My first Leopard gecko

[Mardy]

We can always use more responsible leopard gecko owners. I've seen way too many that just makes me wanna go "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!". :shock:

It's very exciting watching them progress and grow up. I just got 2 new leopard geckos that are a lil over a month old. The youngest one still aims badly, but I let her have at it because she needs to learn to hunt. She's getting it, slowly. Watching her prowl and stalk the lil mealworms...just makes you smile.

 

[Pokeefe88]

I've seen some people that make me wince too but thats human nature.

I would love to see pictures of your little ones if you can! I will see if I can get some of mine tonight when I feed her. It will still be in red as I dont have a regular lamp over there and I'm trying not to stress her out when I feed her. Hopefully she will eat the phoenixworms. I'm looking forward to feeding time!

Instead of studying the final I've been half the day making small adjustments to her husbandry, :rofl: oops! I kept telling myself to go study but feeding the worms and crickets felt more important. At least the class is over!

 

[Mardy]

LOL now that's funny. I know how that feels, I spent a lot of time over past few days tweaking my dubia roach colony setup, and cleaning superworms (gawd they smell awful). I don't think I've ever spent this much time on roaches before, it's really funny because just 2 months ago I was totally against roaches. They gave me the heebie jeebies. When I first got them I was like "OMG what was I thinking, they are just nasty!"

Now 2 months later, I'm feeding them just like I feed my geckos rofl. But hey, good feeders = good healthy geckos

 

[Mardy]

I would love to see pictures of your little ones if you can!

 

[Geck-oh]

Congrats on the new gecko, and I'm very impressed that you buckled down and researched them for such a long time, more people should follow your example.

 

[Pokeefe88]

Thanks for the picture of your baby leos Mardy! They are super cute and I am sure they will be very happy.

Oh Mardy, how do you embed the pictures in a post? I havent been able to find how to do that. Like you just did?

I would hope that people would research especially for reptiles they have certain requirements that must be met. Thanks for the complement Geck-oh!

I remembered to bring my phone with me tonight and I had the idea of turning off all the lights so it was just a red light and she was so much MORE active! :yahoo: I got to see her explore her home a bit after she ate 4 phoenixworms. I don't think she understands the worms in a bowl for her however and I cant lead her to it as shes still a bit scared of me.

I did put my hand in the tank a few times to let her 'smell' me and she came close a few times but would walk away. I think thats a success as she isnt running for a hide or raising her tail when she seems me unless she's full and would rather not be bothered by me

Here are some pictures of her, I got some videos but I have to convert them or something and I have a final in 2 hours so I thought I would do a quick update as I couldnt last night.

I also noticed her get low to her belly when I was feeding her, I wasn't sure what that meant. I can't remember what I was doing at that time however, putting in a new worm, watching her explore, she just ate...etc.


:yahoo: At least she is eating, I was worried about her refusing to eat!

Edit: The black hide she is behind is the new humid hide I had made for her so that it was easy to get into. She goes in there after eating. :idea:

 

[Mardy]

Oh Mardy, how do you embed the pictures in a post? I havent been able to find how to do that. Like you just did?

Signup for a free photobucket.com account, upload your pictures there. Then grab the link they provide you for your pictures, and when posting here click on "insert image", and paste the link in. That should do the trick.

Oh and great pictures btw, the 2nd one where she's looking up at you is priceless.

 

[Pokeefe88]

Thanks! I've been trying to figure how to do that. I think I have an account.

I know, with the red light she was a lot more comfortable & I got a bunch of cute pictures of her. can she see those light blue lights? I heard that they can't but they aren't recommended.

 

[Mardy]

They can see the lights actually, just that red lights don't bother them for the most part. So red bulb is great for viewing them without startling them.

You have an albino, which means by default she is more sensitive to light. So it would make sense to not use light during the day, it would simply make her close her eyes and run for cover.

 

[Pokeefe88]

Ok, I was not sure. I use the light for viewing, its on today so she can reach her temps of 90 to digest.

Thanks!

 

[Mardy]

She should be fine with red light, I was saying to not use a blue/white light. I know many guides say geckos can't see red light. But I've seen many videos of people testing this by having a close camera shot on the leopard gecko's eyeball. When the red light is turned on & off, their pupils dilate.

So they can see red light, it just doesn't bother them like white/blue lights do.

 

[Lenewen]

She should be fine with red light, I was saying to not use a blue/white light. I know many guides say geckos can't see red light. But I've seen many videos of people testing this by having a close camera shot on the leopard gecko's eyeball. When the red light is turned on & off, their pupils dilate.

