Randall Update

[Jennifer1]

We have had Randall for 4 weeks now. He seems to be doing well, and is a little piggy! My daughter is afraid to let him eat as much as he wants, and usually gives him 6 or 7 small crickets or a few crickets and a couple mealworms each day; he would eat more. He will come up into her hand to get the worms, or take them from her fingers. He comes out of his hide when we call him if he wants food, but otherwise is still kind of shy & skittish.

We replaced his lights with a CHE (with thermostat) after the moon bulb burned out after just 2 weeks; way too expensive to replace that often. Still tweaking the temps, but warm hide is usually around 88-90, air temp on the warm side around 80 and 70-75 on the cool side. He spends most of his time in the warm hide, occasionally in the humid hide in the early evening, and rarely inside or on top of his cool hide; sometimes we manage to catch him out exploring at night. He shed a week ago; the first we have been aware of. He had been pooping every day, but lately has sometimes skipped a day. Does that mean he is taking a while to digest, or that he needs more to eat, or normal?

Tonight he was licking up some excess Ca powder that spilled into the tank when I was giving him dusted crickets. Does that mean he needs more Ca or just that he's acquired a taste for it? He's been getting crickets dusted with Ca+D3 once or twice a week and dusted with Reptivite once a week. Here is a couple of pics I took tonight; he seems to have grown maybe an inch & his tail is starting to fill out more:

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Tonight he was licking up some excess Ca powder that spilled into the tank when I was giving him dusted crickets. Does that mean he needs more Ca or just that he's acquired a taste for it? He's been getting crickets dusted with Ca+D3 once or twice a week and dusted with Reptivite once a week.

Randall seems to be maturing well! As long as he has a water dish and his humid hide is kept moist, I don't see cause to worry about less frequent poops.

Hummmmm, interesting! Just a couple licks of the spilled powder or was Randall eager to go after it all?

You have Reptivite with D3 and Repti-Calcium with D3, both Zoo Med?

An easier way to keep the moist hide humid:
GU's Conched (Matt) says that it's much easier to keep the moist hide substrate dampish if an entry hole 2 inches off the ground is cut into an opaque plastic tub. Then add 2 inches of sphagnum moss to that hide. Use the lid of the container as the ceiling.

 

[Jennifer1]

Randall seems to be maturing well! Hummmmm, interesting! Just a couple licks of the spilled powder or was Randall eager to go after it all?

You have Reptivite with D3 and Repti-Calcium with D3, both Zoo Med?

He was really interested in it and sat there and licked at it several times, though he didn't try to lick all of it up. Maybe he's just come to associate it with food?

Yes, the Zoo-Med Reptivite with D3 and Repti-Calcium with D3.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

He was really interested in it and sat there and licked at it several times, though he didn't try to lick all of it up. Maybe he's just come to associate it with food?

Yes, the Zoo-Med Reptivite with D3 and Repti-Calcium with D3.

Please post to this thread if Randall licks spilled calcium on the substrate consistently. I'm wondering whether Randall needs more calcium and/or D3?

We replaced his lights with a CHE (with thermostat) after the moon bulb burned out after just 2 weeks; way too expensive to replace that often. Still tweaking the temps, but warm hide is usually around 88-90, air temp on the warm side around 80 and 70-75 on the cool side.

Just curious about your thermostat situation. Did you get a second thermostat (type ?) for the CHE? Perhaps you upgraded to a proportional thermostat?

 

[Jennifer1]

I replaced the first thermostat I had on the UTH with the Hydrofarm one, but was still getting almost the same range of temps so I think maybe the thermometer I have is just more sensitive and registers the very brief drops and peaks in temp at the end of each cycle that the thermostat may not have a chance to register. When we first changed to the CHE I orignally wanted to put it on a dimmer, but couldn't find one locally so hooked it up to the first thermostat I had. I am getting much less fluctation at that lower setting.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I replaced the first thermostat I had on the UTH with the Hydrofarm one, but was still getting almost the same range of temps so I think maybe the thermometer I have is just more sensitive and registers the very brief drops and peaks in temp at the end of each cycle that the thermostat may not have a chance to register. When we first changed to the CHE I orignally wanted to put it on a dimmer, but couldn't find one locally so hooked it up to the first thermostat I had. I am getting much less fluctation at that lower setting.

The stated variance (+/- 3*F) is the same with the BAH thermostat you bought as with the Hydrofarm. Hope the smaller probe of the Hydrofarm (and the movable suction cup situation) is more to your liking.

What you report about less fluctuation with the somewhat lower CHE setting using your original BAH 1000 thermostat is interesting. I wonder why?

Did you go with a 100 watt CHE?

 

[Jennifer1]

Did you go with a 100 watt CHE?

A 60 watt CHE in a 8.5" dome, since we just have the small tank for now.

Hope to get a bigger one soon, but haven't had any luck finding one at either of the pet stores closest to us, and haven't had a chance to look at the the others yet. Started to order one from Petsmart when they had the 30% off cybersale last week, but they were going to charge more for shipping than the price of the terrarium, so close to $400 total! I'd like to get the exo terra one that is 36x18x12, but we may have to settle for a 20 gal long aquarium. I think the nearby Petco at least had a couple of those. I don't understand how these stores can sell all these exotic animals, but not stock the proper supplies to care for them. How can they sell dragons & iguanas when they have nothing but 10 & 20 gal tanks in the store?? Frustrating!!

 

[Jennifer1]

I am not sure how old he is; my daughter did not ask when she got him. She has had him 5 weeks now, and I would guess he is about 5 or 6 inches long, and still has that juvenile look about him. We haven't tried to actually measure or weigh him to avoid stressing him out. She does not handle him, but does occasionally let him eat mealworms out of her hand.

She usually feeds him about 6-8 small crickets, or a combination of crickets and mealworms every evening. He would eat more, but she's afraid of overfeeding. She hasn't gotten into an exact supplementation schedule, but generally has been dusting all the bugs for a feeding with zoo-med Ca + D3 twice a week, and with zoo-med reptivit once a week. I recently advised her to dust half with vitamins twice a week rather than all once a week. I have been present for maybe 2/3 of his feedings and this was the only time I saw him lick the spilled powder. It did almost seem more curiosity; he did take more than one lick, but did not eat it all or come back later for more. I have told her she needs to be more careful about the supplements and have a regular schedule so she doesn't accidentally over or under supplement.

The crickets are being fed a combination of zoo-med bearded dragon food supplemented with fresh veggies, and Zoo-Med Cricket Care gut load. The mealworms are being fed a combination of oatmeal, oat bran, and greens & veggies.

I have not seen him act weird around his defecation area, and he continues to poop every other day for the most part, always in the same spot. The stools appear normal, maybe slightly larger than when he was going every day.

The only unusual behavior I have seen has just been in the last couple of days, not at the time I observed him licking up the calcium, where he has suddenly decided to stay in his humid hide for hours at a time, rather than just for brief periods in the early morning or evening. I doubled checked all the temps & humidity, and nothing had changed (warm hide floor 88-90, warm side air temp around 80, cool side around 73, humidity around 40%) and he does not appear to be about to shed. I changed the paper towel in it today as I noticed that the previous ones had gotten bunched up on one side, and this is where he would always be, laying on top of the thicker area. So I put a new one it and made sure it was more flattened out evenly, and he spent the rest of the day in his warm dry hide like normal and was eager to eat like always.

 

[cricket4u]

Sorry about deleting the post. I changed my mind due to the fact that you were having problems with the thermostat, therefore the outcome can be quite unpredictable. It will be a good idea to have your daughter keep a log of everything such as defecation dates, what was fed, quantity, supplement days, how many were dusted, weight and daily behavior in her leo. This information will be quite valuable in the future if any problems were to develop.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Updated Information on Reptivite with D3 and Repti-Calcium with D3

She usually feeds him about 6-8 small crickets, or a combination of crickets and mealworms every evening. He would eat more, but she's afraid of overfeeding. She hasn't gotten into an exact supplementation schedule, but generally has been dusting all the bugs for a feeding with zoo-med Ca + D3 twice a week, and with zoo-med reptivit once a week. I recently advised her to dust half with vitamins twice a week rather than all once a week. I have been present for maybe 2/3 of his feedings and this was the only time I saw him lick the spilled powder. It did almost seem more curiosity; he did take more than one lick, but did not eat it all or come back later for more. I have told her she needs to be more careful about the supplements and have a regular schedule so she doesn't accidentally over or under supplement.

Do you know about how much Randall weighs?

***Current directions (16 May 2013) on Zoo Med's Reptivite with D3/A acetate:

"Directions for Insectivores: Place crickets in a plastic bag with a small amount of Reptivite w/d3 and shake to "dust" crickets with the powder. Feed approximately 12 dusted crickets per week for every 2.5 ounces (71 grams) of body weight."

So if your leo weighs 24 grams, the recommendation would be only 4 lightly dusted crickets per week with Reptivite with D3. Baby leopard geckos weigh much less, so maybe just 2 Reptivite-dusted crickets per week.

One real problem in recommending exactly what to do is the size of the crickets fed.

"Make sure you do not exceed the amount of Reptivite per body weight. It would also be best to split/spread out the amount instead of dusting a large amount in one day. This will at least help provide a more balanced diet. Some of us are uncomfortable dusting as frequently as suggested. Instead feed the insects a quality diet 24/7, a quality gut load, a variety of insects, and the multivitamin less frequently." [thanks to cricket4u]

Improved Supplementation Schedule:
1. Monday ~~~> Repti-Calcium with D3 on all crickets
2. Thursday ~~~> Repti-Calcium with D3 on all crickets
3. Reptivite with D3 (adjusted for Randall's weight) on 2-4 crickets total for the week balanced during the week

 

[Jennifer1]

No, I don't know his weight. He is still pretty skittish & I don't feel it's worth stressing him out right now. When it's time for a thorough tank cleaning & she has to remove him anyway, I will be sure to get a weight then.

Today makes six weeks that she's had him, and he still seems to be doing well. I think he shed again, but not sure. He is still loves to eat. She has given him up to 10 medium crickets and he would probably eat more!