Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I have stalked these forums for a while, gathering info, and we just procured 2 new leopard geckos – a 35g male and a 37g female. They are housed together in a 20gal (30wx12dx18t) aquarium with a screen top. We have a UTH that covers 8” of 1 side (~27% of the tank). The temp at that end seems to run about 90 give or take. Our room temp is usually around 70-75. The floor is covered with newspaper, and we have a moist hide box made out of a plastic shoebox spraypainted black with a 2” hole cut into the lid and filled 2” deep with moist peat moss. One end of the hide box rests on the edge of the UTH zone. We keep a small container of calcium powder, fresh water, and a dish that we keep supplied with 4 mealworms shaken in a 2:1 mix of calcium powder and multivitamin powder. The mealworms are being kept in a plastic shoebox filled with oatmeal and some vegetables.

Our male, Zeus, kind of harassed (nipped etc) our female, Hera, for the first day, and now she has retreated to the hide box almost 24/7 as far as we can tell. I took the lid off the box to encourage her to come out – she did, but only for a while. I put the lid back on. There has been a steady flow of mealworms consumed (although we’ve never witnessed it), and we are guessing that they have all been eaten by Zeus (there is gecko poop by his hangout over the UTH). This Friday will be 1 week since we got them. The pet store (Prehistoric Pets in Orange County) said that she may stay in the hide box for up to a week before coming out to eat. My wife thinks that she has gotten darker (she is a patternless) since we got her, and is concerned that she is not eating or spending time on the “hot zone” like Zeus does all the time.

Any advice in general (or are there any archived threads that address these questions?)

Any advice regarding our female’s situation?

Should we add 50w red bulb for extra heat (as suggested by Prehistoric Pets)?

How often should I change the peat moss?

Will the hide box filled with moist peat moss and a hole cut in the top also function as an egg-laying chamber should she ever lay eggs?

We wash our hands pretty well after handling them, but what’s the deal with salmonella and reptiles?

How delicate are their tails? We have been a little skittish about touching them or picking them up for fear of breaking their tail… is it easy to do?

ANYWAY - THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR TIME.....

Sounds to me like your biggest problem at this point is the fact you are trying to house a single female with a single male. My advice regarding your female, remove her immediately. Your female is probably turning dark because she is stressed. And since the male has already shown aggressiveness towards her, she probably hasn't attempted to eat.

They should have been housed separately from the beginning for several reasons. 1) One could be harboring parasites and will pass them to the other. 2) You need to monitor how much each is eating. 3) To monitor they are pooping, and not impacted, and that the fecal material appears normal. They should remain quarantined alone for at least 60 days. You can't do these things if they are housed together.

A single female should not be kept with a male. It is always recommended to keep a minimum of 2 females with a male, 3 is even better. When only 1 female is present the male will eventually stress her out by continually trying to breed, this can very easily affect her health. Right now your leos are both too young & too small to breed. But as soon as the male becomes sexually mature he will start trying and your female will more than likely not be big enough or old enough to safely breed.

Since you are new to leos, you really need to get use to taking care of the 2 you have before you ever consider breeding. You REALLY need to do a lot of research before you allow your leos to breed. It's not as simple as, they mate, she lays eggs, now we have babies. There is a lot of work involved and a lot of added expense.

As for the dish of mealworms, even if you only had 1 leo in the tank, you can put more than just 4 mealworms at a time in there.

Yes, you can add an infrared light for additional heating.

The pete moss in the humid hide will need to be changed every couple of weeks or at least once a month.

Salmonella is not a big issue with Leos, but it can happen. As long as you are washing your hands thoroughly after handling them, and after being in contact with their tank during feedings & cleanings you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Their tails aren't overly delicate you can touch them. They will drop their tails when they are overly scared as a defense mechanism. If another leo aggressively grabs them by the tail they may also drop it. Just don't grab them by the tail and you should be fine. I've heard of people holding their leos, the leo tries to jump out of their hand, they accidently end up grabbing the tail to stop the leo only to end up with the tail in their hand. And I've heard of leos taking the high dive off of something or out of the owners hand, hit the ground and drop their tails.

Thanks for the advice - they are separated into 2 10 gal tanks now. They each have 2 hides (one on the hot side, 1 on the cool side) a humid hide. I hope that our female is not gravid yet - we were under the impression from the "Leopard Gecko Manual" that they were sexually mature at 35g. What should I watch out for with our female?

Thanks again!

Rich
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