Kagisnad Malchure
New member
Update, 29.12.13:
I filled out a questionnaire:
http://pastebin.com/ih2zDxpA
Hello, I am new to the forum and to leopard geckos, and I want to make sure my baby leopard gecko Loki grows up well.
Right nowhe's about 3 months old I believe, but I don't know for sure. I got him over a week ago, and so far this is how I've been raising him him:
First day:
First day, my tank wasn't ready as the money for it didn't get transferred to my account soon enough, so I didn't have anywhere warm to put him, I only had a tiny glass aquarium. He was very restless in the aquarium, and his body was very cold, so I scooped him up in my hands. He didn't try to run away. He walked across my hands for a little, but then he just rested on my lap because it was warm. I kept him in my lap for almost and he fell asleep too. I've read that baby leos are very skittish naturally so this surprised me, though he probably just needed the warmth and rest from the journey to my house.
Tank:
I finally got the money that evening and got his tank, a Resun PT 400 as that was the only suitable one they had. Currently, his tank has paper towel flooring, a water bowl, a calcium bowl, a feeding bowl [which I might remove for reasons explained further down], a cracked coconut [with a small hole for him to go in], and a felt, long pencil case, unzipped halfway. I'd rather get creative with my hides, and I have to because I live in Romania, where reptiles aren't widespread pets so the pet stores don't have many reptile things, so no hides for sale. I got my leo from a local breeder. For heating, I have a heat pad on 1/4 of the tank, and a lamp heating 1/2 of the tank [heat mat is in that 1/2, as well as the pencil case]. His tank is placed on my desk, which is the only big and stable enough free surface in my room. He gets to see me all the time.
Update: I got a cut flower pot I put upside down as a moist hide. I use squeezed out paper towels as substrate for the pot.
Feeding:
As of now, I place several mealworms in a food dish and leave them there for him to hunt. I used to place them on the substrate, however they'd find ways to get under it.
Handling/bonding:
This is where I'd need the most help, or advice to know if what I've been doing is alright.
After I got him the tank, for two-three days he was very skittish indeed so I didn't try to handle him, instead I'd just put my hand in the tank. He'd stare at it for a bit then walk to a different part of the tank. However, after that I tried approaching my hand to him from underneath and scooping him up. He squirmed around of course but I could pick him up on my hand and take him out. After that, he'd only normally walk across my palms, sometimes stop, then walk again, but he didn't try running quickly, bolting or jumping. I'd also let him explore my desk, and he'd walk around. I try to be very gentle when handling him.
Now, during the past three days after he shed, I handled him like that [place my hand in the tank a little, then approach him and scoop him up] around the time I fed him too. He doesn't show signs of stress [he eats well, his colors aren't dull, he doesn't hide too much, only when he sleeps, and I don't think this would be a stress sign, that he walks and climbs around in his cage, onto the coconut and around him] as far as I know. His daily routine is to sleep almost all day [sometimes he'd get out to walk 'round a bit then go back to sleep, mostly in the coconut], then at night I reckon he walks about, but I can't know since I'm sleeping.
Can I continue to handle him like this and he'll turn out a calm adult, or am I missing something and in fact stressing him and not seeing it? Any other advice you have?
Some more info:
I also should mention that he never hissed at me, tried to bite me, or the like, when trying to pick him up. He only did that twice when I needed to get him out of his hide. Once because I needed to wash the pencil case, he first made a short sneezing noise, but I had to get him out because I hadn't washed the pencil case before he got in it, I just needed a quick hide, and it was used before, so I tried to push him again, then he screamed for a bit and I just left him alone until he got out by himself even if I was worried there might be something harmful in the case, even if it was emptied beforehand. Second time, I was cleaning his tank and I had to clean his coconut too because he shed some skin on it. I tried to gently push him out of the coconut when he did that short sneeze so I just left him in and plucked the skin away from the coconut inside the tank.
Oddly he doesn't mind being touched on the head. Even in his tank, if I gently pet his head, he doesn't run away.
If you want a more detailed explanation of the handling process I have:
First I place my hand in the tank for about 2-3 minutes. Then I gently approach him, when my fingers touch his belly he usually tries to squirm away, but if I follow him with my hand I can pick him up and take my hand out of the tank without him trying to jump off. Then he starts walking across my palms for a bit, then stops for several seconds, walks again [in a normal pace, not running], and I let him walk on my hands and sometimes on the desk too. Usually when he is on the desk and I put my hand in front of him to pick him up, if he stops in front of it he usually takes a different track to avoid it. So far he never tried bolting off my hand, but he also never really stopped and relaxed for longer than half a minute or less.
Sum up of my questions:
Can I continue to handle him like I described?
What other objects should I place in his tank?
What morph could he grow up to be, or just a normal? Here's pics I posted! http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...rd-gecko-photo-mini-contest-5.html#post406554
Anything else you spotted and I should be aware of?
Thank you, your advice is priceless for me, as I want my baby to grow up a healthy, calm leo. I read up on all the material I could find on the net but there's nothing better than a direct answer on my exact situation.
