Beginner Reptile, Hello!!!!!!

JBPAirsoft · #1 10-27-2011, 08:53 PM

Hello, I am a begginer reptile keeper and have started out with a green anole.
I love animals and i really wanna get a gargoyle or a crested gecko after my anole. I am at my house for a week then im gone for a week and my mom doesnt really take care of him the way I like so I cant get anything to hard to take care of. see ya!

lauraleellbp · #2 10-28-2011, 01:36 AM

Welcome to GU!

Unfortunately, most geckos need to be cared for more often than just on weekends. Crested geckos, for example, need to be misted at least once a day (some places 2-3x a day in order to achieve the correct humidity cycle) and also need to be fed at least 3x a week.

Yoshi'smom · #3 10-28-2011, 06:51 AM

Welcome to GU! I agree with Laura on this one! Most lizards, while they tend to be on the "for show" side still need care pretty often. I'm in the lizard room at least 3 times a day.
I also have an anole though! A brown anole and I know I mist her 3 times a day and feed her every other day. They actually can get to be a handful.... around the 6-8 mark...

**Elizabeth Freer** · #4 10-28-2011, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBPAirsoft

Hello, I am a begginer reptile keeper and have started out with a green anole.
I love animals and i really wanna get a gargoyle or a crested gecko after my anole. I am at my house for a week then im gone for a week and my mom doesnt really take care of him the way I like so I cant get anything to hard to take care of. see ya!

Hello JBPAirsoft ~

A hearty welcome to Geckos Unlimited!

Geckos are wonderful

. What kind of care is your mom willing to provide in your absence? Will she mist the critters? Will she feed them?

How are you feeding your anole right now?

JBPAirsoft · #5 10-30-2011, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elizabeth Freer

Hello JBPAirsoft ~

A hearty welcome to Geckos Unlimited!

Geckos are wonderful

. What kind of care is your mom willing to provide in your absence? Will she mist the critters? Will she feed them?

How are you feeding your anole right now?

Hello Elizibeth Freer and other people,
My mom loves for animals as do i

but she works

When i am there i mist in the morning and at night.Because i have school i cannot mist during the day.

I clean its cage out completely and 2part blech 50 part hot water for 1 hour all of my plants and decor, replace its substrate, and clean everything with reptile wipes, once a month. I clean up all waste/mold that i see when in cage.

I keep its day temp at about 72-75 on the cool side and on the hot side i keep it at about at 82-85. I also keep the night temp at about 65. My day time is 12h light and 12h dark. I keep the humidity at about 60%-80%

I feed it calcium dusted, gut loaded small crickets and about 3 or 4 every other day.

I have a 5.0 exo-terra uvb bulb and i use and a ceramic heat emitter for basking.

The one thing that I am very concerned about is that he or she i cannot tell has a bump on the underside of her ribs and feels hard. I thought it might be menbolic bone disiase but she eats and doesnt look that skinny. PLease help.

Anyways, my mom does do most of this i just know that she forgets to feed one day or forgets to mist one day due to a stressfull day. I cannot change how i am gone because of my parents are divorced but she seems to be getting on top of it now that i am really asking her to make sure everything is right.

**Elizabeth Freer** · #6 10-31-2011, 04:11 AM

I don't know about anole care. But I'm sure many other folks here do.

What type of calcium are you using for dusting? For geckos it should be a phosphorous-free calcium with D3. Only lightly dust 2-3x per week. Dusting prey more often than that with D3 could result in a D3 overdose. I like the RepCal brand.

Perhaps you could post your questions about the bump you feel in the Other Herps subforum?

Sounds like your mom is doing her best. Good to have a helper.

JBPAirsoft · #7 10-31-2011, 07:44 AM

Sorry i am at my other house right now so i cannot go and check but all i remeber is it has a anole on the container and says something like repti-cal calciam.Thank you for telling me about the overdose.

Yes i thank my mom alot.

Yoshi'smom · #8 10-31-2011, 08:11 AM

I usually dust my anole's prey 2x a week and feed her 4x a week. I spray her tank 3x a day.
Sounds as if you have everything ok to me (temps, light, etc.).
I don't know quite alot in the way of health issues with these guys as I am a sort of newbie to this species but I know that they are usually hard to treat because they don't like handling at all. I know I've only handled my little girl twice in the month that I've had her. Once to take her out of the deli cup I got her in to go into her temporary enclosure and the second time to go from her temp enclosure to her permanent home. I haven't tried to and prolly never will try to handle her unless it is an extreme emergency.

JBPAirsoft · #9 10-31-2011, 04:57 PM

Ok so i am at my house with the lizard and my calcium is called reptocal. It says that there needs to be a small amount of phosphorus for calcium utilization???????
Is this bad?
Should i get a different type?
it also says it is min. of 6% phosphorus.

?

Yoshi'smom · #10 10-31-2011, 06:08 PM

You want phosphorus free! It's weird that your brand says that it helps with calcium absorption. I've always read that Phosphorus disrupts calcium absorption.... Someone with more calcium knowledge will hopefully chime in! Try the Repcal brand. It's what I've used.