Do not panic, even though I understand it's easy to do!
Go through all these and check everything is correct, once everything is correct your Leo will be happy
1. ===> URGENT: No plain calcium, calcium with D3, or multivitamins inside a vivarium EVER <===
2. Best to buy stuff individually rather than getting a 10 gallon set up kit.
3. Quarantine Recommendations
Any new gecko should be quarantined for a minimum of 60 days prior to introducing her/him to the other geckos in the same cage. 60 days gives adequate time to check for parasites, cryptosporidia, and the beginnings of coccidia plus. 90 days is even better. 3-6 months of quarantine are recommended if your new gecko is imported or wild caught.
4. Never keep 2 males together.
5. Best to keep leos alone. Even 2 females can fight. Leopard geckos do not need companions/"friends".
6. Advise NO particulate substrates (sand, cocopeat fiber, bark chips, et cetera). Risk of impaction simply not worth it. Best: textured ceramic, porcelain, or slate tiles. Paper towels also work. Add paper towel layers to poop spot to facilitate clean up.
7. A temperature gradient from warm to cool is very necessary for maintaining leo health. That is difficult to do within a 10 gallon enclosure. That's why many of us recommend a 30 inch long x 12 inch wide (deep) x 12 inch tall enclosure minimum. That's 76 cm x 31 cm x 31 cm.
Use a digital thermometer probe to measure air temps and ground temperatures. Temperature guns are excellent for measuring surface temperatures. A stainless steel aquarium-type thermometer that has been verified can also be used.
Temperatures for all leos regardless of size:
88-93 F (31-34 C) ground temp at warm end inside the warm dry hide
no greater than 85 F (29.5 C) air temp - 4 inches above ground on the warm end
no greater than 75 F (24.5 C) air temp - 4 inches above ground on the cool end
Leave the UTH on 24/7. Can turn off overhead heating at night unless the ambient room temperatures are particularly cool during the night.
8. The UTH + the overhead heating both belong on the warm end of the tank. Your leo will be more active if you provide an UTH for belly heat/digestion as well as an overhead dome. Your leo will benefit from a "warm zone", not just a "warm spot".
9. Leopard geckos are crepuscular and nocturnal...active at dawn, at dusk, and at night. A good photoperiod can be achieved by adding a 5.5 inch diameter dome fixture on the center of the screen with a 15 watt bulb dimmed to half power. That can be plugged into a timer and varied monthly according to this Pakistan link. 11 hours on is good for February.
Click:
Sunrise Sunset Daylight Hours of Pakistan -- Timebie
Place the 5.5 inch photoperiod dome right next to your 10 inch diameter ceramic heat emitter dome.
10. UVB lighting is recommended for leopard geckos ONLY IF there is adequate space and opportunities for the leopard gecko to dodge some of the rays like in a 4.5 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot vivarium. A 48 inch long vivarium is a suggested minimum for using UVB for leopard geckos. Never use UVB lighting in addition to a powdered vitamin D3 supplement!
11. Strongly recommend a thermostat! A thermostat will control your under tank heater, provide your leopard gecko with stable and comfortable temperatures, save $ on electricity, and lessen the chance of a house fire from accidental overheating.
12. 3 hides required per leo: warm DRY, warm MOIST, cool DRY. Both warm hides should sit on top of the UTH. Keeping the third hide warm and moist 24/7 is very important! Leos use this for hydration as well as for shedding assist.
13. Too much vitamin D3 is as bad as too little D3. Any multivitamin (Rep-Cal's Herptivite, Exo Terra's (?) multivitamin) which supplies vitamin A in the form of beta carotene is not recommended. Preformed vitamin A acetate is necessary for eye and skin health. Note mod Hilde's posts #22 and #48 right on this thread.
Lightly dust crickets/dubia with Zoo Med's supplements like this:
1. Monday - Repti-Calcium with D3 according to gecko weight on container label
2. Thursday - Repti-Calcium with D3 according to gecko weight on container label
3. PLAIN Reptivite (multivitamin) with A acetate adjusted for your leo's weight: Spread out the lightly dusted Reptivite crickets over the course of a week. Use the Reptivite (multivitamin) very sparingly.
14. Urates should be white, not yellow, and be approximately 1/3 the size of the feces. A healthy feces is dark brown and about the size and shape of 2 tic tacs.
15. Vary the diet: crickets, roaches, grasshoppers, silkworms, hornworms, mealworm pupae, freshly molted mealworms, genuine Phoenix worms, calciworms, and locusts (smallest locusts possible)
16. There are no benefits to feeding waxworms, butterworms, or superworms (pure fat like brie). Hornworms and/or silkworms provide excellent variety. They provide nutrition as well as moisture.
17. Click: Care & Breeding of Feeders: crickets, Blaptica dubia, hornworms, & silkworms
18. Click: USDA Foods link
Foods List
19. Diet, DIET, D-I-E-T! A huge factor in the husbandry of any gecko is to feed the feeders (crickets, worms, etc) a very healthy diet 24/7. Variety of feeders is important too. Nutritious feeder bodies transfer like nutrients to your geckos. Consider light supplemental dusting of these feeders as just "icing on the cake".
Remember that, like humans, geckos are what they eat.
20. Consider covering three sides of your leopard gecko's enclosure with something like construction paper to provide additional security and privacy.
21. For live links to the products Tony uses go to post #26. Post #36 is a setup checklist.
22. For the whole story click: Leopard Gecko Caresheet (Eublepharis macularius)...demo video & 4 Jan 2013 update
