New Leopard Gecko :)

jinete

jinete

New member
After weeks of looking for the right gecko, I finally picked one up this morning at Repticon Los Angeles. I picked up a beautiful Mack Snow. Stay tuned for pictures. I'm very excited. I have had his enclosure set up for about a week in anticipation. This will be my first leopard gecko. :)
 
jinete

jinete

New member
image.jpg He ventured out for a bit. He's still a bit nervous in his new home and getting acclimated.
 
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majahawt

New member
jinete said:
MizTwisted, I use sani-chips as substrate.
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I know loose substrate is a touchy subject, but I recently got into large beech chips (beech chips are a component in sani chips) mixed with orchid bark (beech chips/sani chips can get mouldy if too moist so the orchid bark sucks moisture and keeps it nice and dry) as a substrate and both geckos love it (it is big enough for them to spit out yet small enough to pass). I used to have reptile carpet but they're out a lot more, they move more naturally and comfortably, their nails get stuck and I just think it works great. Not to mention that there's no poop-smell and it's super easy to just scoop out everything touching the poo so you know you've gotten it all.

We have had a single ingestion (that was our fault basically) and it passed without problem. My oldest can eat large prey items straight off the substrate without problems but my youngest is still a bit too clumsy for that (not to mention her feeders are much smaller) so the only thing I'd mention is to watch out during feeding to see how accurate your gecko is. We generally just feed everything in bowls but I'll usually drop superworms or dubias on the substrate for the oldest since he has no issues with it :3 I'd especially watch out since your chips seem to be on the smaller side.
 
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MizTwisted

MizTwisted

New member
I also know loose substrate can be a debatable subject but in my opinion it's totally unsafe and unnecessary.. in the wild the gecko would not be confined to an enclosure of any size being offered, so it really has no choice but to be on the substrate, and naturally they live in rocky, arid areas not predominantly on sand or wood chips. Tile is the most ideal thing to use if you don't like the look of paper towels, the gecko may be ABLE to possibly pass the substrate (which is also not guaranteed for every individual animal) but it would be extremely painful.. and unnecessary for the gecko to have to go through an experience like that when it can be so easily avoided.
 
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majahawt

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I'm planning on trying excavator when we move (no room for tank projects here) which is probably sometime before christmas :3
 
MizTwisted

MizTwisted

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Majahawt that stuff is really cool! I used it to make a full display tank with caves, bridges, plant holders etc like 6 yrs ago for a small colony of Helmeted geckos my ex and I had, I wish I could find my pics of it. It was a lot of fun to work with! Gives you a lot of options to get creative ^.^
 
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majahawt

New member
MizTwisted said:
Majahawt that stuff is really cool! I used it to make a full display tank with caves, bridges, plant holders etc like 6 yrs ago for a small colony of Helmeted geckos my ex and I had, I wish I could find my pics of it. It was a lot of fun to work with! Gives you a lot of options to get creative ^.^
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Does it hold well? I've heard people have had to paint it with different kind of stuff to ensure it doesn't fall apart, but that was for beardies, I guess leopard geckos aren't large enough to actually ruin anything? I don't want to have like caves or bridges or whatever and have them collapse on my babies :eek:
 
MizTwisted

MizTwisted

New member
It held well for quite a long time, but depending on where the weight load is heaviest it can eventually develop cracks or crumble, so stabilizing the underside of bridges and inside of caves with a layer of non-toxic tile sealant or cement would also be a good idea for the long run, & vertical supports under bridges help too :)
 
MizTwisted

MizTwisted

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Just to add to my previous post, the only thing I really didn't like about it was that it was very hard to keep as clean as I would like, for leos you might be able to have a 'bathroom tile' that you can wipe clean or remove for cleaning, but sometimes accidents happen around the tank and it's next to impossible removing the urine from the clay without removing the clay. After a lot of trials with many different substrates I use nothing but paper towel and newspaper now. For my display tanks I have brown paper towel that you get in the industrial rolls like for hand towels in public bathrooms, it has a nice natural colour! (just another idea to throw out there! ) ^.^
 
jinete

jinete

New member
No worries everyone. I love it. Love following everyone's comments, ideas, and opinions. So I have a question for everyone. As you know, I brought my gecko home yesterday afternoon. Since I brought him home, he went straight to the humid hide. With the exception of a brief appearance yesterday afternoon, he has kept hidden. I understand the he needs to get acclimated and such. But I am concerned that he has not eaten yet. Should I be concerned? Or when should I start to be concerned?
 
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majahawt

New member
jinete said:
No worries everyone. I love it. Love following everyone's comments, ideas, and opinions. So I have a question for everyone. As you know, I brought my gecko home yesterday afternoon. Since I brought him home, he went straight to the humid hide. With the exception of a brief appearance yesterday afternoon, he has kept hidden. I understand the he needs to get acclimated and such. But I am concerned that he has not eaten yet. Should I be concerned? Or when should I start to be concerned?
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It can take a few days or even weeks before he starts eating and it's perfectly normal. Everything is new and he just needs some time to adjust. Keep offering fresh food in a dish every day and he'll start eating eventually :3
 
MizTwisted

MizTwisted

New member
Lol I second that apology for the hijacking! Glad you don't mind!
Most of my leos spend a lot of their time in their humid hides too, they just love it. Like majahawt said a bowl of food to take from as he pleases is key, & that's perfectly normal for them to take their time in the beginning before accepting food!
Have you found a name for your new little gecko yet? :)
 
jinete

jinete

New member
No name yet. I will need to see him a bit more and interact with him to come up with the right name. However, "Chip" may be an option. I haven't given it a lot of thought just yet.
 
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