Leopard Gecko Corwin: New LG Momma!

[Corwin's Keeper]

Hello Everyone!

First off, a big THANK YOU to the GU group for offering such a wealth of knowledge here! Before getting my LG this weekend at Repticon, I spent a few weeks doing tons of research. I've read the caresheet here numerous times and read quite a few books along the way too. For the most part I've been able to search for answers to my questions, but I do have a few left.

As this is my first Leopard Gecko, I am beyond open to suggestions on how to better care for this little guy/gal. Below I've filled out the questionaire - please let me know if you see any alarms! A few additional questions below

Gender: Unknown (too young to sex)
Age: ~ 2 months
Weight: Unknown (in the midst of the two week leave alone period, no handling as of yet)
How big was the reptile when you first acquired it? I would say 5 inches
Source (pet store, breeder, previous owner): Repticon Convention - breeder
Captive bred or wild caught? Captive bred

Enclosure:

Cage: type, size: 20G long tank (aquarium)
Substrate provided? (10) 6” porcelain tiles
What types of hiding places are provided? (1) cool hide (2) warm hides
Is there a humidity hide? Yes, filled with sphagnum moss
Please describe any other furnishings: None

Lighting:

Artificial lighting? No
incandescent (“screw-in” bulbs): wattage(s) ? No
fluorescent (tube bulbs)? No

Temperature:

Do you have a thermometer(s) in the cage? what type? 1 - Yes, digital it is moved to either side of the cage to check temperatures
What is the temperature in the warmest part of the cage? In the coolest part? Floor - 76F 83F, Air - 72F 80.2F (ran home and checked today during my lunch hour - I am still working on tweaking the dimmer on the UTH - aiming for 88-93F for ground temp).
What device(s) are used to maintain the temperature? hot rock, heat pad,
warm room, heat light, ceramic heater, aquarium heater, other: UTH (30-40 gallon) on a dimmer, a CHE (60w) on a thermostat.

Is the temperature decreased at night? by how much? The CHE is turned off at night (on a timer)

Humidity:

Is the humidity measured? Range: Yes (with thermometer/hygrometer), forgot to check this.


List other animals that are kept in the same cage: None
Recent acquisitions (new pets within the past 6 months)
Are any of your other pets ill?
List recent changes in the environment, if any:

Diet:

Insects, list type? Crickets, Phoneix Worms
Are they “gut loaded”? If so with? Cricket Food from Premium Crickets website: Crude Protein Min 20%, Crude Fat Min 6.5%, Crude Fiber Min 7.0%,
Calcium Min 0.8% - Max 1.1%, Phosphorous Min 0.3%, phoenix worms not fed
How often do you feed your reptile? Every day
Please list any supplements used. How are they given and how often? Zoo Med’s Reptivitive with D3 twice a week
What calcium brand are you using? with D, without or both? Zoo Med’s Reptivitive with D3
Is the calcium in the tank with D or without? without
Multivitamins? None (I think the Reptivitive I use contains multi-vitamins?)

Questions:
How do I know when he/she is no longer a juvenile (so I know when to switch the feeding schedule to 3x a week)?
How often should I change out the sphagnum moss in the moist hide (on the package it says I can rinse an resuse it a few times before tossing it)?

Thanks so much for your time! Here are some pics of the little one :biggrin: . I will try to get a picture of the entire enclosure up here soon as well.

 

[XoVictoryXo]

Congrats on your new leo! he/she is GORGEOUS!

How do I know when he/she is no longer a juvenile (so I know when to switch the feeding schedule to 3x a week)?

Usually around 6 months is when they surpass Juvenile and you can sex them. As for how much to feed her just feed her till she no longer shows interest. and as for when, go based on how big she is. if she is larger she can eat fewer times a week, but if she is smaller you should offer food daily.

How often should I change out the sphagnum moss in the moist hide (on the package it says I can rinse an resuse it a few times before tossing it)?

I personally prefer to use paper towels because some leo's eat the sphagnum moss.

kudos to you for researching everything prior to purchasing your baby!

 

[cricket4u]

Hello,

Can you be a little more specific in regards to location and temps.

Floor - 76F 83F, Air - 72F 80.2F

83f above the UTH?

80.2f air. With the CHE?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi Corwin's Momma ~

A hearty welcome to Geckos Unlimited!

Excellent job on your leo research :yahoo:. You have come to a good place for advice.

I am super-impressed that your initial post is a post copying cricket4u's survey and that you've done well giving your thread a title ;-). Not only will that keep all from repeating good advice, it will give a history of Corwin.

Every so often I have had members report that they have found it quite interesting to read such a thread beginning to end!

Please use this post for all your leo questions.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Nitty Gritty

Corwin is one lucky leo to have a mom like you!

Think this will be easier: Plug your UTH into the thermostat since you'll have it on 24/7 and since it is the main heat source. Plug your CHE into the dimmer and timer.

Reptivite with vitamin D3 is a multivitamin formula which includes vitamin A acetate.

Just curious: Does your Premium Crickets' Cricket Food contain any vitamin A at all? type?

Kudos to you for this expert-level setup! I realize what a big expense this is at the outset. Wish all leos were as fortunate.

 

[Corwin's Keeper]

Set Up Tweaks

@XoVictoryXo

Thank you for your reply to my questions! I am one proud momma, he/she has come a long way from "hunting" the first night. Last night, I didn't have to injure the crickets at all.

@cricket4u

For the floor temperatures there is a gradient from 76F on the cold side to 90F (checked again this morning) on the warm side (the warm side of the tank has the UTH below and the CHE above).

For the air temperatures it is about 72F (measured with a thermometer/hygrometer) on the cold side and 80.2F (measured with the Hydrofarm digital thermostat - that was what was on the display) on the warm side. After reading Elizabeth's suggestion however, I will change this set up (more details on the change below )

@Elizabeth Freer

I stalked (in a non-creepy way!) the forums for a few weeks - I am a teacher so I wanted to make sure I did everything right, even writing my title, lol. So I am glad you approve. :yahoo:

Once I get home tonight I will do as you suggested:
-UTH plugged into thermostat (92F)
-CHE plugged into dimmer and timer (need to research hours for timers, I saw it here a few days ago but can't seem to find it again; it broke down how many hours per season - winter, summer, etc. to have your CHE on and off)

Below is the list of ingredients in the cricket food:

Dehulled Soybean Meal, ground corn, fish meal, wheat middlings, rice bran, honey, bee pollen vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin supplement, calcium pantohenate, choline chloride, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite comples, calcium carbonate, magnanous oxide, ferrous sulfate copper chloride, zinc oxide, ethylanadiamine dihydriodide, sodium selenite.

At Repticon the vendor selling the crickets confirmed it was a gut load, so it was an impulse buy to get my little one home without having to make an extra stop at the store. If you think this is no good, please suggest an alternative (flukers orange cube or hi-cal diet?) and I will gladly make the change.

Again, I can't thank you all enough for all of your time and help. THANKS!!

 

[Corwin's Keeper]

Thermostat Probe Placement/Photoperiods

Last night I plugged the UTH into the thermostat as suggested (set to 92F) and left it on to adjust properly. This morning the screen on the thermostat (91F) and the reading I was getting from my digital thermometer (88F) were off from one antoher. With 6" tiles I tried my best to wedge it in between two tiles right in the middle of the UTH, but I wonder if it is taking a reading from the glass rather than from the tile? Has anyone found a good area to place the thermostat probe so it is actually taking the temp of the tiles?

For anyone interested this is what I was able to find for the photoperiods, if you are using a timer for overhead heating:

"You may also want to put the daylight fixture on a timer and give the gecko 10 to 14 hours of light depending on the season"

- Winter (December, January, February)10 hours
- Spring (March, April, May) 12 hours
- Summer (June, July, August) 14 hours
- Fall (September, October, November) 12 hours

 

[cricket4u]

Very comforting to hear you that you connected a thermostat right away to the UTH. Photoperiod consists of daily exposure to light. I was just a bit confused when you mentioned photoperiod, but you're using a CHE. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I just wasn't sure if I misunderstood. Good for you that you're doing your research. Do you mind sharing the source for the benefit of others?

 

[cricket4u]

Below is the list of ingredients in the cricket food:

Dehulled Soybean Meal, ground corn, fish meal, wheat middlings, rice bran, honey, bee pollen vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin supplement, calcium pantohenate, choline chloride, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite comples, calcium carbonate, magnanous oxide, ferrous sulfate copper chloride, zinc oxide, ethylanadiamine dihydriodide, sodium selenite.

See, it's not just about ingredients alone. If you were to follow the method of dusting once a week or less, the goal of 1.5-2:1 ratio of calcium-to-phosphorus will not be achieved. How much of each ingredient is also important. Most of these products do not contain enough calcium and may even be too low in vitamins and minerals. Even if you feed the same diet to different insect, one insect will be higher in certain nutrients than others. This is why we must provide variety of insects.

This was a reply from an old thread and I posted it here for those you are not familiar with what it means to provide a balanced diet to the insects.

In my opinion it will be best to gutload with a complete commercial diet unless your a nutritionist. So far the product that continues to get mentioned is Rex Calcium Plus Food for Crickets. It was tested along with 4 other brands and was the only one successful.Study performed by:

ARAV
TCrickets, Acheta domesticus
J Herpe Med Surg 15[1]:7-12 Jun'05 Experimental Study 13 Refs
* Mark D. Finke, PhD; Shari U. Dunham, PhD; and Christabel A. Kwabi
* Mark D Finke Inc., 6811 E Horned Owl Trail, Scottsdale, AZ 85262, USA

T Rex Calcium Plus Food for Crickets contained sufficient calcium to meet the estimated requirements of insectivorous reptiles and significantly more calcium than those fed the other treatments.Provide crickets with water (damp paper towel or sponge) but no fruits or vegetables or they will consume those preferentially over the calcium enriched diet

Gut-loading diets for crickets (adults and nymphs) should be supplemented to contain the following nutrients, respectively: Ca (51 and 32 g/kg), vitamin A (8,310 and 5,270 µg retinol/kg), vitamin D (300 and 190 µg cholecalciferol/kg), vitamin E (140 and 140 mg RRR-α-tocopherol/kg), thiamin (31 and 21 mg/kg), and pyridoxine (20 and 10 mg/kg).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is why Maurice provided 2 separate feeding methods. One is to provide the insects needs and the other is to provide our geckos a more balanced diet.

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...rition/49403-feeder-insect-diets-gutload.html

 

[tonyperkins203]

Hello! Welcome to the forums!

Like Elizabeth, I am also impressed with the pre-purchase research you conducted. I would expect nothing less from a fellow educator!

One thing I noticed in your questionnaire. Are you using a heat rock? If so, please "pull the plug" on that as soon as possible. Heat rocks are very dangerous and should not be used.

TP

 

[cricket4u]

Hello! Welcome to the forums!

Like Elizabeth, I am also impressed with the pre-purchase research you conducted. I would expect nothing less from a fellow educator!

One thing I noticed in your questionnaire. Are you using a heat rock? If so, please "pull the plug" on that as soon as possible. Heat rocks are very dangerous and should not be used.

TP

Tony,

Her response is after the : :biggrin: It's just one of the options following the question. I know it looks confusing when the response is not on a separate line.

 

[tonyperkins203]

Tony,

Her response is after the : :biggrin: It's just one of the options following the question. I know it looks confusing when the response is not on a separate line.

Ah, my apologies for misreading....

TP

 

[Corwin's Keeper]

"Photoperiods" & Crickets

@cricket4u

Thank you for your responses! Yes, photoperiod was probably the incorrect term I used, haha. I meant photoperiod in regard to the temperature increase experienced when the sun is up compared to when the sun is down, sort of completely ignoring the "photo" part of the term - more of a guideline so I know how many hours to leave the CHE on during different seasons.
With some Googleing I was able to find a list from the Long Island Herpetological Society's website (my post was denied when I tried to include the URL but google "lihs leopard gecko" and it will come up) under the "Temperature & Lighting" section.

Regarding the cricket keeping and gutloading, I just want to make sure I get this right. In my cricket keeper I currently have a piece of apple and a piece of orange (for a water source) and a dish of cricket food. If I purchase T Rex Calcium Plus Food for Crickets I would then take those I was going to feed out of the keeper into a seperate container 18-24 hours before feeding and only provide the T Rex Cricket Food? Is this correct?

Is the cricket food that I currently have an acceptable source of food (but not as a gutload)? I will be making a trip to the pet store during my lunch hour today.

@TonyPerkins203

cricket4u is correct, no heat rocks in Corwin's tank! Picked up a few goodies this weekend for the little one (artificial vegetation and a 12X12 cork bark wall so (s)he has something to rub up against when the next shed begins).

Happy Holidays to all, and thank you again for all of your help!

 

[Melanie_Linn]

Corwin sounds like a very lucky little Leo. I'm still perfecting Phoenix my Leo's set up.

 

[cricket4u]

@cricket4u

Thank you for your responses! Yes, photoperiod was probably the incorrect term I used, haha. I meant photoperiod in regard to the temperature increase experienced when the sun is up compared to when the sun is down, sort of completely ignoring the "photo" part of the term - more of a guideline so I know how many hours to leave the CHE on during different seasons.
With some Googleing I was able to find a list from the Long Island Herpetological Society's website (my post was denied when I tried to include the URL but google "lihs leopard gecko" and it will come up) under the "Temperature & Lighting" section.

Regarding the cricket keeping and gutloading, I just want to make sure I get this right. In my cricket keeper I currently have a piece of apple and a piece of orange (for a water source) and a dish of cricket food. If I purchase T Rex Calcium Plus Food for Crickets I would then take those I was going to feed out of the keeper into a seperate container 18-24 hours before feeding and only provide the T Rex Cricket Food? Is this correct?

Is the cricket food that I currently have an acceptable source of food (but not as a gutload)? I will be making a trip to the pet store during my lunch hour today.

@TonyPerkins203

cricket4u is correct, no heat rocks in Corwin's tank! Picked up a few goodies this weekend for the little one (artificial vegetation and a 12X12 cork bark wall so (s)he has something to rub up against when the next shed begins).

Happy Holidays to all, and thank you again for all of your help!

Hi,

Yes, that should be fine. Gutload for 48 hours prior to feeding instead of 24.

 

[Corwin's Keeper]

Thank you

Thank you cricket4u for all of your help

 

[Corwin's Keeper]

Lucky Leo

Corwin sounds like a very lucky little Leo. I'm still perfecting Phoenix my Leo's set up.

If you are here getting advice and doing research I know Phoneix is just as lucky to have you looking out for him/her! ;-)

 

[cricket4u]

Thank you cricket4u for all of your help

You're welcome.

 

[Corwin's Keeper]

Changes in Excrement

I encountered my first problem yesterday . Since last Saturday (12/15) Corwin has been going #2 every day (sometimes even twice a day) and everything looked normal (larger dark portion and a small white portion). Yesterday after work I found a stool that was lighter in color - almost sandy and there was an intact Phoneix worm. I went out for a little bit and came back and found another similar stool, but this one with many more undigested Phoneix worms (at least 4 from what I could see).

I think I read if their temperatures are incorrect they can have digestion issues? The night before this happened it dropped to 40F outside (since when did Florida decide to have a "real" winter?!) and when I awoke the house was 69F. After seeing the change in excrements last night I left my 60W CHE on all night and turned on the heat in the house to 74F. This morning I found a stool with two parts, a whole Phoenix worm and a normal looking darker portion. I am hoping this change to increase temperatures will fix the problem.

Any suggestions, should I consider it may be something else?

I am thinking of getting a second Hyrdofarm thermostat and connecting that to the CHE, letting the probe float in the air in the terrarium. My poor little one.

Thank you!

 

[cricket4u]

I encountered my first problem yesterday . Since last Saturday (12/15) Corwin has been going #2 every day (sometimes even twice a day) and everything looked normal (larger dark portion and a small white portion). Yesterday after work I found a stool that was lighter in color - almost sandy and there was an intact Phoneix worm. I went out for a little bit and came back and found another similar stool, but this one with many more undigested Phoneix worms (at least 4 from what I could see).

I think I read if their temperatures are incorrect they can have digestion issues? The night before this happened it dropped to 40F outside (since when did Florida decide to have a "real" winter?!) and when I awoke the house was 69F. After seeing the change in excrements last night I left my 60W CHE on all night and turned on the heat in the house to 74F. This morning I found a stool with two parts, a whole Phoenix worm and a normal looking darker portion. I am hoping this change to increase temperatures will fix the problem.

Any suggestions, should I consider it may be something else?

I am thinking of getting a second Hyrdofarm thermostat and connecting that to the CHE, letting the probe float in the air in the terrarium. My poor little one.

Thank you!

I would not be too concerned about a slight color change, unless it's runny or odd colored. Change of diet can cause slight color changes. Are you keeping the UTH on at night on a thermostat?