Getting A White Line(lined?) Gecko, Need Some Advice.

[Joeyb1989]

I currently work at Petsmart in the pet care department and I have only been there for about six months so i'm not really in the know on a lot of things yet. We have a White Line Gecko and she has been there since I started. I have finally decided that I would take her home because I know I can offer her a great home and I have always wanted a Lizard/Gecko. I wanted to get the bearded dragon we have but I know for a fact someone will buy him soon and I have doubts she will be going anywhere for awhile.

I'm a little lost though on where to start I'm hearing different things from different people. For instance I was told that I only needed a 60watt heating light and just turn it off at night and she will be fine... is that really a good idea? or is it better to get the day light and night light?.

Food i'm not so concerned about I have easy access to crickets and from feeding her she has quite the appetite.

Apparently shes very gentle and not aggresive my co-worker even took her out and was holding her to demonstate how she wont bite at all. Because I do want something I can hold once in a while. But I have been reading that they are related to the tokay gecko and can be aggresive... I sold a tokay gecko... I still remember the bite I got from that little venture.

Is this a good beginner Gecko?, I'm use to havings dogs and cats (two german shepards and a cat). Am I in over my head? I don't want to take her home and then have her unhappy because of my lack of experience I would feel horrible.

Thanks for reading this , and any help you can offer.

Oh and if you currently own a White Line Gecko what type of habitat do you have it in? like what subtrate do you use, ect.

Thanks again.

 

[holocaustto]

I would go for it.
I mean, if you're already working where the animals lives, you can easily "emulate" the conditions it has over there. Even better if you improve them. You are used to feed him and know for sure it's healthy and the most important thing, you want to!
I think the white lined is a good one to begin with.
You can always make some research of course! Here's plenty of information about white lined Geckos, even a lot of people breeding them succesfully.

(I found very fuunny what you said about that "selling a Tokay" experience hehehe)

Good luck! and let us know about your decition.
(Im sorry for my bad English hehe)

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey Joey,

I bought a breeding pair of White Lines almost a year ago. I now have 5 babies and a few more eggs stuck to the glass. The female also looks like she's going to lay a couple more eggs any day now.

I have my pair in an 18"x18"x24" Exo-Terra with bark, branches and live & plastic plants. The substrate is a layer of hydroton (clay balls), screening, horticultural charcoal, screening and then some earth/mulch mixture. The have a fluorescent light above with a small 20W puck light for a heat source.

I keep the enclosure humid by misting in the morning and evening. My White Lines eat mostly crickets and occasionally blended fruit or Repashy Gecko Diet.

There are a few pics here of when I first set up the enclosure but it looks far better now .... http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...lden-white-lined-etc/33428-vittatus-eggs.html. And some pics of babies in these threads ... http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm.../35919-happy-white-line-new-year-me-pics.html ........ http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...hite-lined-etc/39449-mothers-day-present.html.

Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll answer as best as I can.

Dyesub Dave. :biggrin:

 

[holocaustto]

My mistake...
"white lines" ...don't know why wrote "lined" xD!!

How do you edit the threads title??

 

[Saille]

White Lined geckos are hardy geckos. I have three males and a little female that someone gave me, (I'm waiting for her to grow before I introduce her to any male) and they all have vertical set ups of various sizes, (according to how big they are, they get upgraded as they grow) with paper towel substrate (monitoring their poop and ease of cleaning) with lots of hides and fake leaves and plants.
They are little cousins to the Tokays and can be quite vocal, my males will sometimes screech at me when I mist them. Dyesub Dave basically said everything there is to say and he has eggs, so his set ups are probably best to follow.
Its great that your gecko sounds like she is tame, what I would suggest is keeping her on paper towels for the first few weeks, and trying to get a fresh fecal sample in to the vet to test her for parasites. That way you can take care of any possible underlying problems, treat her if she needs it, and you can enjoy her for a long time.
If she's clean, (and it sounds like she's fine if she has such a great appetite) then you are good to go.
My little female loves the Repashy Crested gecko Diet as well as her variety of insects. The males seem to eat it as juvies, then grow out of it, but I still give some to them on occasion.
Good luck with your Vitattus, looking forward to seeing pics!

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Yes .... as Saille said that's great if you have a somewhat tame White Line! Both of my adults are very skittish and there's no way that I could likely hold on to one. However the babies that have hatched start out a little skittish but the older ones are getting used to being handled and aren't much more difficult than a Crested Gecko.

But in my opinion if you're looking for a really good starter gecko I definitely suggest a Crested Gecko. They're generally very calm and aren't quite as demanding as the White Lines. ( ie. Heat source, humidity ) But if you are able to handle the White Line then they're not much more work than a Crestie either.

Good Luck and be sure to post some pics if you bring her home!! ;-)

Dyesub Dave. :biggrin:

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Requirements for a white-lined gecko

You don't know how lucky you are to actually be able to hold your white-lined gecko :shock: I can't hold mine at all (but I intend to fix that whenever I get around to moving his terrarium to another room).

For caging, I feel a bit embaressed to say I don't keep my gecko in a vertical set-up. Pepe's terrarium is a 35 gallon long terrarium with a floorspace of 36"x12.5" and a height of 19" so it could definately be higher. However, from actually watching Pepe, the height of the enclosure doesn't seem to be as important for glass-climbing geckos as does "glass space." I.e. the more glass they have to climb on, the happier they will be. It is sort of like floor space for a terrestrial lizard because the gecko treats it as such.

For substrate I use newspaper to soak up excess water from misting, then I cover it with a somewhat thin (just enough to cover the newspaper) blanket of Reptibark to keep it looking natural. This is probably more important for me than it is for you because my white-lined gecko was probably wild-caught.

For lighting and heating I use a 100 watt heat bulb which I leave on all the time (even at night) and a lamp with two 25 watt linear rainforest Dayglo bulbs from Exo-terra which I leave on during the day to supply extra heat but which I turn off at night.

For humidity I mist atleast twice a day with one of those spritzers that has a water reservoir and a pump, and that emits a lot of water with each spray. I mist moderately in the morning (or whenever I wake up :coverlaugh and lightly in the evening before I give Pepe his crickets.

That's about it from me. If you want any more hints or advice on what I do, you can ask here and I'll try my best to reply.