So they can see red light, it just doesn't bother them like white/blue lights do.

Ehhhh I wouldn't say that. The pupils react to there being more light, which means they know there is more light but it does not disprove they can't see the color red, like some are saying. It only shows their pupils react to light, regardless of color.

Red is a dark color, probably pretty similar to moonlight, except we see it as a different color than the whitish moon. It probably just looks like a dim light to them, so they are more comfortable with it.

Its been proven they can see green and blue I believe, but there isn't any evidence they see red the way we do because there are no cones in their eyes that can view it. They will see red objects (its not like they're invisible to them) but they can't tell the object is red as opposed to a varying shade of gray.

In any case, its WAY better than the basking light I rescued my poor Eos from! Gotta looove people who are too lazy to do their research. Pokeefe88 is a rare breed!

 

[Mardy]

Yeah I don't think I worded it correctly. They see some sort of light from those experiments, but they most likely don't know it's red. And whatever it is they see, it doesn't bother them.

 

[Lenewen]

They see some sort of light from those experiments, but they most likely don't know it's red. And whatever it is they see, it doesn't bother them.

lol pretty much! I may run a few experiments of my own. I am fascinated by their unique eye structure. The light issue is such a hot debate, I can't help wanting to find out the answer.

 

[Pokeefe88]

Dually noted about the lighting!!

She only ate two phoenixworms last night, I think one was starting to change and she didnt like that. So think she lost her appetite after that. I read the ones that are dark/black have the most Calcium however.
***

I feel like such an idiot! Her temps were a bit low this morning (85 or so; 4am) and I thought it was going to be cooler today so i put on the cermaic heater however it was on top of the cage and while i have it on a 'thermostat'.

(Its not really a thermostat. Its the Zoo Med ReptiTemp 500R Remote Sensor Thermostat which is a lie because I have to constantly monitor it, it has a dimmer dial so its basicly a rheostat instead.)

So her tank was 99 f :shock: when I got into my room today at 3 pm.. ugh I feel so bad! Its the first time I saw her out in the day time and on the farthest corner of the cool side. She saw me and kind of panicked and then ran to the hot side and into her favorite hide (84 f about 5 mins later) as I was panicking and trying to move the CHE away and turn it off.

So what I want to know is that she will be okay, right? I know the temp isnt supposed to get over 97 and I have no idea for how long its been that hot...ugh I feel like a shitty mom right now...

The cool side was 84ish, I have a PE-1 Temp Gun that I aimed about 1-3in from the floor. I have slate tiles. I misted the tank and the temp dropped about 6 degrees.......

She still has water and ate 2 mealworms that I had put out this morning.

 

[Mardy]

Yup she should be fine, that's why you have a cool side and a hot side. She was on the cool side trying to shy away from the heat, so she did what she should've done. It would've been bad if you didn't have temperature gradient, but thankfully you have your tank setup correctly.

 

[Pokeefe88]

That's why I got the 20 gallon long as was suggested by Elizabeth when I first joined. I have more money now so I will be going to get a better thermostat that I can have a set temperature of 93 to be safe. Still feel bad but she seems okay, I am glad that she moved to the cool side though. She's back in her fav hide on the hotside but thats 93 f now. Can you recommend a good digital therm? Mine is always off by 2-4 degrees or should I just live with that? Its a small exo-terra one.

Edit: Can you recommend any thermostats?

 

[Mardy]

2-4 degrees off isn't bad in my opinion, you can set it so it shuts off when it goes above 95. As long as the temperature stays between 88-95 your leopard gecko should be fine.

Helix & Herpstat are the two expensive thermostats if you really want to spend the money to get proportional thermostats.

For cheaper alternatives, there's yours, BAH-1000, hydrofarm, zilla, etc..

 

[Lenewen]

Amazon.com: Hydrofarm MTPRTC Digital Thermostat For Heat Mats: Patio, Lawn & Garden

A cheap but good thermostat

I have 4 of them. Theyre digital and work great. You just need an outlet strip to plug in all your lights and heat mats, it only comes with 1 outlet. Be sure to use a surge protector as well btw, for fire safety.

 

[Pokeefe88]

Okay thanks! I think I might just go to petco & get zilla because im gorging of constantly monitoring the temps.


Do you think I should take her to the exotic vet for an initial exam to make sure she is healthy? I wanted to do a fecal to test for parasites. It cost $60 for the initial exam & $42 for the fecal test. She seems healthy but I don't wan't to be an irresponsible owner. What so you think?