calcium supplement in the enclosure with them, so that they can lick at it whenever they want. Just make sure that you NEVER use CALCI-SAND. BAD BAD product and can lead to impaction because the geckos lick at it because it has calcium distributed throughout the sand, and end up eating the sand and causes impaction which could lead to the death of your gecko.

Hope this helps, lol
-----
1.1.0 Leopard Geckos
2.1.0 Chihuahuas
2.1.0 Rottweiler Mix
1.0.0 Siamese Cat
1.1.2 Dwarf Hamsters

Josh
----------------------------------

1) My male used to do this aswell. They're more attracted to the movement of the crickets then the mealworms who dont move as much. I just fed my male crickets until he was big enough for supers, since he'd be more willing to eat if it was crickets. If you want you dont need to feed crickets, they wont starve them selves if you offer mealworms and not crickets. For variety you can give them crickets every once in a while, or you can just feed a staple of crickets, which ever is fine.
2)Since they're new they might just be nervous about the new home, i wouldnt worry about this at all. They might be coming out when your asleep too.
Later
Mac