[aragin08]

Hello,
I am new to the forum and I just have a few questions about my 2 new white lined geckos. For background, I keep them in a cage with the dimensions 2'x1'x2' on top of cypress mulch with sphagnum moss as well, I have a ceramic heater on the top hooked up to a dimmer, keeping it around the mid to high 80's during the day directly under the lamp. I have the humidity from 50-90 humidity(first arboreal gecko, and first to need high humidity) and spray it twice a day and as many more as necessary to keep humidity on the high end. I also have a few branches set up along with a hide at the bottom of the tank (know I need to get another for the top section, planing on using paper towel tubes as a temp hide and get some quality hollow logs later. Since I had gotten them only a couple of days ago, last night was their first feeding, I had tested it out by using 5 crickets coated in calcium with D3 ( I was planning on using it once a week with non D3 the rest). My one concern is that they never eat in front of me, so I am not sure whether they are eating them or not, however by the next day the crickets were gone so I figured, but how can I be sure that it isn't only one of the gecko's eating them, should I try to have them eat in front of me using tongs or put them in separate tanks for feeding. I am not to sure on this subject. Also, I am almost positive they are wild caught so I know they need a fecal, However I don't have the best eyes so I was wondering is ok to put paper towel over the substrate temporarily so that I can spot the feces better. Also, can I just bring them in for just a fecal right now, or should I have them have a full check (just wondering because if they do have worms or other parasites I'll need to use whatever money available on that). Sorry for the huge post but I just want to make sure you have as much info as possible to make an answer ( along with being a little nervous and making sure I have covered all of the bases). I would appreciate any and all feedback, thank you

[GlobeMaster]

First of all, Hi, and welcome to the forum

I did see your first post back when you started the thread and was going to reply, but just got distracted and sidetracked.

I have had my white lined gecko for about 6 months now and he must be coming up to about 9 months old, so I dont have a massive amount of experience but I will try to help as much as I can.

So viv size sounds good, I aim for a basking temp of 90f and regularly find my gecko right up in the top of the back ground as close to the light as possible! You humidity sounds about right, I spray afew times a day and never had a problem. Have you got any photos of your set up?

These geckos are very shy, especially when you first get them, and with them being WC they will be even more shy. So dont worry about not seeing them eat. What I do is put a good few crickets in (dusted with d3) in the evening and leave them over night. I put afew chunks of veg in there for the crickets to snack on, and the geckos will hunt when they want to. If you start trying to move them to different tanks to feed them etc I imagine you will be putting them trough alot of stress and may cause them to refuse food longer and take much longer to settle.

To make sure both geckos get a good amount each, put quite afew crickets in, you put 5 in and they went, so next time try 10 if they all go then increase again until you see one of two the next morning. (and they can eat alot when they want to I would guess one could easily finish off 5 crickets in a night)

For the fecal you might just have to have eagle eyes to spot the poo, although it putting down paper towel will help you spot it then go for it. The paper towel will not affect anything (that I can think of).

Hopefully this has been of some help, and here is my set up and afew pics of the little one....

[Riverside Reptiles]

Welcome to GU. It's fine to put paper towel down over the current substrate. It'll certainly make finding the feces easier. If a fecal is all that you can afford to do to start, it's certainly better than nothing. And most likely will be money well spent. PVC tubes and bamboo also make for great, inexpensive, vertical hides. These geckos are nocturnal and shy by nature. So it might be a while before they're willing to eat in front of you. You say they're new, so they're going to be stressed and might not eat well for a few days (or weeks even). If they're new, I would separate them for quarantine for at least a couple of months. That will also give you the opportunity to observe if they're both eating well and obtain separate fecal samples as well. It also insures that they won't spread any funky illness between each other. It will also lower their stress levels.

[Riverside Reptiles]

Also, just a note, there's tons of info on these guys in this forum. Do some searching through old posts. You'll find a plethora of great info.

[aragin08]

thank you all so much for the excellent feedback, The geckos have so far been eating well and I did get a fecal sample yesterday and will bring it to the vet ASAP. and Ethan, for the quarantine, what size enclosure would be good for one, I know they are arboreal, but all I have at the moment is an empty 40 gallon breeder. Also if the fecal does come up positive, would it be a good idea to just have them both set up on deworming medication, and if so how much would it cost? I also added a live plant in the enclosure called a snake plant (I think, don't know plants at all) thinking I would have the humidity raise with it, but according to my meter its still dropping stupid fast, could it be a faulty meter (it is one of those dial ones). Also, I have been trying to feed them a little of other foods as well including mealworms and eventually a little non additive applesauce, is that any good? And again, thanks for the feedback, I've been reading thru these forums for several months, relying on it for a large amount of research on the little guys.

[aragin08]

Also, GlobeMaster, I'm using an 100watt ceramic and it rarely budges above85 at times, and even lower after I mist the tank, any suggestions

[GlobeMaster]

Whats your ambient humidity like? If you live in a really dry area it will make the humidity drop faster. How deep is your substrate? and where are you measuring humidity? If you measure it near the heat source its going to always be drier, try and measure somewhere in the middle.

I dont use ceramics, but I have a 60W light bulb which just reaches 90f, so I would imagine a 100W ceramic should easily get that temperature. I aim to get 90f about 6 inches away from the heat source. Are you using a thermostat to control the ceramic? If so you may need to move the probe and/or turn the dial up on the thermostat.

[aragin08]

Thank you for the reply, the ambient humidity is about 50 during the day but can spike up to 90 for a while after I mist, it also stays in the 90s throughout the night. Sadly I do not have it on a thermostat (I know I should , but I didn't know where to find them, I only relied on pet stores until recently) However, I do have a thermometer with a probe on it and it is about midway up the tank. so I will move it closer up and see what happens, thank you very much.

[Riverside Reptiles]

I don't know what your set up looks like. But assuming that you have some sort of screened or vented areas, it sounds like you might want to cover/reduce those open area some in order to retain more heat and humidity.

[aragin08]

yeah I thought of that as well but I also heard that its was important to keep the screen unblocked for ventilation (from that old article on White lines in Reptiles USA)