Learning to be a good Leo owner

[mecoat]

Hi

My last thread (http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...pard-gecko-has-shed-properly-around-toes.html) got a bit off topic, so I've started a new thread which will hopefully be helpful to people with odd little queries/problems.

Hope you find it helpful.

Here are a few pics of Daff enjoying and exploring his new viv. Before you all reply and ask why there was no substrate on the UTH, he wandered over to that side before I'd finished putting the substrate in. It's got full cover now.

 

[mecoat]

How Daff got his name

Daff was originally promised to me roughly when he was born, around my birthday in March. Obviously you can't sex leos at birth, so I needed to pick a name that worked for either sex.

I'm a fan of the Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton, and there's a werehyena that is both a girl and a boy (apparently hyenas can be intersex) called Narcissus. I thought this would be a good name, but it was a little long, so I call him Daff (as in Daffodil, a type of Narcissus) for short.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Can I ask what the substrate is? Just wishing Daff a long life

 

[mecoat]

There's corn cob pellets, a plastic cutting board, and a glass cutting board at the moment.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Can I ask what the substrate is? Just wishing Daff a long life

There's corn cob pellets, a plastic cutting board, and a glass cutting board at the moment.

mecoat ~

Thanks for sharing Daff and his new home. For other viewers, check out the finished vivarium http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...removable-floor-easy-cleaning.html#post385553!

I note your focus on education. Totally agree how important that is .

Good noting 2 probes to monitor both your UTH and the air. See the CHE and the incandescent bulbs on your other thread. The UTH ventilation shows there too. Having a UTH should definitely warm the substrate to keep Daff's feet and belly toasty.

It's just about the corn cob pellets. Recall this discussion and just checked the substrate thread. You posted on #764 how you had read the entire thread. That, in itself, is quite remarkable . So I know that you have done research.

I read a recent post where someone else (EU ?) was also using corn cob pellets. Just don't know...saw the link where corn cob pellets were designed for gerbils. Just imagine the diameter of Daff's esophagus. Corn cob pellets very well could get stuck :-(. Really want you and Daff to be buddies for a long time. Think porcelain or ceramic tile would be better. That looks good too and is quite inexpensive.

 

[mecoat]

Probes etc, will be explained in my the DIY thread.

Locally in the UK corn cob pellets do seem to be used. I've 2 completely separate leo experts including a dealer, both of whom recommend corn cob pellets, and keep theirs on them (except babies, which are on kitchen paper). Perhaps our pellets are different to US ones?

No tiles (that I've yet found) in the UK are completely sealed, they are only sealed on the top, if at all. This means that unless you are going to grout them in position (which defeats the purpose of having a removable floor for easy cleaning) they can still breed bacteria. I have yet to find a suitable sealant. However, I have added the 2 cutting boards, one glass and one plastic to see how he likes these surfaces. He does like to have a dig around (which I'd guess they would do in the wild), so I've got to keep some loose substrate in.

 

[mecoat]

Cricket escape

Hi,

Just thought I'd share a little story.

I got Daff some new crickets today, as he'd eaten the medium crickets, and the smalls I bought between Christmas and New Year haven't yet grown enough to interest Daff. (Side note, anyone know how long it takes Silent Brown Crickets to grow from one size to another? Thanks)

So, I'm decanting the crickets from the tub they come in into a Cricket Keeper tub (it's bigger to make them last longer and healthier), and one jumps onto my hand and up my arm and out of the viv before I can stop it. I try to do it in the viv so that any escapes are dealt with by Daff.

So now I've got one cricket loose in my flat, and can't see the darn thing. Figure I'll find it in a day or two, so I decant the rest. I then take the tank out of the viv to put in the food etc. While I'm kneeling on the floor, sorting out the tank, the b****y cricket jumps onto my bare back. :yikes:

Boy did it make me jump. Frightened the life out of me. Still, I managed to catch it from my back and put it back in the tank, so it'll pay for frightening me like that - Daff will get to eat it at some point.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hi,

Just thought I'd share a little story.

I got Daff some new crickets today, as he'd eaten the medium crickets, and the smalls I bought between Christmas and New Year haven't yet grown enough to interest Daff. (Side note, anyone know how long it takes Silent Brown Crickets to grow from one size to another? Thanks)

Are those crickets the Gryllodes sigillatus?

My Acheta domesticus grow faster when kept warmer. I keep them from 68-72 or so F to keep them smaller longer.

So, I'm decanting the crickets from the tub they come in into a Cricket Keeper tub (it's bigger to make them last longer and healthier), and one jumps onto my hand and up my arm and out of the viv before I can stop it. I try to do it in the viv so that any escapes are dealt with by Daff.

So now I've got one cricket loose in my flat, and can't see the darn thing. Figure I'll find it in a day or two, so I decant the rest. I then take the tank out of the viv to put in the food etc. While I'm kneeling on the floor, sorting out the tank, the b****y cricket jumps onto my bare back. :yikes:

Boy did it make me jump. Frightened the life out of me. Still, I managed to catch it from my back and put it back in the tank, so it'll pay for frightening me like that - Daff will get to eat it at some point.

:cheer: Sounds pretty :evil: (soon you may be toughened for B. dubia)

 

[mecoat]

Sorry, I don't know the latin name of the crickets. They're just labelled as Silent Brown crickets. I've got them as warm as I can without putting them in my airing cupboard (too dark for them, I've read they need natural light too), also I don't really want them in my airing cupboard. I guess I'll just have to keep feeding them and see if they grow.

Roaches aren't readily available in local pet shops, only crickets, mealworms, superworms, locusts and waxworms. Clearly not all of these can be fed to Leos. I can order in Calcium worms to one, but waiting for Daff to finish the mealworms first (they're turning into aliens faster than he can eat them), before I look into getting another kind of worm.

Guess I'm basically stuck with crickets and mealworms for now. Just hope he's not in the tub now teaching the others how to escape and surprise me!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

What is an "airing cupboard"?

Try locusts too. Some leos like calciworms, others don't. Can you get hornworms?

 

[mecoat]

What is an "airing cupboard"?

Try locusts too. Some leos like calciworms, others don't. Can you get hornworms?

An airing cupboard is a small "cupboard" built in to the house or flat, where there is a water heater. It is usually warmer than the rest of the house, and has slatted shelves allowing the warm air to circulate freely. I believe most people use them to store their bedding and towels these days the free warm air flow stops damp. However they have a door to keep the heat in - so are dark.

Daff isn't onto full size crickets yet, so I think locusts would be too big. I'm pretty sure we can't get hornworms in the UK - we're quite precious about which species we allow onto our island, even the crickets have warnings on the boxes about the being not native to the UK and should not be released. I'll see if I can get a few calciworms at some point to try, but I've got plenty to feed Daff at the moment.

I get the impression we are not as well served in the UK than you are in the US in terms of species available to feed. I'll just have to do my best by Daff. Feel free to offer any other suggestions for food, or other tips. I'm always willing to listen.

Made Daff a couple of Coconut hides yesterday - cheaper than buying, and I got to eat the coconut! :yahoo:

 

[iHow3y]

If you can find any other type of feeder in the uk id be happy to know about this, the only feeds I can find in my locals are brown/black crickets, locusts (which are too big for dexter) meal worms and wax worms, I can't seen to find any roaches and the wax worms I read are quite bad for geckos with them been so full of fat

 

[mecoat]

If you can find any other type of feeder in the uk id be happy to know about this, the only feeds I can find in my locals are brown/black crickets, locusts (which are too big for dexter) meal worms and wax worms, I can't seen to find any roaches and the wax worms I read are quite bad for geckos with them been so full of fat

Might be worth asking your local pet shop, they may be able to order in other things specially. I found out yesterday that mine (an independant) can order in calciworms, so when Daff gets through the mealworms he has, I'm going to see if i can order a few to see if Daff likes them.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Keeping hornworms from growing...until wine cooler purchase

Picked up ~25 "captive bred" hornworms at a Saturday reptile show. Cost = $12. They came in a 32 ounce deli cup with food on the bottom to feed them...kinda like a fruit fly culture. A climbing screen which goes up either side has been stapled to the base of the deli.

Hornworms are teal or green soft-bodied worms that grow rapidly when kept at room temperature. They are high in calcium. French hornworms go by: vers de goliath. These worms look like mini turquoise candy canes .

Until I get a wine cooler, a medium Playmate cooler fills the bill and keeps the hornworms between 52-64 F.

Place the hornworms in a cooler to lessen rapid growth
Turn the hornworm container upside down with their food on the top and the lid as the new "base"
Place the container on a couple pencils for ventilation
Don't let worm container touch the ice pack
Empty the hornie poop once a day
Replace the lego-like solid ice pack twice daily
Serve the hornworms very lightly dusted with plain calcium to further balance the calcium to phosphorus ratio

For more hornworm info:
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/Live-Hornworms-c51/

UPDATES:
My leopard gecko Cha loves them...3 so far . Now I have had mine for 2.5 weeks. 8 left...size 1.5 inches.

Mature male crestie = no interest in hornworms (accustomed to crickets)

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I wonder whether you guys in the UK have some herpetological society nearby. Perhaps someone there breeds Blaptica dubia as feeders?

 

[iHow3y]

This is something I will have to look into, once I get a spare 5 minutes I'll log onto the laptop and do a bit of homework on where I can locate some, if not I'll go to the person I bought dexter and see if he order some in for me, also would it be possible that dexter loses interest in the crickets because they are too small for him, iv got a cricket keeper full and the sizes range

 

[mecoat]

Daff isn't interested in Smalls any more (I assume he was fed smalls when he was smaller). Which isn't surprising really. You wouldn't bother to eat a whole bunch of peas (or anything else that small) rolling across the table if you had to catch them first. You'd do a couple then say "I'll just go hungry, too much effort".

 

[iHow3y]

I suppose that's a good way to look at it, I'll try and drag a few of the larger ones out to see if he gets them, id rather get him eating as many different foods as possible so that he has the best diet I can provide for him, I have a set of scales on order so I can get an average age as the person I got him off didn't give me much info on him at all, iv only just found out he actually is a he and he's a high yellow lol I can't wait to get his new set up and stuff so I know he can settle without any more big changes coming his way

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I suppose that's a good way to look at it, I'll try and drag a few of the larger ones out to see if he gets them, id rather get him eating as many different foods as possible so that he has the best diet I can provide for him, I have a set of scales on order so I can get an average age as the person I got him off didn't give me much info on him at all, iv only just found out he actually is a he and he's a high yellow lol I can't wait to get his new set up and stuff so I know he can settle without any more big changes coming his way

Paul ~

Have you tried disabling the crickets by removing half of their back jumper legs? That will slow them down and make them easier to catch.

 

[iHow3y]

Its not so much they hard for him to catch, he just really isn't interested in them anymore, he used to hunt like a gooden but now I think he's just getting lazy, I tried him last night and he just shunned the crickets, he ate a few meal worms then lost interest in them too, its normal for them to go through a day or too with lack of appetite though isn't it, some days you can't stop him eating lol, I'll carry on trying him though, he will have to start on them again at some point cause I really don't like feeding him meal worms