I filled out a questionnaire:
http://pastebin.com/ih2zDxpA
Hello, I am new to the forum and to leopard geckos, and I want to make sure my baby leopard gecko Loki grows up well.
Right now
First day:
First day, my tank wasn't ready as the money for it didn't get transferred to my account soon enough, so I didn't have anywhere warm to put him, I only had a tiny glass aquarium. He was very restless in the aquarium, and his body was very cold, so I scooped him up in my hands. He didn't try to run away. He walked across my hands for a little, but then he just rested on my lap because it was warm. I kept him in my lap for almost and he fell asleep too. I've read that baby leos are very skittish naturally so this surprised me, though he probably just needed the warmth and rest from the journey to my house.
Tank:
I finally got the money that evening and got his tank, a Resun PT 400 as that was the only suitable one they had. Currently, his tank has paper towel flooring, a water bowl, a calcium bowl, a feeding bowl [which I might remove for reasons explained further down], a cracked coconut [with a small hole for him to go in], and a felt, long pencil case, unzipped halfway. I'd rather get creative with my hides, and I have to because I live in Romania, where reptiles aren't widespread pets so the pet stores don't have many reptile things, so no hides for sale. I got my leo from a local breeder. For heating, I have a heat pad on 1/4 of the tank, and a lamp heating 1/2 of the tank [heat mat is in that 1/2, as well as the pencil case]. His tank is placed on my desk, which is the only big and stable enough free surface in my room. He gets to see me all the time.
Update: I got a cut flower pot I put upside down as a moist hide. I use squeezed out paper towels as substrate for the pot.
Feeding:
As of now, I place several mealworms in a food dish and leave them there for him to hunt. I used to place them on the substrate, however they'd find ways to get under it.
Handling/bonding:
This is where I'd need the most help, or advice to know if what I've been doing is alright.
After I got him the tank, for two-three days he was very skittish indeed so I didn't try to handle him, instead I'd just put my hand in the tank. He'd stare at it for a bit then walk to a different part of the tank. However, after that I tried approaching my hand to him from underneath and scooping him up. He squirmed around of course but I could pick him up on my hand and take him out. After that, he'd only normally walk across my palms, sometimes stop, then walk again, but he didn't try running quickly, bolting or jumping. I'd also let him explore my desk, and he'd walk around. I try to be very gentle when handling him.
Now, during the past three days after he shed, I handled him like that [place my hand in the tank a little, then approach him and scoop him up] around the time I fed him too. He doesn't show signs of stress [he eats well, his colors aren't dull, he doesn't hide too much, only when he sleeps, and I don't think this would be a stress sign, that he walks and climbs around in his cage, onto the coconut and around him] as far as I know. His daily routine is to sleep almost all day [sometimes he'd get out to walk 'round a bit then go back to sleep, mostly in the coconut], then at night I reckon he walks about, but I can't know since I'm sleeping.
Can I continue to handle him like this and he'll turn out a calm adult, or am I missing something and in fact stressing him and not seeing it? Any other advice you have?
Some more info:
I also should mention that he never hissed at me, tried to bite me, or the like, when trying to pick him up. He only did that twice when I needed to get him out of his hide. Once because I needed to wash the pencil case, he first made a short sneezing noise, but I had to get him out because I hadn't washed the pencil case before he got in it, I just needed a quick hide, and it was used before, so I tried to push him again, then he screamed for a bit and I just left him alone until he got out by himself even if I was worried there might be something harmful in the case, even if it was emptied beforehand. Second time, I was cleaning his tank and I had to clean his coconut too because he shed some skin on it. I tried to gently push him out of the coconut when he did that short sneeze so I just left him in and plucked the skin away from the coconut inside the tank.
Oddly he doesn't mind being touched on the head. Even in his tank, if I gently pet his head, he doesn't run away.
If you want a more detailed explanation of the handling process I have:
First I place my hand in the tank for about 2-3 minutes. Then I gently approach him, when my fingers touch his belly he usually tries to squirm away, but if I follow him with my hand I can pick him up and take my hand out of the tank without him trying to jump off. Then he starts walking across my palms for a bit, then stops for several seconds, walks again [in a normal pace, not running], and I let him walk on my hands and sometimes on the desk too. Usually when he is on the desk and I put my hand in front of him to pick him up, if he stops in front of it he usually takes a different track to avoid it. So far he never tried bolting off my hand, but he also never really stopped and relaxed for longer than half a minute or less.
Sum up of my questions:
Can I continue to handle him like I described?
What other objects should I place in his tank?
What morph could he grow up to be, or just a normal? Here's pics I posted! http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...rd-gecko-photo-mini-contest-5.html#post406554
Anything else you spotted and I should be aware of?
Thank you, your advice is priceless for me, as I want my baby to grow up a healthy, calm leo. I read up on all the material I could find on the net but there's nothing better than a direct answer on my exact situation.
Last edited:
