Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok my leo is doing great, He just shed yesterday so the problem with the shed in his eye went away. I got someone to run out and get me some crickets, and they recommended a shedding spray to help him, Well I sprayed em with it and when I got home from nightschool he had almost all of it off except a piece on like his back leg. Well he is till eting his crickets (dusted now). I would like some more information on other types of food. Specifics. Remember he is still a baby too. I need to know what to look for, how to feed, etc. (BlueLeo I know you can hook me up). Next, I use the reptile carpet (people probally know) and It says I should use wipeout 2 to clean it. Well that is a hard product to find. SO anyone use reptile carpet got any cleaning tips? I have been buying new carpet every week guys so dont think im mistreating him lol. He is very spoiled.

And finally, here is the idea of what I want to do. I want to be able to simulate daytime with my indesant bulb (I use infared 24hrs) Well two things I want to make sure of and do to do that: 1. Have them shut off if its too hot, and shut on if its too cold, having it regulate the set tempatures. (I need to know where and what this is I need to do that) 2.Also something thats shuts the infared buld off at a given time and switches to the other, and vice versa) I just need to know what to get, and where I can find these things. Thanks in advance eveybody, and sorry to bother.

V.G.

Well, as far as food is concerned, you'll need to experiment and see what he/she likes. Most people use a staple diet of mealworms and crickets(gutloaded & dusted of course). You can try waxworms, silkworms, and once your leo gets a lot bigger maybe juvie/subadult it will start eating bigger things, like bigger crickets, superworms, and occasionally a pinkie mouse.. Stay away from "giant" mealworms, as they are treated with chemicals to mayke them stay in the larva stage, and ultimately not healty for your leo.

As for the temperature thing you'll need a thermostat, or Rhenostat. I saw one (that I will be buying soon) in a Petsmart for like 22 bucks, if you're handy you may be able to get one from a hardware store and "tweak" it for yor needs.

I haven't been keeping leos nearly as long as BlueLeo or others on this forum, so I'm sure more responses are to come from the "Leo veterans"

Did you read the stuff on the back of your new shedding aid? Sometimes its ok to put it on the animal but not for them to eat it. Your gecko can eat: crickets (gutloaded for the minimum of 5 hours) and occasionally dusted, mealworms that are gutloaded and occasionally dusted. Silkworms are the best to feed a leo for a staple diet but they are hard to keep alive a long time, but if you can do it that's great. The websites i told you with the silkworms avaible have care sheets on there, you can also google it. When he gets bigger you can feed him large crickets, superworms, and anything else you fed him as a baby. Reptile carpet is ok, and if you want to keep replacing it thats fine. But paper towel, shelfliner, slate, linoleum that isnt sleek, and tile. As for your lamps, it seems like your going to need two timers, one for the regular bulb and the other for the infrared. You can get them at lowes and home depot, wal-mart probably has them too. As for controlling your temperatures, your going to need a thermostates. Rheostats are ok but you can't set them for a certain temp, its a dial with different settings, so a thermostate is best for controlling your temps.

I think you got most of your questions answered!

Repi-Carpet:
That stuff is E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E! I only have 2 tanks (rest are now in racks to be more economical/save space). Both tanks have Repti-Carpet. It is so easy to clean - just spot clean until it needs a wash. I spot clean by poop-scooping with a hermit crab poop-scoop which is like a mini-litterbox scoop. Its tiny and fits into all the corners.

Each Repti-carpet pack comes with 2 pieces...To clean, I use "Wipe Out", which is my all-time favorite cleaner for everything. It comes in 3 different forms. I scrub it into the carpet and make sure its really getting into the material and killing off anything nasty. After a few minutes, I use very hot water to further clean the carpet and sanitize it. Don't scrub with anything too hard because you'll rip the fibers and make the surface rough (I use my hands, to be honest). Hang the wet carpet out to dry somewhere in your bathroom or outside. Use the 2nd clean piece for the tank. When this 2nd piece needs washing, put the now-dry 1st piece in the tank. This way, there is always a clean back-up carpet.

Alternatively, you can put a paper towel piece or paper piece in his toilet corner and just replace that everyday.

Here's a link to show what Wipe Out looks like:
www.zoomed.com/html/wipe_out_1_new.php

The Lighting/Heating:
Use a thermostat and one of those timers that you plug into outlets to regulate on/off times. If you have a temp. gun and know when it gets hot/cold, you can just use a few timers to regulate the lighting/heat.

Leos don't need a daytime light as long as there is a window somewhere in the room to provide natural light cycles. (Just make sure he's not under/near the window!!).
-----
Too many Leos
1.0 feline "Spot"
0.1 canine "Tika"

I use the reptile carpet in all my setups and I simply handwash them with a mild dish soap like Ivory (not much fragrance) in as hot of water as I can stand and then rinse throughly in hot water & hang to dry. I've not had any problems doing it this way.

I'd use an antibacterial/disinfectant. But that is just me, many people find peace of mind using alternative, like Soap. Soap just contains fats and/or waxes plus a ton of preservatives to keep the products' shelf lives. Nothing real sanitary there. Its just a mental construction that people feel "clean" when they use that kind of soap.

More importantly:
Dove soap is a brand branch of Unilever. Unilever test on animals. A LOT of animals. Products tested include cosmetics, toiletries, household cleaners, foods, food additives and chemicals. They also fired workers at one of their Brazilian sweat shop plants because they were campaigning for better working conditions and a moderate pay increase. Between 1/9/89 and 31/8/91 the company was convicted for water pollution offenses.

Unilever (Dove, et al.) has claimed that it wants to head in another direction to reduce animal testing. I know they've made a start using SPSS software (argh, I hated SPSS as a student!! LOL)

This is not intended to be hostile or accusational -- it is intended to be factual & educational, in a positive spirit!
-----
Too many Leos
1.0 feline "Spot"
0.1 canine "Tika"