[pstryjew]

Hello - I'm having some trouble and concerns with my leo setup.

I _thought_ I did my research and had a good setup. However, with more reading here at GU it looks like I'm way off. I purchased my leo from a reptile specialty store and took their advice on the setup and care. I'm surprised how far off most of their advice was.

I attended a reptile show last Saturday and got some more (and conflicting advice).

"Candice" seemed very happy with her setup for quite a while (we got her before Thanksgiving). She camped out above the UTH, would actively go after crickets (complete with tail shake), shed twice. Starting in late January she doesn't seem to be eating as much and has gotten considerably thinner.

The setup was a 10G (too small), with a small UTH (too small), with Calcium Sand (wrong), a warm hide of damp vermiculite in a deli cup (possibly wrong), and a "solid" top. The solid top kept the humidity in (from the vermiculite cup) and it would condense on the cold side.

The house is pretty cold here in the mid-west. The thermometer about 4 inches above the pad registers 65-70. I thought she was slowing down because she was cold. At the rep show I got a clamp lamp and a 50W infrared bulb and a screen top. I have at focused down at the hot end of the tank opposite of the UTH.

I bought a IR thermo today and the area under the lamp was right about 90-95. The area over the UTH was about 106, so I've turned that off until I get a thermostat. I've also covered part of the screen with the solid cover to try to get the air temp a bit higher. Is there anything to do help get the air temp up?

Reading the LG care post, I'm a bit worried that I may have put a couple of the aggressive crickets in a while back (not knowing any better). As I think back, there were probably other signs like little cricket exoskeletons around. More bad advice, "put the crickets in the cage, give them some kale to keep them alive longer". I didn't do that, but I didn't remove the cricket right away either. I think Candice may be spooked.

I did put in some mealworms yesterday and unless they all escaped the dish in the last 2 hours (not likely) I think she ate them (while I was having dinner). I have an abundance of mealworms (eating oats) because they are for second grade science projects. I'm having trouble finding "medium" crickets. I can find really large and really small crickets. She is also eliminating okay, not real large ones like before but some small ones.

I'm trying to get things together because I'm worried all my fumbling to get things right may be stressing her out.

What should I do about feeding? Let her get hungry and then put (crickets/other?) in for a set period? Hobble the crickets and leave them in a dish?

About a UTH for a 20G long tank? The Zoo Med UTH (what I can find around here) looks to be 12" x 8", which is good width, but not 1/3 length.

With a thermostat, does the probe go in under the slate tiles? Or stuck between the UTH and glass? I understand you could set it at 97deg to get 95 on the tiles, but where is the best place?

I'm sure I've forgotten a bunch of questions, but this is a start.

Pete

[acpart]

It's probably more stressful on us as gecko owners than it is on the gecko worrying about whether or not we have it right. Even as a relatively experienced owner, having gotten my first gecko 9 years ago and beginning my 8th season breeding, I have days where I worry that none of them is eating, pooping, moving, drinking, etc. enough.
Back to your situation: please realize that there is more than one way to do things. In general, the hot side temperature on the floor should be in the low 90's and, though some people do it differently, a non-particulate substrate is the safest way to go. Here's my take on the rest of it:

air temperature: there's a wide variation on what to do about this. In my opinion, the warm hide, when placed on the UTH, captures the heat, so if a gecko is really cold, it can be in its warm hide and have belly heat and heat above it (between its back and the top of the hide) as well. As a side note, my reptile vet feels strongly that the increase in leopard geckos he's been seeing with eye problems is due to people keeping the air temps too high and the gecko getting dehydrated. I live in New England and the temperature in the living room during the day in the winter is probably in the mid-60's. All the geckos cope and have been very healthy.

less eating and activity: I don't know how big or how old your gecko is. Most juveniles eat daily till they get to about the 25-30 gram point, at which time they don't need to eat every day. I see a correlation between less frequent need to eat and fewer poops (the babies can poop several times a day and my adults, by contrast, poop every few days). Some geckos decrease their intake in the winter and females that are ovulating (mine are starting this month) also don't eat much. (I remember freaking out over intake with my first child like this as well)

feeding schedule: if your gecko is no longer a little baby, consider keeping mealworms in a bowl (don't worry about them escaping; put a bit of grain in the bowl and just corral them again if you notice them in the cage) and feeding about 4 crickets every 2-3 days. Don't worry too much about whether it's eating, just keep offering. Some people say not to keep crickets in the cage but I have never had a problem with this. You can keep a lid of cricket gutload in the cage if you want to be extra sure they don't bother the gecko.

If you find that the gecko is noticeably losing a significant amount of weight, you should consider finding a reptile vet on the off chance that it has parasites (try not to get too worked up about this; if you've had it since T'giving it's not that likely).

I hope this is helpful. If your husbandry is in the ballpark, it makes most sense to just pick something and stick with it. I hope things go well.

Aliza

[VeeDubLove]

I advise against keeping crickets in the cage. They can be infected with internal parasites, and when they defecate the eggs or larva are then in the stool. If the gecko licks up feces or grabs a cricket along with the feces of the cricket (or even if the cricket just so happens to eat a bit of the geckos feces - then the gecko eats the cricket) it will be infected if the said cricket is infected. Its impossible to tell if a cricket is a carrier. There are several different types of life cycles that different parasites have, so depending on the cycle, the mode of transport and infection varies.


Also, I sometimes do a bit of rear leg amputation on crickets. They can still crawl perfectly fine, so a bowl may or may not effectively corral them. My geckos need visual movement to stimulate their prey drive (as I'm sure most leos do) so taking off all of the crickets legs renders the prey useless as it obviously can no longer move.