I need some very beginning level help!

grammaofaGecko · #1 02-16-2011, 07:18 PM

I hope that this is the right place for me to go to get some elementary education! I have never owned a reptile, BUT my son loves them, and has a gecko, iguana, and a python. Bless his heart, he has just left for basic training, and has left me to babysit the gecko and iguana--I had to set my foot down about the snake!! Anyway, I am committed to do the best that I can for these guys, the iguana is really not a problem, he is a veggie lover, but the cute little gecko likes bugs, and I don't know how to keep them alive. I have found online a place to buy crickets, and they fedx them to you, but what does a person do with a thousand crickets? is it better to get worms of some sort, and do they have to be kept in my fridge? I know in time I will get over this squeemishness, and I am trying, but it will take some getting used to. So any simple basics will help me a lot. Do I absolutly have to feed live insects only? thanks so much, I really want to do a good job for them. In explanation, the friend of my son that was supposed to care for the pets backed out at the last minute, and there was litte time for education. One more question, are the nutrition needs different depending on the type of gecko you have? cause I have no idea what this guy is, and I haven't seen a picture that looks like him! THANKS

gizmo143 · #2 02-16-2011, 07:54 PM

um... the crickets i get, i keep in a tupperware with carrot to eat but then again that might not work cause mine died. mealworms can be kept in the fridge in a container and fed a scrap of carrot

Ossoceo · #3 02-16-2011, 09:20 PM

I keep crickets in a cheap £3 fish tank (convert to US dollars but you get what I mean). I give them some crystallised water gel, feed them carrot, potatoe (left over veggies from whatever mum's cooking) and remove the bodies. The recent batch I got weren;t the greatest, with some dying pretty quickly, but in general they seem okay?

In regards to what type of gecko it is, either google images for various types of gecko, or look at the member photos and ask whomever's photos they are (but often the photos are labelled anyway =) ). Possibly if you could answer a couple of questions it might narrow it down?
Can it climb on the glass?
Colour?
Size?
Do you know the age? (helps with size etc)
Any distinct features you can think of?

My thoughts are that it's most likely to be a leopard, crested or tokay, simply because they are the most common, so they're probably the first to check? But you have DEFININITELY come to the right place to ID the little fella.

Oh, and a warm welcome to GU from t'other side of the pond XD

avoidtheboyd · #4 02-16-2011, 09:56 PM

Are you sure your son was feeding it bugs? You need to identify it for us to really help or atleast post a picture. A lot of geckos have varying diets and care needs that need to be met. But i suggest if your willing, get dubia roaches to feed it. They are SOO much easier to care for then crickets and they're so much easier to feed. They do not climb or fly and they smell maybe a 1/100 of crickets. I just keep them in a big like bin from walmart with a screen on the top and a heat pad on the bottom. Just to tell you, dubia roaches are nothing like the household pests. Even if one or all of them got out they would all die in a matter of days probably.

**Elizabeth Freer** · #5 02-17-2011, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grammaofaGecko

I hope that this is the right place for me to go to get some elementary education! I have never owned a reptile, BUT my son loves them, and has a gecko, iguana, and a python. Bless his heart, he has just left for basic training, and has left me to babysit the gecko and iguana--I had to set my foot down about the snake!! Anyway, I am committed to do the best that I can for these guys, the iguana is really not a problem, he is a veggie lover, but the cute little gecko likes bugs, and I don't know how to keep them alive. I have found online a place to buy crickets, and they fedx them to you, but what does a person do with a thousand crickets? is it better to get worms of some sort, and do they have to be kept in my fridge? I know in time I will get over this squeemishness, and I am trying, but it will take some getting used to. So any simple basics will help me a lot. Do I absolutly have to feed live insects only? thanks so much, I really want to do a good job for them. In explanation, the friend of my son that was supposed to care for the pets backed out at the last minute, and there was litte time for education. One more question, are the nutrition needs different depending on the type of gecko you have? cause I have no idea what this guy is, and I haven't seen a picture that looks like him! THANKS

What type of gecko have you? Before I can suggest anything, we would need to know. So many different geckos have different dietary requirements.

Can you google for a picture? Post a picture? Ask your son? Have him ID'd at a pet store?

grammaofaGecko · #6 02-17-2011, 03:28 PM

Thank you all for the help, first I will answer some questions, then try to figure out how to send some pictures! My grandgecko is about 6 or 7 inches long, a golden brown color with some darker verigation, does climb on the glass, doesn't close his eyes,(as far as I can tell). his skin looks and feels kind of velvety. My son has been feeding him crickets, and lives where there are pet shops that sell them nearby, it is over an hour for me to get them, so I will need to have more on hand, if that is what I need to get for him. I would be interested in offering him other insects if i could do that. I will try to send pictures, Thank you so very much, you may be saving our lives!

I uploaded some pictures, but don't know if anyone can see them, I can't find them! May need more than one field of education--reptiles, and technology!

grammaofaGecko · #7 02-17-2011, 03:30 PM

sorry to be a airhead, clicked submit, and there they were! lol

**Elizabeth Freer** · #8 02-18-2011, 12:52 AM

Thanks for posting these pictures of your new grandgecko

. I will send a link to one of the GU ID specialists on board. Should hear before too long I hope.

danscantle · #9 02-18-2011, 12:55 AM

You have Gekko badeni, which was formerly considered G. ulikovski.

Can someone make a sticky that has the following species photographed:

Gekko badeni/ulikovski
Gekko gecko
Gekko grossmani
Hemidactylus turcicus
Hemidactylus mabouia
Hemidactylus platyurus (formerly Cosymbotus platyurus)

Most of the ID requests I get are these species.

grammaofaGecko · #10 02-18-2011, 09:08 AM

Can anyone tell me if he/she needs anything special, other than food, water, and sunshine? We are trying to get used to each other, but I don't think it cares for me much, and hides under a rock, or in the leaves. If he could talk, I know that he would be screaming NOOOO when I try to pick him up, so I am just petting him without picking him up, which is fine with me, but is it enough? I am so out of my element here, any advise will be so appreciated.