Reptile & Amphibian Forums

researching Leos and im getting alot of mixed reviews. please correct me or any advice would be great.

Tank - 55g aquarium. glass top

Heating - Zoo Med LG 24w UTH. would i need a dimmer?

Lighting - i have the light strip for the aquarium. what kind of lighting can i get that will no disrupt the Leos. (lighting just for show)

Substrate - no sand for youngs or sub-adults but ok for Adults? so thinking about getting one of those carpet things for the tank.

Hides - now once they are full grown i am assuming i need something pretty big. when i comes to their moisture hide when they go to shed, will i need one for all or will one for all work?

Housing - average rule of thumb from research is 10g to 15g per Leo. now if i get trio would it be a smart idea? 1.2 or will the females fight over the male or will the male breed the life out of the females?

anything i might of missed please fill me in on. New England Reptile Expo coming Jan 29. would like to have everything ready to bring home some Leos that day =).

would also like to meet local breeders or Leo keepers in the 617 area.

Thank you for your time
SPC Danny Tejeda
US Army Reserves

Hi Danny

Tank, I use a ten gallon for one gecko and a twenty long tank for three geckos, as I have found out that it works good. You will need an under the tank heat source in the warm end of the tank that covers half of the bottom of the tank, while leaving the other end cool, so that they can thermoregulate there own body temperature. Too hot, they can go to the cool end, too cool they can go to the warm end of the tank. I forgot the name of the under tank mat, but the box is will be the same size as the mat. The mat will be clear with heat stripes in it, other wise clear in color.

You said that you want to get some light for displaying them, that won't bother them. You can get a black light or red one. You will also need to get a UVB bulb to have on in the day time, too help them process the calcium in there body's and two also help there internal clock to know when it is daylight and night time. I thought that lighting from the window was good enough, but the vet. said they still need it. Aside from really needing a UVB light.

continued next reply

Contiued (1) Danny

You don't use sand for any aged gecko, including adults.

Substrate - I use newspaper and then papertowels on top of that, because my reptile vet. said that is the best too use to help keep parasites form breeding. But if you use that soft grass, you will need to make sure that you can still get enough heat from your under the tank heat source. In the warm end, it will need to be between 80 to 85 degrees, and the cool end to be at the mid seventy's.

Too save money I use a cool whip tub with the lid on it, and then I will turn it upside down and cut a hole in it a little way's up, put perlite in it and then moisten it with water but not to the point of soaking it. Lid upside down to make it easier when you clean it out, all you have to do is pull the lid off. You could also use other palstic containers that have blue or red lid to make it look nicer.

Continued on (3)

Hi Danny (continued 3)

Check moistness in hide every couple of days to make sure you don't need to add more water. I have discovered that sometimes I will find two geckos in one moist hide together. You decide whether you want one or two if three geckos. I would add a couple of rocks of which you can get color one (not smooth) too the tank so that they can rub on it if neccesary to help get there shed off, they will also eat there own shed of which is normal.

Yes,the 1.2 ratio of geckos is good. You don't want to put two males in one tank ever. They will fight, and sometimes to the death.

You will need a water bowl for them, you will also need a dry hide in the warm end of the tank, the moist hide will go in the warm end, if room you could consider getting two hides, your choice depending on space. Some people say to put a dry hide in the cool end of the tank as well, but I don't.

Food - You will need too put calcium powder on there food, it is so fine that it will coat the food. I use Rep-cal Phosphorus-Free Calcium with Vit.D, Ultrafine Powder. The Vet. had also said that you should use straight Calcium ultra fine. For example - I will have the crickets in the bag, put some calcium in the bag, close it and then shake the bag and it will coat them nicely. I will also put a regular medician cap of calcium in the tank, so that way if they need more they can lick it, and yes, I have seen my geckos licking it.

They don't need things to climb on that leave the ground, because they are ground dwellers.

Anymore questions, ask

Take Care

Danny cont.(4)

They say that it is good toquarntine each gecko seperately from each other for about a month, to make sure non of them are sick with anything that could spreed to the others.

Start look for a good reptile vet. in your area for the future, and that way if one where to ever get sick, you would know where to go, instead of having to look all around at the last min. . There aren't a lot out there sorry to say.

I have a very good one here, that has even been written up in a vetrinary journal for his knowledge of reptiles.

Take Care

Thnks for your input. Very much appreciated!tha

Thnks for your time
Danny
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Thanks for you time
SPC Danny Tejeda
US Army Reserves
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
1.1 Normal Het Pied
2.0.1 Red Ear Slider
0.0.1 Unknown Box Turtle

Danny,
I use floor tile from Home Depot or wherever they sell tile. I got a type that looks like stone, and the surface is uneven like hewn stone, not as smooth as glazed bathroom wall tile. I tiled the floor of the cage but did not use adhesive or grout. You can, its just that I wanted it removable.

The nice thing about tile is that the undertank heat spreads nicely across it. Geckos do great on tile, and it is easy to clean. My gecko only soils one tile, maybe two max. Just awesome that they tend to defecate in one area of the cage.

Sand can be trouble over time, even with adults. These geckos do not live in the wild on wind-blown sand. And imagine passing sand out your bum.

I am more of a snake guy but I have to admit that these geckos have all the great qualities in a reptile pet. They are snake-like in that they do not need UV light (or very little),they like to hide in tight places and they use mass temps (heated ground) efficiently to thermoregulate. Great animals.