Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After some musing over the idea (well all of my life but finally deciding to now) I gave in and got a lizard (Leopard Gecko). I got it from a local pet store. I previously had a 10 gallon tank I asked the person there EXACTLY what I was getting into and what I needed to get this off the ground and going.

I explained I already owned a 10 gallon tank. She sold me a wire grill top (I have a cat and dog - both well tempered) a black porcelain bulb holder (with 100w incadescent spotlight) some 'herp sand' (which I hear now may not be a great idea) a little rock cave and a water dish.

I've had the gecko now for 2 days. Im not sure what kind of schedule they run but he seems to rarely come out of his cave. I thought he'd be near the other side that is warm doing his 'thermoregulating'. Im now wondering if she should have sold me the heating pad also? I have no accurate way of telling if there is a good gradient of heat in the tank. On the plus side he did pass a small stool the same night we got him and last night at around 8pm I turned off the 100w spotlight and tossed in 2 crickets shortly after (that had been dusted in herp calcium/vit and I attempted gutloading them with a package of my flavoured oatmeal and carrot sticks). About 25 minutes later he came out to eat one of them and some point later on ate the other one (I read also to leave a carrot/bran in a cover to make it less likely it'd turn the tables on my gecko in the night) a small stool was passed sometime during the night. I know its noctural its just I rarely see him doing anything (basking etc). I worry that I may not have it warm enough. I know also I should have a 'moist' hide in the tank too, I will construct one soon with a container and some vermiculite I have (is there something preferred). I guess in generally I'm just worried and want to make sure everything is
'on track' so to speak.

I can post pictures and videos easily if need be.

I think you are right. If the monitors think you are advertizing they pull your post. Although you can talk about Petco and Petsmart all day. I help sponsor the forum and they host my website yet they pulled my post about completing my website.It was on the board for an hour. They need to be a little more clear about the advertizing rules.
-----
Brian
www.thewindycitygecko.com

First off I use a 100 watt bulb on my bearded dragons for heat and they need a whole lot more heat than my leopard geckos do so a 100 watt bulb is way to hot thats probably why your gecko won't come out during the day. I have an under the tank heater on all my geckos and I use nothing higher than a 40 watt bulb for the winter to make sure that their temps stay where they need to during the day. I would also feed your gecko more than just a couple of crickets at a time, my adults eat at least 5 giant mealworms or more a feeding and the one I have that does eat crickets eats between 6 to 10 large crickets at a feeding but she's a giant adult so if yours is still young then it'll probably eat more of the small crickets than mine do as adults. I'd suggest non stick shelf liner as a subtrate, its cheap and really easy to clean. I've used sand before and I've found that my geckos are much happier on the shelf liner. If I've forgotten anything I'm sure others will add to it.

I've picked up a couple of digital thermometers (supposedly accurate to .1C) and I see that the ambient room temperature is about 74-76F in my house most of the time. I will measure the temperature on the warm side of the cage tomorrow around 6am when I turn the light on (let it heat up that side for an hour then measure) So 74-76F is probably a decent night time temperature from what I've read its just the daytime temp I worry about. Should I get an under the tank heater also and maybe tune it down to a 40W spot if I find the warm side far too warm. I just popped in 3 dusted crickets and as they danced past the cave door he darted out and snatched them up. He's about 5" long (juvenille?) how many 1/2" crickets might be appropriate ? should I toss in maybe 5-6 ?

Ok lets start with heating....Leos require "belly" heat in order to properly digest their food, so an under tank heater (UTH) is the best choice. The UTH should over 1/3 of the bottom of your tank. The substrate (floor) temp on the warm side needs to be between 88-92 degrees, if it drops a few degrees at night that's not a problem. The cool side should have an ambient temp of around 80 degrees, once again a little lower at night is fine. The most accurate way to measure your substrate temp is to get a digital thermometer with a probe. Walmart has some great ones (indoor/outdoor) for about $8 each, the probe is flat on one side making easy to keep contact with the flooring. I use UTH's to heat all my tanks, I only use overhead lighting for daytime lighting/viewing. I use 15 watt household bulbs which seem to give plenty of light for all my tanks, 15 gal, 20 gal long and 29 gal tanks. Oops almost forgot, if you use an UTH you will need to get a rheostat (dimmer switch) or thermostat to control the heat. All of my UTH's get hotter than 88-92 degrees. I use lamp dimmer switches (UTH plugs into it) to control my temps, I get them at Lowes & Meijers for $10.

