new leopard gecko owner....worried

Cofinator · #1 01-15-2012, 02:57 PM

Hello all Im new to the website and was hoping you all could help me out...Ive had and cared for reptiles as a kid but have been out of the scene for a while but last sunday i bought two little leopard geckos! the reptile itch got back to me im just worried about them. One of them is very skinny and is rather jumpy when i try to handle her. they constantly hang out in their moist hide....also the moss i put in the moist hide usually dries out after a day I was wondering if it was too hot in there? I feed them mealworms and they seem to be eating them. I have a 10 gallon tank a moist hide on one side where the under tank heater is and a cool hide in the middle with the food and water bowls on the cool side. Also have a night lamp which glows red i believe its 40 watt and use coral sand as a substrate (was told it was the safiest other than paper towels and newspaper but not sure.) ANY help to my gecko situation would be appreciated for i do not want to make these guys uncomfortable and want them to have the best lives possible! here are pictures of my geckos and there habitat. THANK YOU FOR ANY RESPONSE!

Cofinator · #2 01-15-2012, 03:01 PM

sorry for the upside down pictures

cricket4u · #3 01-15-2012, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cofinator

Hello all Im new to the website and was hoping you all could help me out...Ive had and cared for reptiles as a kid but have been out of the scene for a while but last sunday i bought two little leopard geckos! the reptile itch got back to me im just worried about them. One of them is very skinny and is rather jumpy when i try to handle her. they constantly hang out in their moist hide....also the moss i put in the moist hide usually dries out after a day I was wondering if it was too hot in there? I feed them mealworms and they seem to be eating them. I have a 10 gallon tank a moist hide on one side where the under tank heater is and a cool hide in the middle with the food and water bowls on the cool side. Also have a night lamp which glows red i believe its 40 watt and use coral sand as a substrate (was told it was the safiest other than paper towels and newspaper but not sure.) ANY help to my gecko situation would be appreciated for i do not want to make these guys uncomfortable and want them to have the best lives possible! here are pictures of my geckos and there habitat. THANK YOU FOR ANY RESPONSE!

Hello welcome to GU!

First and most important get rid of the sand. Replace it with paper towels until you can purchase something safer. It can cause impaction and eye infections in your geckos. I would recommend slate tiles as substrate which is easy to clean, looks nice and a good heat conductor. Also a 10 gallon in reality is not even enough for one gecko. It is very difficult to achieve a good range of temperatures. When more than one gecko is housed together they should both have their own hides. 1 in the warm side, 1 in the cool side and a humid hide which you already have. They look fairly young and so I am wondering if it's possible they are both males? I recommend housing them in seperate enclosures at least to you have verified sex to avoid injuries. It's important temperatures are monitored. Do you have at least a thermometer with a probe?

There's quite a few adjustments that need to be done and so please read over this caresheet. If there is anything not covered feel free to ask

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/commu...12-update.html

Nativeson · #4 01-15-2012, 05:35 PM

Hello,

As far as them being a bit skiddish, that is completely normal. If you just got them a week ago you need to give them some time to acclimate themselves to the new sights,sounds, smells and all that. Give them a couple of weeks with minimal involvement from you as possible and then slowly start to hold them for short periods of time. They will come around!

The humid hide will dry out faster over the heatpad than on the cool side of the tank. You could try and switch the hides around to see if you can get another day out of it. I keep mine on the cool side and spray them twice a week and can't remember the last time I've had a shedding issue....of course I live in south florida too!!!

I do have a few thoughts and questions for your consideration.

I would strongly recomend getting rid of the sand or any loose substrate. Switch it over to slate tiles or paper towels. Search this topic on this or any forum and you will find TONS of information on why this is such an important issue.

What do you use to control the uth? What surface temps are you getting? Digestion being the reason this is important.

Do you know the sex of your geckos? There are some concerns there with potential unwanted matings, males fighting and sometimes just not getting along! Even two females dont always do well together.

Anyway, like I said just some thoughts. This is a great forum with a lot of really great information and if you don't see what you're looking for....just ask!!

Patrick

Yoshi'smom · #5 01-15-2012, 06:42 PM

I would like to reiterate what everyone has said already but, I think you get the point. Read through the care sheet that Cricket4u has linked. It should answer all of your questions.

Cofinator · #6 01-15-2012, 09:17 PM

thank all of you guys very much for responding it truly means a lot... so i bought both of the geckos from a reptile expo and I was told by the breeder that they are both female. Ive tried picking them up and seeing what sex they may be but they seem to squirm out of my hands before i can really verify and i dont want to stress them out by squeezing them or anything like that. the breeder said they are 3-4 months old so they are still young. If a 10 gallon tank is not enough which size should i upgrade to? I also have no thermometer in there i was told it isn't that huge of an issue if i have an under tank heater. I did stick a regular thermometer in the sand where the heat pad was under and it read around 92 degrees Fahrenheit. I live on long island NY and my room where both my geckos are is in my basement so it does get a bit chilly so i figured that it would make good for the cool side of the tank. They both love to hang out in the moist hide i have for them and tend to lay on each other so i would imagine they both truly are not male geckos but then again I have never really had leo's before so that may just be my assumption. I am not sure what slate tile is but I have an 8x8", 20 x 20 cm heat pad under the tank with no temp control it just plugs in and feel like slate tile may get too hot and have the same effect as heat rocks...aka burn the belly of the gecko. Again i was 13-17 when i cared for lizards and at 25 i'm just more nervous for them because I appreciate them so much more. Thank you all again and any other advice is amazing thank you!

Nativeson · #7 01-15-2012, 10:27 PM

The slate tile is the same tile that is used in flooring. It is available at any of the bigger hardware stores in your area. Paper towels are a good temporary option.

A 20 gallon long would be a great option to upgrade to. That would allow you to create a significant temperature gradiant. That will also give you some room to have a variety of hides, which is helpfull when housing 2 geckos in one enclosure.

As for the sex, if whomever you got them from hatched them I would assume they were incubated for female. I would keep an eye on their behaviour and be observant of any changes in the future. As long as they are both eating and they aren't bullying each other or ones not picking on the other you may be ok. They're probably a bit small to know the sex for sure and it probably not to stress them out trying to find out for a couple of weeks

Another must have is a thermostat to regulate the uth. 92 degrees is a spot on temp to have as your belly temp, but as you said it gets chilly from time to time and that temp will fluctuate. The idea is to create a constant 92. A thermostat will adjust the temp for you and take the guess work out of it. Best of luck.

Patrick

Cofinator · #8 01-15-2012, 10:42 PM

can you recommend a thermostat for a 20 gallon long tank? ill definately buy one tomorrow and ill see if i can get the tile as well...would i have to get the tile cut to size though? thanks patrick this would really help

Nativeson · #9 01-15-2012, 10:51 PM

I use and recommend herpstat thermostats. There are less expensive ones available...there was just a great thread about thermostats in the caging section...I believe...that would be worth a read.

Tile will most likely have to be cut. Most places will cut it for you if you know what size you need it. They may charge you a nominal fee though. Sounds like youre on the right path!

Patrick

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk

Nativeson · #10 01-15-2012, 10:55 PM

The thread on thermostats is in herp products section.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk