Hello!

Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
AILEEN said:
Hi Smaug, Getting a photo of my wild little Aussie geckos is easier said than done. Will keep trying. I also have a whole family of Bearded Dragons, Skinks and Goannas. We feed all of them in my garden. The Dragons like my pool, and can stay under water for an amazing time.
Cheers,
Aileen
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Hi Aileen ~

Seeing as you are a new GU member would you like to introduce yourself?

Click right here to begin your own New Thread: Getting to Know You (Introduction) After you click, look to the left for the Post New Thread button. Press that and post away. :)
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
He came out of his hide briefly this morning to eat some silkworms. (Only 5 smalls for you!)

He's -aleady- turning pale again. I told you he was growing fast! Swear he's already grown a good fraction of an inch sense I've gotten him

I really hope he uses the humid hide this time!
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
Well he didn't use the hide and again we had a date with the bathtub. This time there was a lot less fretting. I got the last of the shed off his "fingers" and afterwards I snapped a photo. He's very very beautiful.

IMG_0075.jpg
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
He's addicted to his warm hide. He only comes out to eat, drink and poop. The only time I've ever seen him use his moist hide is to lick the water out of it.
 
ToffeeNut

ToffeeNut

New member
Maybe next shed you could put moss (or whatever you use) in his hot hide since he's very persistent in not leaving. I had to do that last month for my gecko because he wouldn't go in his moist hide, and he was having trouble taking it off. I put wet napkins on the ceiling of his warm hide because I figured they would stick and his shed went smooth sailing after that.
At least bath time wasn't a disaster, lol.
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
I'll do that! Hopefully it will be a while until his next shed. I truly believe that he was small and underweight at the pet store which is probably typical. Unless someone was actively monitoring the reptiles, there's no way for them to tell if he was eating or not. So he's plumped and stretched very quickly thanks to my undivided attention and tons of food.
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
Thanks to my Themostat, the temp is a steady 93.5 degrees warmside and 80.2 Coolside. I found out that the best place to put my CHE was not on the warmside but in the middle of the cage so that the warm side didn't get too hot and the cool side didn't get too cool.

Smuag is fed a steady diet of Crickets, Silkworms, Mealworms and Dubia Roaches. I dust my mealworms and crickets 3 times a week (2 for calcium, 1 for vitamins). I'm noticing his appetite is falling off quite a bit. So I check the tank to make sure that there's no survivors every feed. I know I'm not supposed to leave anything in there But there always seems to be one cricket or mealworm or even silkworm that he's marked "for later". He loves in order, Dubia Roaches, mealworms, crickets and silkworms. I'm not sure why but his love affair with silkies appear to be over while his hate relationship with the Dubia Roaches has turned into hearts-for-eyes desire. He will step on a silkie to get at a roach.

Go figure.

As for taming, he seems to maintain his shy behavior while losing his fear. When I'm checking for insects in the cage, he'll move away sure, but it's not a panicked run. It's just getting out of the way. I'll drop an insect directly in the cage and he'll quickly eat it. But he's not rubbing the side of the cage with his face and if I hang around too much, he'll return to his hide and he will not come out.
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
Ok get this.

He's still being shy. So shy. I'm putting my hand in the cage again but he still doesn't want me around. And yet he's not fearful. I put my hand between his shelter and the food. Once he was done eating he will walk over my hand to go to the hide.

What? :coverlaugh: Why is he even hiding if he's going to physically walk over me?
 
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majahawt

New member
Smaug_The_Gecko said:
Ok get this.

He's still being shy. So shy. I'm putting my hand in the cage again but he still doesn't want me around. And yet he's not fearful. I put my hand between his shelter and the food. Once he was done eating he will walk over my hand to go to the hide.

What? :coverlaugh: Why is he even hiding if he's going to physically walk over me?
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Perhaps he's not that shy, maybe he's just lazy? My oldest has always been a lazy butt, he spends all day in his hide and if I don't wake him up for dinner, he doesn't get up until around 2-3 AM.
 
ToffeeNut

ToffeeNut

New member
At least he's not afraid of your hand! And I think geckos are quite lazy, lol. If you put your hand in there regularly he will probably get used to you more, and I just realized you've had him for more than a month. x'D Lay your hand flat and still so that way he knows you won't hurt him.
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
OH if only he were just lazy! He's not! He's gotten better hunting crickets, crawls around his cage quite a bit. I hear him at night roaming around. The minute I come into the room? In the hide! :cry:
 
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majahawt

New member
Smaug_The_Gecko said:
OH if only he were just lazy! He's not! He's gotten better hunting crickets, crawls around his cage quite a bit. I hear him at night roaming around. The minute I come into the room? In the hide! :cry:
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Sometimes it takes a while but he will warm up at some point. I had the exact thing with my first leo and it lasted for about 4 months, even though he's a very mellow guy. For some reason my other one did the exact opposite, she would crawl around the tank 24/7 and refused to go to bed. She didn't sleep at all for the first three days!
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
I came out of bed and Smaug was out of his hide. He went back in and came out... went back in... came out.

He's clearly hungry again. I didn't really have time to watch him eat this morning but I dropped in some crickets and went to walk the dog. Two had been eaten by the time I left. He's not eating Silkworms at all any more. Scratch that. He ate one this morning. Maybe he has to be really hungry...

Last night I put two of them in there. He was eager to eat and and walked right up to one. He poked it with his nose with a look like...

"I thought we had an understanding"

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And went back to his cave. Now what am I going to do with all these silkworms, Smaug? I bought them because you liked them so much!
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
I woke up and found Smaug in his humid hide! Why was he in there? He didn't seem to need to shed. Oh well.

He ate 3 crickets, 2 dubia roaches, and 2 mealworms.

I tried to get him some silkworms but he turned his little yellow nose up at them.
 
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majahawt

New member
Smaug_The_Gecko said:
I woke up and found Smaug in his humid hide! Why was he in there? He didn't seem to need to shed. Oh well.

He ate 3 crickets, 2 dubia roaches, and 2 mealworms.

I tried to get him some silkworms but he turned his little yellow nose up at them.
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Both of mine spend most of their sleeping time in their moist hides :>
 
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Smaug_The_Gecko

New member
HA! Mystery solved, Smaug is a wuss.

He doesn't eat silkies because they adhere to the substrate. Come on, lizard, just shake your head a little. Be a T-rex! But no, he bit the silkworm, killing it it appears, pulled a little.. then let go when it didn't ease into his gullet.

For those who don't know. Silkies have sticky feet. This is a challenge apparently for Smaug, the baby gecko. I don't know when this started to bother him. But it's enough a deterrent to keep him from eating them. He's still trying but I find it hilarious.

I'll try to feed him a few extra smalls that I have. I would like to keep silkworms as a part of his balanced diet. But I can't believe Mighty Smaug, the Barrel-Roller, has been defeated by a lowly worm.
 
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majahawt

New member
Smaug_The_Gecko said:
HA! Mystery solved, Smaug is a wuss.

He doesn't eat silkies because they adhere to the substrate. Come on, lizard, just shake your head a little. Be a T-rex! But no, he bit the silkworm, killing it it appears, pulled a little.. then let go when it didn't ease into his gullet.

For those who don't know. Silkies have sticky feet. This is a challenge apparently for Smaug, the baby gecko. I don't know when this started to bother him. But it's enough a deterrent to keep him from eating them. He's still trying but I find it hilarious.

I'll try to feed him a few extra smalls that I have. I would like to keep silkworms as a part of his balanced diet. But I can't believe Mighty Smaug, the Barrel-Roller, has been defeated by a lowly worm.
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Perhaps you could feed them on top of a plastic lid or a plate or something?
 
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