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I am setting up a tank for a leopard gecko I'm going to be getting (hopefully) in the next week. It's a 20 gallon long aquarium with a screen top and the picture backing on the sides. I am using newspaper on the bottom of the tank. For a hide on each side I used a plastic container with a hole cut out in the side so it can get in and I put some moss in there so I can mist it daily so it stays nice and humid. I have a water dish, food dish, and a dish for vitamins/minerals. I also have a rock and a branch for it to play on. I am going to heat from above with a ceramic heat emitter. Does all this sound OK to you experienced keepers out there?
What I am wondering about is the food and vitamins. I can get pretty much any kind of feeder insect from my local petstore, and plan to feed the leopad gecko different kinds of gutloaded insects. I am wondering what do I dust the insects with and how much? Also I read about keeping a dish of calcium in there for them to eat as well so they have enough calcium in their diet. Can they eat to much of it and get sick or posibly die from too much calcium? Also is there a gecko calcium or is it just ground up people calcium?

Thanks for reading. Sorry it is kind of long. I just want to have a happy healthy leopard gecko.
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Tim W
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0.1 Dumeril Boa "Visara"
0.1 Domestic Housecat "Kiki"

Sorry I don't have much time so this is rather short. This web site is amazing and I think it will answer all of your questions.

www.drgecko.com

Here is where it talks about what vitamins you should use and when you should use them. Personally I alternate T-Rex leopard gecko dust and pure calcium carbonate.

http://www.drgecko.com/supplementation.htm

Here is where you can find out about over or under supplamenting with vitamins.

http://www.drgecko.com/vitaminmineral.htm

Here you can find out all about the leopard gecko housing requirements. Everything in your set-up sounds pretty good to me but I'm reading fast so I might have missed something.

http://www.drgecko.com/house.htm

Good luck with your leopard gecko

Lisa
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0.1 Hypo Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Blizzard Leopard Gecko
1.0 Albino Pacman Frog
1.0 Lovebird (Tony)
1.0 Elkhound Cross (Otto)
0.1 Malamute Cross (Paris)
6.0 Bettas

>

We have 24 leos and we keep a dish of calcium in their cages at all times. I don't think they can eat too much. Most of the time it doesn't look like they touch it. We had two babies hatch and we are guessing that the mom wasn't eating enough calcium and they were born with MBD, they looked like they were walking on their elbows. Now they are doing much better and they have calcium in their cages at all times. We also put calcium powder in the gutload as well for those who won't eat the calcium powder. Hope this helps, and by the way you can buy calcium at your local pet store as well or at least everyone I've been to has it.

1.5.1 Tangerines
0.3.0 Albinos
3.0.0 Albino hets
0.0.1 Tangerine Albino
1.3.0 Normals
0.1.0 Circleback
0.1.0 Stripe
1.0.0 Giant Albino
0.1.0 Albino het giant
0.1.1 Patternless
0.1.0 Jungles Albino Giant

I have heard that the geckos may try to lick the newspaper and get poisond bye the ink. Also be sure that there is at least one DARK hide in the tank. Both of the hides shouldnt be misted, Only one. Also do you have a UTH?
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I have a new leo named Mr.Crowley. He lives in a 20 gallon long tank all by himself. Here is a picture of him if you go to the url below...
http://www.sighost.us/members/theozzmaster/mr.crowley.jpg

Yes I have an UTH I was going to use heat emitter on one side and UTH on the other if it wasnt hot enough. Does it matter which hide I mist? I'd guess the hot. I heard to use newspaper or paper towels for babies, they eat sand and gravel. Maybe I will just use paper towels.
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Tim W
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0.1 Dumeril Boa "Visara"
0.1 Domestic Housecat "Kiki"

Papertowel is a good choice.

You will want to keep all your heat on the same end of the tank so that you will have a warm side and a cool side allowing your leo to thermoregulate. Also yes the humid hide is on the warm side. I am so glad you are researching prior to purchase. It says a lot about you.
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Cheryl

Yeah I research stuff before I get it, I rent so I cant be flushing dead animals down the toilet and clogging it or digging up my backyard every week to bury them.
Seriously though Im not running a slaughterhouse or disposable pet show.
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Tim W
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0.1 Dumeril Boa "Visara"
0.1 Domestic Housecat "Kiki"

n/p
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Cheryl