I just wanted to post some pics, share my gecko's status, and ask some questions.
If you see any serious issues please let me know.
I've had my gecko for about 4 months now. My daughter named the gecko "Yellow".
Here's my setup:
29 gallon tank, tile floor, 11"x11" ultratherm heat pad, and hydrafarm thermostat.
I keep the temperature set to 92 degrees and I put the temperature probe on the tile floor on the boundary of his cave - so that the probe is partially in his cave but not fully in his cave (there's a small rear entrance to his cave that you can't see in the photos).
I have 3 hides, moist hide on far right, then his warm hide, and cold hide.
I don't always keep the moist hide moist. I add some moisture just before he starts shedding. I also put damp paper towels under his main warm hide during shedding time. In general he sheds very well. I had one occurrence early on where I didn't provide enough moisture and he didn't shed well; I had to use a ShedEase bath to help him finish shedding.
In general (as far as I can tell) my gecko seems happy and healthy. He is not shy and will come out often when he hears us making any noises (walking past his cage, watching tv, etc). He adjusted very quickly when I brought him home from the pet store. He seems to have a very curious personality. He eats very well and is not a picky eater. He is relatively docile and tame. He tolerates being held but doesn't necessarily like it. He will approach my hand in the cage but won't climb onto it. Mainly he sees my hand as a source of food, curious if I have anything in my hand that he might like to eat.
Random Questions:
1. Does my gecko look healthy? Too fat? Too skinny? What age do you think he is?
2. His tail is slightly stubby; the tip of his tail broke off shortly after I got him. I'm not exactly sure why it happened, but my guess is there must have been some non-shed, dried skin on the tip of his tail that I hadn't noticed. I was out of town for the weekend when it happened (asked my in-laws to feed him while I was gone). When I came back I immediately noticed that the tip of his tail was all shriveled/dried up and barely attached. It fell off a few days later. Do you think it will grow any longer or is this how it will permanently look? It doesn't bother me much, just curious about it. It was an unfortunate event but it doesn't slow him down.
3. Is this too much calcium + D3 dusted on the mealworms? I have difficulties getting the calcium dusting right on mealworms. I have to wet the mealworms so that it will apply. I dust the mealworms with calcium once per week. I also dust with multivitamin once per week in a separate feeding. He licks the calcium + D3 from his dish during these feedings. I remove the dish after a few minutes and clean the calcium off before returning it. I don't leave any calcium in dish during the rest of the week.
4. I feed my gecko about 7-8 worms a day. Do you think this is adequate for a gecko his size? He is a very aggressive eater and would probably eat more if I gave more to him. His stomach seems like a bottomless pit sometimes. I think he has ate 12+ worms before when I tried giving him more. I gutload the mealworms with flukers orange cricket food that I buy from the pet store. My local petstore also carries superworms. Does he need to be quite a bit larger before I can start feeding him superworms? Is the multivitamin I'm feeding him (Exoterra multivitamin) the correct type of multivitamin?
If you see any serious issues please let me know.
I've had my gecko for about 4 months now. My daughter named the gecko "Yellow".
Here's my setup:
29 gallon tank, tile floor, 11"x11" ultratherm heat pad, and hydrafarm thermostat.
I keep the temperature set to 92 degrees and I put the temperature probe on the tile floor on the boundary of his cave - so that the probe is partially in his cave but not fully in his cave (there's a small rear entrance to his cave that you can't see in the photos).
I have 3 hides, moist hide on far right, then his warm hide, and cold hide.
I don't always keep the moist hide moist. I add some moisture just before he starts shedding. I also put damp paper towels under his main warm hide during shedding time. In general he sheds very well. I had one occurrence early on where I didn't provide enough moisture and he didn't shed well; I had to use a ShedEase bath to help him finish shedding.
In general (as far as I can tell) my gecko seems happy and healthy. He is not shy and will come out often when he hears us making any noises (walking past his cage, watching tv, etc). He adjusted very quickly when I brought him home from the pet store. He seems to have a very curious personality. He eats very well and is not a picky eater. He is relatively docile and tame. He tolerates being held but doesn't necessarily like it. He will approach my hand in the cage but won't climb onto it. Mainly he sees my hand as a source of food, curious if I have anything in my hand that he might like to eat.
Random Questions:
1. Does my gecko look healthy? Too fat? Too skinny? What age do you think he is?
2. His tail is slightly stubby; the tip of his tail broke off shortly after I got him. I'm not exactly sure why it happened, but my guess is there must have been some non-shed, dried skin on the tip of his tail that I hadn't noticed. I was out of town for the weekend when it happened (asked my in-laws to feed him while I was gone). When I came back I immediately noticed that the tip of his tail was all shriveled/dried up and barely attached. It fell off a few days later. Do you think it will grow any longer or is this how it will permanently look? It doesn't bother me much, just curious about it. It was an unfortunate event but it doesn't slow him down.
3. Is this too much calcium + D3 dusted on the mealworms? I have difficulties getting the calcium dusting right on mealworms. I have to wet the mealworms so that it will apply. I dust the mealworms with calcium once per week. I also dust with multivitamin once per week in a separate feeding. He licks the calcium + D3 from his dish during these feedings. I remove the dish after a few minutes and clean the calcium off before returning it. I don't leave any calcium in dish during the rest of the week.
4. I feed my gecko about 7-8 worms a day. Do you think this is adequate for a gecko his size? He is a very aggressive eater and would probably eat more if I gave more to him. His stomach seems like a bottomless pit sometimes. I think he has ate 12+ worms before when I tried giving him more. I gutload the mealworms with flukers orange cricket food that I buy from the pet store. My local petstore also carries superworms. Does he need to be quite a bit larger before I can start feeding him superworms? Is the multivitamin I'm feeding him (Exoterra multivitamin) the correct type of multivitamin?
Last edited: