New Leopard Gecko - Thinking Of Getting One

J

Jon35

New member
Hey Everyone,

I have been wanting to get a leopard gecko for over a year now, but I am restricted because of my housing situation. I live with my parents as I am only 15, and I would love to provide a home for a leopard gecko, but my mother is afraid of the smell they may bring, or more so the smell of the food they bring. I have a few questions to go along with that.
:?: 1)How much do you think it would cost to get everything needed to start raising a gecko?
:?: 2)After the intial set up costs how much per month does it cost?
:?: 3) Do they have non pleasing odour to them? (my moms question)

Anyone who could offer advise to me on those above questions would be awsome. Thanks and I hope to hear from alot of you.

Jon
 
M

miss libby

New member
Question #1) It will cost close to $200.00 just for the set up. That includes everything but the Leo. If you shop around for sales or price breaks maybe $150.00
Question #2) Depending on the amount of food your Leo will eat, and what it will eat could be as little as $10.00 a month no more then $15.00
Question #3) I have not experienced any unpleasent smells unless i had my face
right up in the box of worms or crickets. My Leos dont smell at all. And iv had them for a year.

I noticed you live in canada and the way things are priced here canada is expensive.
 
K

KyleK

New member
Hi Jon

As for buying a leopard gecko, you might want to wait untill the ERAS show. Just because you can sometimes get good deals on leos there.
That is the local Edmonton Reptile Society. If you are not a member of their forum, pm me and I will send you the link to the site.

Kyle
 
J

Jon35

New member
miss libby said:
Question #1) It will cost close to $200.00 just for the set up. That includes everything but the Leo. If you shop around for sales or price breaks maybe $150.00
Question #2) Depending on the amount of food your Leo will eat, and what it will eat could be as little as $10.00 a month no more then $15.00
Question #3) I have not experienced any unpleasent smells unless i had my face
right up in the box of worms or crickets. My Leos dont smell at all. And iv had them for a year.

I noticed you live in canada and the way things are priced here canada is expensive.
Click to expand...

Thanks Miss Libby for the help, I think that $200.00 is a good price to pay for such a specail creature. I have seen deals of leo's for about $45.00. I also think that $10.00 to $15.00 a month is that bad ethier. I have a part time job so I should easily be able to supply a home for a leo.
I have another question for you or whoever is reading this : which is better to feed a leo, crickets or worms? and which are easier to care for?

Thanks for everyones help,
Jon
 
J

Jon McMahon

New member
I don't know... i'd say$200 is a lot more money than you need to spend unless I'm missing something?
10gal tank: $10-$15
heat pad: $25max
water,food calcium dish: $5max total
hideboxes: free and up depending on how elaborate you want to be(margarine containers, plant saucers work as good as anything out there.
Bedding if you want sand $5-$10(please don't rag on me for this one!) better yet paper towel(free)or tile (few dollars).

mind you this will all depend on how elaborate you want to set it up, but a leopard kept with the above items will be very happy and live a long healthy life + the paper towel or tile is easy to clean and will prevent smelly things from happening.

Also if your only keeping the one, food smell probably won't be an issue especially if your just keeping some mealies in the fridge or buying crickets and feeding right away from the pet shop.
If your worried about cost don't let yourself get roped in to a bunch of unneeded tank fixtures.
Hope this helps :D

Jon McMahon
 
M

miss libby

New member
Crickets are an excellent staple but are a pain to keep (at least to me they are).
Mealworms are a good staple also but you have to keep them refrigerated and then take them out 24 hours before you feed your leos to let them gutload. So they are in and out of the frig, and if you dont frig them they with morph into beetles on ya.
Now Superworms are another good staple even better then mealies cuz they are eaiser to digest and are very active. You dont have to frig them, just put them in worm gutload with a few baby carrots and they will last you for months. I bought 500 of them a few months ago and i still have a grip of them.
Silkworms are another excellent staple, i think the most nutricious of all feeders.
They are also easy to care for.
Its good to give them a variety and i do this by buying a few crickets once in a while that way i dont have to keep them on hand and take care of them.
When you decide what feeder you want to use as a staple then let me know and
i will tell you how to care for them. Good luck on getting a leo. they make wonderful pets.
 
J

JaeHood

New member
Jon mcmahon, your forgetting the following items : calcium ( pure) 10$, calcium w/d3 10$, multivitamin 15$, unless you are breeding why bother with a 10 gal.? thats hardly enough space for an adult, go with a 20 long which would cost about 30$, plus a 15$ cover, even on a cheap 10 gal you still need a 10$ cover. Lighting : no uvb, but you still should get a infrared lamp to watch em at night (bulb+some sort of fixture=20$). THEREMOMETER: 15$, and that is a must have, go to walmart and get a cheap digital with a probe. keep the temps between 88-92, this is a must for leos, as they need belly heat to properly digest thier food.
keeping these things in mind will make your leo MUCH happier, so 200$ is a good number, when i bought my first it cost me around that.
 
J

Jon McMahon

New member
Jaehood, no offense but once you get the thermometer then how will you control the temp without a thermostat($50-$100)?
Heat mats commonly available at pet stores will keep the hotspot around hi 80's as is. You can always use a glass thermometer or other you already have at home or borrow to check the temp. . As for mineral + Vitamins I'd skip the calcium with D3 and just get the calcium and a multivitamin which should have D3 already.
I figured if your on a budget you'd probably skip the extra fixtures and night lights. But like I said depends on how elaborate you'd like to set this up.
Good luck and hopefully everything works out with your gecko Jon :)

Jon McMahon
 
M

miss libby

New member
Go with a 20 long your leo will grow fast and the extra room is worth it. That way you dont have to cram everything in there. They need a warm hide a humid hide and a cool hide that wont fit in a 10 gallon trust me. Also just one of the dishes will cost you 5 bucks and the other 5 bucks. you can use the cap off a milk container
for the calcium. Plus the calcium with no d3 and no phophorus (very important)
will cost you about 4 bucks then you need multi vitamin with d3 another 5 bucks.
Please do not buy sand i dont want to see you posting that your leo wont eat or poop because of impaction theres no reason to risk it, its no fun losing a leo when they could live 15 to 20 years. Reptile carpet is good over the uth and it will stay put unlike paper towels, but paper towels are a good thing to use where they use the restroom cuz it can be changed everyday or every other day (very important).
Reptile carpet will run you about 10 bucks, you might want to get an extra piece so you can easily replace it with a clean one(you can hold off on that at first). You can use homemade hides just dont use cardboard because you cant properly clean them in super hot water with out ruining them. And they will harbor parasites and bacteria. Most hides that you buy at the pet store are resistent to these. I myself use thin tupperware for the humid hides . You will need some way to measure your warm side temps the best thing to use is a digital thermometer with a probe. that will be about 10 bucks. A thermostat will keep your temps right at 88 to 90
a good one will cost about 30 bucks. Also i wouldnt be without a huge pair of tweezers to pick up my supers, crickets and silkies and mealies and they are about 8 bucks. These are all nessesary for the health of your leo and ease of caring for it for you. I recommend using superworms as a staple they are the easiest to care for. Worm gutload will run you about 20 bucks that includes shipping. You can start with mealies or crickets but they still need to be gutloaded. Its a good idea to get your setup ready for your leo before the acual purchase so your temps are right and less stress to your new pet. Be patient and get what you need alot of places online are getting ready to post pics of the new babies
they have coming up for sell. Buy from a breeder rather then a pet store
they are in better health and pet stores tend to give out wrong information
and alot of them keep the leos on sand or calcisand or keep a bunch together
without proper quarintene possibly exposing them to parasites or other disease.
WHEW that was a mouthfull. Just want to make sure you will have a heallthy
and happy leo. Then you will be happy too.
 
J

JaeHood

New member
dont need to say no offense, just let me answer: the way you control the temp is add more layers of paper towel under your desired substrate, simple as that, takes some trial and error, but effective nonetheless. Your incorrect, zoo med and exoterra are designed to run at between 100-110F wayyyy to hot for a leo. skipping vitamins and d3 depends on if your housing a juvie, or an adult, with an adult its fine, however because juvies need more d3 ( used to metabolise calcium) using a multivitamin that often could cause toxicity with other vitamins. Light fixtures are not a necesity, but the other things i mentioned are, if you are on a budget, dont get a leo, they are time and wallet consuming, you cant pay, why bother?
 
J

Jon35

New member
Wow thanks everyone!
I really really want one. I just have to convince some other people who are not so found of geckos (my parents, mostly my mom) I like to thank everyone becuase this has helped big time. I am printing it off now so I will always have it with me so I know what to do and what not to do.
I would like to thank:
miss libby, KyleK, Jon McMahon, JaeHood. :wink:

Thanks everyone, I will keep you all posted.

Jon
 
T

Thug Child

New member
By now,i`ve spent about $400 dollars canadian on my single breeder tank.this includes:heatlamp,red bulb,reptile carpet,probably went through more than 20 different sized and different looking hides,lid,temp. gauge, moss, vermiculite, tank, water&food dishes,calcium w/o D3,calcium W D3,vitamins.and a total of $245 on the male and female.the feeding insects since the first was a baby has cost about $185 approximately for one and a half years.for a total of $830 dollars if you are like me and like to re do the tank every month.lol
 
J

JaeHood

New member
Thug, do you have a heat mat ( under tank heater)? You didnt include that in your rundown, and it is a nessesity. However if youve had them for almost 2 years im assuming you do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top