Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently posted some questions on the general forum and got some great advice about good starter geckos. So I've decided that a Leopard would be a good first choice. Have even found some nice ones at a local reptile store. The problem is the amount of totally conflicting info on care. I have been doing a ton of research and my head is spinning. For example, some suggest reptile{Jurrasic I think} sand as substrate, others say no, it terrible and cause impactions. They say use paper especially for young Leos.. Next person says reptile carpeting, next source says nope, too dangerous could hurt feet. Acck... I'm going nuts here. Same thing with heat sources. Overhead bulbs? Under cage heating? Both? One store uses a black light 24 hours a day, saying it gives heat without light stressing them out. Can someone point me to the best place to find proper care requirements? I'm dying to get started but every single person that I have spoken with and every care sheet that i have read,has a different opinion. Thanks so much for any advice.
PS is $25 a reasonable price for a first Leo? I like the flashy ones that cost more, but since I'm new with this and all....

There is a large debate on which substrate to use. For young leos(under 6 inches) use paper towel or tiles as the substrate. For leos above 6 in. sand is ok, but many will say it will cause impactions. It is really up to you. I dont use sand, but that is manly because of the hassle of it, I would say use ceramic tiles(buy at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.). This can be used for leos of all sizes, and it looks good. For heat, use an Under Tank Heater(uth). Make sure the uth is hooked up to a rheostat so that it doesnt get too hot. The perfect temps on the warm side would be around 88-90 degrees, and about 75-80 on the cool side. Good luck with your new leo and ask any q's you may have...
-----
Josh
My Email

Wow!
Leos for $25. That's really good. I live in VA, and got my two for $45 each. What area are you looking at? :O)
GeckGirl

i agree with everything josh said.
ultamitly it is up to you i use the outdoor carpet as a substrate in my cages the kind that isn't looped. i don;t like ppaertowels cause i want my cages to look natrual (paper towles is for sweater box racks IMO) tilesare heavy but look real nice
and sand if you wanna use it is up to you but just know that more than one gecko has died from sand impactions, however probably there are exponentail numbers living on sand that haven't

mat

remember these few things
belly heat/humid warm hide/dry cool hide/don;t feed nothing bigger than leos head
88-90 warm side 75-80 cool side let her rip

I remember when I started out I was real confused aswell, so I'll try to make it simpler to understand.
*SUBSTRATES FOR BABIES/LEOS UNDER 6 INCHES*
-paper towel
-reptile carpet (i use this and have never had a problem)
-slate tiles
*SUBSTRATES FOR ADULTS/LEOS OVER 6 INCHES*
-paper towel
-reptile carpet
-slate tiles
-sand (up to you really, some have problems some dont, just know your taking a chance with it, most arent willing to take that chance, but its up to you)
*HEAT SOURCES*
-reptile heat mats (recomended by all, the easiest way to heat the cage, rheostat needed. Geckos prefer this over all others aswell, gives them "belly heat" which helps them digest food better)
-heat lamps (pretty inapropriate in my opinion as leos are nocturnal and dont like bright lights, you can get red bulbs which dont disturb the leos and are a better option)
-both (a red heat bulb aswell as a reptile heat mat can be used for veiwing purposes aslong as the cage stays around 88-90 F)
25$ is a pretty decent price, given that the animal(s) are healthy. Unfortunately most petstores dont take good care of their reptiles and most are infected with crypto (an uncurable disease in reptiles) Check and make sure the other animals are healthy aswell. I recomend you find a reptile show in your town, most breeeders who go to these have animals that are in great health, and those "fancy expensive morphs" will cost you less at a reptile show. Good luck,
mac

yes it will cost more but just go look on the classified page there are tons f great deals! what does it matter if you pay 25 bucks for a leo and it dies in 6 months from face rot it cuaght at the pet store!

MAKE SURE IF YOU BUY AT A PET WHCICH I ADVISE NOT TO THAT YOU SEE THE LIZZARD EAT EAT EAT EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! if the pet store guys says well we just fed a little while ag BS try it anyway and than ask when they feed them and go see it eat before you buy it

I bought both my leos last year from JL Breeders and they are the healthiest little things you could imagine. Nice reptile specialty stores are great because they don't charge as much as the breeder themselves but often have nice healthy animals.

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

n/m

.

n

Everyone is of differing opinions so you will never really find one fact that everyone agrees on. But I'll give you my opinions.

1) I think sand is a poor substrate for a leo of any age. I have had some scares with possible impactions in ADULT leos not to mention babies. Basically, if you want your gecko to be as safe as possible, DO NOT use sand or any other small particled bedding. I use paper towels and decorative floor tiles for my leos and they work great.
2)For heat, the UTH is probably the best heater out there. Just make sure you attach it to some temp control device like a thermostat or rheostat. I use reptile UTHs on rheostats as well as heat lamps but the lamps are mainly there as a supplement to the UTH and provide a day/night cycle.

Cleo
1:1 leos (6 eggs cooking)

if you want to use sand there is one brand, and one brand only that i would recommend. i used it up until this year, and the only reason i stopped is cos' i have too many leo's now to spend so much money. the sand is T-rex bone-aid calci sand. its 100% digestable, and it conducts heat very well. its about $10-$15 a bag.
-----
your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

...

im pretty sure it says it is right on the bag, either digestable or ingestible.
-----
your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

It does say digestible, but its not, trust me. They can out whatever they want on those bags. Calci sand is one of the worst substrates to use, even worse than regular sand.

i 100% disagree with you. i used the T-rex calci sand for nearly 3 years and never had any problems. if you think that it creates problems, i doubt youve used it.
-----
your head will collapse, but there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself, "where is my mind"

I am still new myself, but when I was first researching I read everything I could about the animal to eliminate bad advice. I use slate (looks great, cheap, reusable, not slippery). Another consideration for sand is that it can harbor bacteria and parasites (unless you toss it all out everyother day)- with tile, papertowels, repcarpet you can sterilize it everyday and put it back in the tank (cheap) and clean.