muffin_song
New member
New gecko owner with a question!
I have had Scooter, a 2 year old adult female, for about three weeks now. (She is the same leopard gecko from this post about shipping reptiles. I am happy to say that she arrived in California safely!
Since I got her three weeks ago, she has shed once (which I noticed because there was some discarded skin in the morning). I recently fixed the hides - before I erroneously had the moist sphagnum moss in the cool hide, now it's in one of the warm hides.
Right now she's not using her moist hide. I have, however, noticed her hanging around her water dish a lot, sometimes with one of her front legs in it. Is this indicating I need to do something about the humidity or the conditions in her moist hide?
Because I'm using both a ceramic heat lamp AND a UTH, the moist hide can sometimes get *too* hot. Right now I have the ceramic bulb set to 88 (outside the warm hide) and the UTH (inside the warm moist hide) set to 91 - my hope is that the ceramic bulb will kick in whenever the UTH can't do enough on its own. The UTH is this one from Amazon, within a 20 gallon (30ish inches long) tank.
Below is a picture of her set-up, and Scooter hanging around the water dish. When I walked by and rustled a nearby bag, she immediately opened her eyes and looked around to see what was going on. Her cool hide is on the left, her warm dry hide is the log in the middle, and the cave thing is her warm moist hide.
Generally speaking she's very alert and curious, and other than being a picky eater (REALLY likes mealworms), she seems to be doing well. I'm just trying my best to keep her that way!!!
Thanks in advance!
I also filled out the health questionnaire below:
General Information
Species of lizard: Leopard Gecko
Gecko's name: Scooter
Morph: Normal
Gender: Female
Age: 2 years
Weight: Not sure
Total length: Sorry, haven't measured her yet!
Length of your reptile when you first acquired it: Recently acquired
Source (pet store, breeder, previous owner): Previous owner was my mother, who bought her from a non-big box pet store about 18 months ago
Captive bred or wild caught: Captive bred
[/u]Vivarium[/u]
Enclosure dimensions (length x width x heighth):12x12x30
Cage (type, size): 20 gallon long glass aquarium
Substrate provided: Half tile, half paper towels. Sphagnum moss used in moist hide.
Types of hiding places provided: Warm hide, cool hide, moist warm hide
Is there a humidity hide? location?: Yes, warm side
Please describe any other furnishings: Fake plants
List recent changes in the environment, if any: A few days ago I changed from repticarpet to tile/paper towels
Lighting
Artificial lighting
Incandescent (“screw-in” bulbs): wattage(s): Ceramic heat bulb (no light emitted), 150 wats, controlled by thermostat
Fluorescent (tube bulbs):
Access to ambient daylight from a distant window: Yes
Note: I live in a studio apartment, meaning if I have the lights on at night, Scooter will see it. I try to reduce the lighting at night and point it away from her cage.
Heating
Do you have a thermometer(s) in the cage? Yes
What type and brand of thermometer (digital with probe, temperature gun, LCD strip, analog (circle), combo digital thermometer/hygrometer, stainless steel aquarim type, other): I have two Jumpstart Hydrofarm digital probes. The one inside her warm moist side is set to 91, and is connected to the UTH. The one outside of the hide on the warm side (and connected to the ceramic heat emitter) is set at about 88 degrees.
What is the ground temperature right on the substrate under the warm dry hide: 88ish
What is the air temperature on the warm end about 4 inches up from the ground: Not sure, need to get an air thermometer.
What is the air temperature on the cool end about 4 inches up from the ground: Room temperature, so 75ish
What device(s) are used to maintain the temperature (Under Tank Heater, heat light, ceramic heat emitter, Flexwatt heat tape, hot rock, other): Medium (made for 30-40 gallon tanks) UTH from reptitherm, plus Ceramic Heat Emitter
Ventilation space for your UTH by elevating the tank above the shelf (some UTHs come with sticky feet for the tank corners): Yes, also going to add some tiles, don't want my apartment to catch on fire!
Are you using a thermostat(s)? Yes, one for UTH, one for ceramic heat bulb
Which hide does she/he spend most of her time? Recently she rotates between her cool hide and her warm dry hide when she's sleeping. When she's more active will hang out on top of a hide or on top of a water dish
Is the temperature decreased at night? by how much? Right now no, thinking of getting a timer for the ceramic heat bulb.
Humidity
Is the humidity measured? No, need to get on that!
Humidity range: Unknown
Diet
Insects and worms, list type: Right now just mealworms, trying to get her to eat crickets!
Regular diet fed to the insects and worms: Carrots and oatmeal for mealworms (looking to change that based on recommendations here)
Are the insects and worms formally “gutloaded” 1-2 days prior to feeding off to your gecko? If so with? For the refrigerated mealworms, I take them out about 12 hours before feeding and put them in a container with carrots and oatmeal
How often do you feed your gecko? Every other day, thinking of moving to every third day to get her to eat crickets!
Please list any supplements (with brand names) used. How are they given and how often? I dust the mealworms always with calcium. Every other time or so I use RepCal with D3.
What calcium brand are you using? with D3, without or both? Unbranded, got at local reptile store
Is the calcium in the tank with D3 or without? No
Multivitamins (include brand name)? RepCal with D3.