As for substrates, slate tile works great, holds temps very well, easy to clean and if you do use overhead heating it will hold that heat better too. With a 10 gal tank though you would need to have it cut to size. Other popular substrates are non-adhesive shelf liner, repti-carpet and papertowels.

You should feed your Leo as many crickets as he/she will eat in 15-30 min. The crickets should be no longer than the width between your Leos eyes is wide. From the sounds of it, your Leo should probably be eating 1/4" or slightly larger crickets. Mealworms are also good, you can simply put some in a small dish and leave them for your Leo to snack on whenever it likes. I saw Giant Mealworms mentioned, but generally those are discouraged because they are fed a chemical additive which causes them to grow larger and keeps them from morphing into beetles. Some feeder insect sites even state they are best used as fishing bait only, and not recommended for feeding to birds or reptiles. Superworms are another great feeder (Zophobas Morio, not to be confused with Giant Mealworms), these when full grown are huge compared to mealworms, of course the larges are only fed to adult Leos. Unfortunately, I've never seen anything but the large ones sold in petstores. I order smalls & mediums online and feed them to all my Leos from hatchlings to adults. They are much more active than mealworms & nutritionally a little bit better, all my Leos love them. They are easier to keep than mealworms, they are kept at room temps instead of your refrigerator and they live for months, never morphing into beetles on you.

You should dust your crickets with "plain" calcium (no D3 or phosphorus) 5 days a week & dust with a vitamin supplement that has D3 twice a week. Too much D3 can be toxic to Leos. Also leave a small dish of the plain calcium in the tank at all times. Calcium is very important for Leos, especially young ones When your Leo is full grown, you can cut back on the dusting a little bit like every other feeding and the vitamin supplement w/ D3 about once a week.

When you get a humid hide make sure to keep it on the warm side of your tank. Well, I hope some of that helped LOL Good Luck with our new Leo !!

Well I'm getting a co-working to pick me up an undertank heater tonight at the pet store (along with a much lower wattage bulb and some more crickets). It seems to have somewhat of a routine . During the day its pretty much entirely in its cave and around 6pm when I've been feeding it, it knows to come out now. It ate 5 crickets (about 1/2" long its the smallest the pet store even had) seemed to do ok with those. It actually walked around a bit - defecated and went back to its 'cave' after 10-15 minutes. I still have to make a moist hide for him (her? - haven't sexed it yet - saw how just haven't handled him yet). To see him in 'action' you can go to http://whitepoint.gotdns.org/ where I've put a time lapse video in avi format (xvid encoded)..

You also need to get a hide on the warm side of the tank. Esp now, when the gecko is just settling in, he might not want to leave his hide, even if he's cold.
-----
Corn Snakes: Eden, Mars, Sierra, Lavendar, The Tweedle Twins
Crested Geckos: Parker, Emily Dickinson, Bonnie, Benz, Jude, Cali
Leopard Geckos: Paris, Helen, Annabelle, Artemis, Vesta
Jambea Dwarf Retic: Montague

I will definitely make a point of putting one together tonight. I got the undertank heater and a lower wattage bulb also. I have a tupperware type container I was going to use and put some vermiculite in it (moistened) will that suffice ? any other suggestions ?

I've seen people say not to use vermiculite in Leos hides because it's not good if ingested. I don't think it'll hurt until you can get something a little better. Popular things are spaghnum moss, spaghnum pete moss, shredded coconut fiber (comes in a compressed brick) and papertowels. I've tried papertowels, didn't like them, I use to use the spaghnum pete moss, it was pretty good and decided to try the coconut fiber (I use Eco-Earth brand) and I definately like it the best. One brick goes a LONG way too LOL

The spaghnum moss can be found at petstores, the spaghnum pete moss I use to buy at Meijers, have seen it at Walmart before, and the compressed coconut fiber (several brands on the market) can be found at petstores.