[rileyrk190]

Hi everyone! I have been a member of the forum for a while but havent posted in a long time. I just recently adopted two baby female leopard geckos from someone on craigslist. The first is a Mac snow and the one in question is a sunglow morph. According to the former owner they are a few months old, and were purchased from a breeder on kingsnake.
I am concerned about my sunglow, Peanut. I'm not sure if they are the same age, but she is significantly smaller than my other one. She also seems to be very skinny even though she has a ravenous appetite. I have been feeding them gutloaded mealworms, and crickets, dusted in calcium powder. Do you think she is just not getting enough food, because Penelope, the Mac snow, seems to be slightly more dominant, and is a more successful hunter. I have noticed that her eyes do not seem to be open all the way, as if she is constantly squinting.
For now I have put peanut in an extra cricket keep, which is obviously not ideal, and is a short term solution. I just was afraid to keep them together if she has parasites or something.
Here is a pic of just Peanut, and one of the both of them. Penelope did not have a tail when i got her, but it is growing back quickly. In just two weeks it as noticeably grown.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[rileyrk190]

sorry my pictures didnt load.

edit: now they are there??

[Elizabeth Freer]

Riley ~

Kudos on adopting your new leos!

Please read over my leo care recs: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/commu...12-update.html

You need to keep these guys separate at least for now. You are right on in suggesting that Penelope might be hogging all the food! You need to find another glass tank for Peanut. Leos need belly and air temps between 92-95 F in order to digest their prey. They both should have their crickets lightly dusted with phosphorus-free calcium with D3 2-3x per week. D3 helps the absorption of calcium.

You mention "squinting". What type of light/heat are you providing?

[rileyrk190]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth Freer

Riley ~

Kudos on adopting your new leos!

Please read over my leo care recs: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/commu...12-update.html

You need to keep these guys separate at least for now. You are right on in suggesting that Penelope might be hogging all the food! You need to find another glass tank for Peanut. Leos need belly and air temps between 92-95 F in order to digest their prey. They both should have their crickets lightly dusted with phosphorus-free calcium with D3 2-3x per week. D3 helps the absorption of calcium.

You mention "squinting". What type of light/heat are you providing?

Sorry, I should have told you about their husbandry. They are in a 20 gallon long with a total of four hides. two hides are on the hot side, where the ambient temperature is around 85, but inside the hide it is 95 degrees from the UTH. I do have a spare ceramic heat emitter from my iguana. Should I try that to get the air temperature outside the hide higher? I do have a black light on the tank for supplemental heat that runs all the time. On the cool side, the temperature is 75. There is one hide which is the moist hide, with some dampened paper towels that I mist daily and the other is just a regular hide. I had moss in the hide, but they kept tracking it all over, and i was afraid they would eat it. There is a shallow water bowl, and a small lid with some calcium in it. The humidity is at 30% which is as low as I can get it. I also use a reptile mat as a substrate.
As for a calcium supplement, I use reptocal which contains D3, but upon reading the bottle noticed it does contain phosphorus as well as some other nutrients. Is there a better brand that I should purchase?

[rileyrk190]

Thanks for the link, that answered a few of my questions. The reptocal I own is actually the multivitamin, so I will make sure I get the calcium tomorrow...well, today rather. Also I had the moist hide on the cool side, so I will move that too.

[Elizabeth Freer]

Originally Posted by rileyrk190

Thanks for the link, that answered a few of my questions. The reptocal I own is actually the multivitamin, so I will make sure I get the calcium tomorrow...well, today rather. Also I had the moist hide on the cool side, so I will move that too.

You are totally welcome for the link !

I use phosphorus-free Rep-Cal with D3 for the dusting and 100% pure calcium for the dish 24/7. If you do not have the pure calcium yet, take out the dish inside the tank. Too much D3 is not good. Phosphorus interferes with the absorption of calcium.

The other brand I totally recommend is Miner-All Indoor formula with D3. This has the added benefit of minerals. I don't much use Rep-Cal's Herpitivite, their muiltivitamin formulation.

It is the size difference between Peanut and Penelope which leads me to recommend separate tanks at least for now. Peanut needs to beef up! You say they are young. Two males should never be kept together.

[cricket4u]

How is Peanut doing? What kind of black bulb are you using? Some are known to cause damage to reptiles eyes. Here is an example of one that should only be used for diurnal reptiles.

http://www.reptilesupply.com/product...oducts_id=2270

[rileyrk190]

She seems to be doing well.She certainly eats a lot. I am pretty certain Penelope is just being a hog, and eating all of peanuts food. Last night Penelope ate 8 crickets alone. I am now using tweezers to hold the cricket and peanut will eat from those. I added her back to the main tank after seeing that her stool was normal, and seems to be fattening slightly. The bulb i'm using is a black bulb marketed for reptiles, although i do not remember the brand. It's either zoo-med, of flukers.

[cricket4u]

Originally Posted by rileyrk190

She seems to be doing well.She certainly eats a lot. I am pretty certain Penelope is just being a hog, and eating all of peanuts food. Last night Penelope ate 8 crickets alone. I am now using tweezers to hold the cricket and peanut will eat from those. I added her back to the main tank after seeing that her stool was normal, and seems to be fattening slightly. The bulb i'm using is a black bulb marketed for reptiles, although i do not remember the brand. It's either zoo-med, of flukers.

I am glad to hear she seems to be doing well. However the size difference and food problem concerns me. I highly recommend that you purchase another 20 gallon and house them seperately. As for the black bulb they are not recommended for nocturnal/crepuscular reptiles. You can try a infrared bulb instead or CHE for extra heating.

[Cofinator]

i seem to have the same kind of issue with my two guys.... i may have to seperate peanut from my other one, bowser is a big hog.