Please list any recent additions/changes in the diet: None
General Health
If your gecko is sick, please describe the signs and how long your gecko has been showing these signs: Currently not sick
Is your gecko’s general activity level normal, decreased, or increased? Normal
Is your gecko’s appetite normal, decreased, or increased? Normal
Have you noticed any of the following?
Weight (loss or gain): None
Discharge from the eyes or nose: Nope
Increased breathing rate or effort: no
Change in the droppings: no
Urates
---white or yellowish: White
---size of urates as compared to size of feces: Roughly the same
Abnormal skin color or shedding: no
Parasites on the skin or in the feces: no
Weakness: no
Previous problems and/or illnesses: Scooter went through a period about six months ago (while living with her previous owner, my mom) when she was wasn't eating and became very skinny. My mom reexamined the husbandry and gave her something (an antibiotic? Don't remember) with a stopper, and now she's back to having a nice, healthy tail.
Other Critters in Same Cage or in Household: Just me
List other animals that are kept in the same cage: None
Recent acquisitions (new pets within the past 6 months): None
Are any of your other pets ill? Nope
I have had Scooter, a 2 year old adult female, for about three weeks now. (She is the same leopard gecko from this post about shipping reptiles. I am happy to say that she arrived in California safely!
Since I got her three weeks ago, she has shed once (which I noticed because there was some discarded skin in the morning). I recently fixed the hides - before I erroneously had the moist sphagnum moss in the cool hide, now it's in one of the warm hides.
Right now she's not using her moist hide. I have, however, noticed her hanging around her water dish a lot, sometimes with one of her front legs in it. Is this indicating I need to do something about the humidity or the conditions in her moist hide?
Because I'm using both a ceramic heat lamp AND a UTH, the moist hide can sometimes get *too* hot. Right now I have the ceramic bulb set to 88 (outside the warm hide) and the UTH (inside the warm moist hide) set to 91 - my hope is that the ceramic bulb will kick in whenever the UTH can't do enough on its own. The UTH is this one from Amazon, within a 20 gallon (30ish inches long) tank.
Below is a picture of her set-up, and Scooter hanging around the water dish. When I walked by and rustled a nearby bag, she immediately opened her eyes and looked around to see what was going on. Her cool hide is on the left, her warm dry hide is the log in the middle, and the cave thing is her warm moist hide.
Generally speaking she's very alert and curious, and other than being a picky eater (REALLY likes mealworms), she seems to be doing well. I'm just trying my best to keep her that way!!!
Thanks in advance!
I also filled out the health questionnaire below:
General Information
Species of lizard: Leopard Gecko
Gecko's name: Scooter
Morph: Normal
Gender: Female
Age: 2 years
Weight: Not sure
Total length: Sorry, haven't measured her yet!
Length of your reptile when you first acquired it: Recently acquired
Source (pet store, breeder, previous owner): Previous owner was my mother, who bought her from a non-big box pet store about 18 months ago
Captive bred or wild caught: Captive bred
[/u]Vivarium[/u]
Enclosure dimensions (length x width x heighth):12x12x30
Cage (type, size): 20 gallon long glass aquarium
Substrate provided: Half tile, half paper towels. Sphagnum moss used in moist hide.
Types of hiding places provided: Warm hide, cool hide, moist warm hide
Is there a humidity hide? location?: Yes, warm side
Please describe any other furnishings: Fake plants
List recent changes in the environment, if any: A few days ago I changed from repticarpet to tile/paper towels
Lighting
Artificial lighting
Incandescent (“screw-in” bulbs): wattage(s): Ceramic heat bulb (no light emitted), 150 wats, controlled by thermostat
Fluorescent (tube bulbs):
Access to ambient daylight from a distant window: Yes
Note: I live in a studio apartment, meaning if I have the lights on at night, Scooter will see it. I try to reduce the lighting at night and point it away from her cage.
Heating
Do you have a thermometer(s) in the cage? Yes
What type and brand of thermometer (digital with probe, temperature gun, LCD strip, analog (circle), combo digital thermometer/hygrometer, stainless steel aquarim type, other): I have two Jumpstart Hydrofarm digital probes. The one inside her warm moist side is set to 91, and is connected to the UTH. The one outside of the hide on the warm side (and connected to the ceramic heat emitter) is set at about 88 degrees.
What is the ground temperature right on the substrate under the warm dry hide: 88ish
What is the air temperature on the warm end about 4 inches up from the ground: Not sure, need to get an air thermometer.
What is the air temperature on the cool end about 4 inches up from the ground: Room temperature, so 75ish
What device(s) are used to maintain the temperature (Under Tank Heater, heat light, ceramic heat emitter, Flexwatt heat tape, hot rock, other): Medium (made for 30-40 gallon tanks) UTH from reptitherm, plus Ceramic Heat Emitter
Ventilation space for your UTH by elevating the tank above the shelf (some UTHs come with sticky feet for the tank corners): Yes, also going to add some tiles, don't want my apartment to catch on fire!
Are you using a thermostat(s)? Yes, one for UTH, one for ceramic heat bulb
Which hide does she/he spend most of her time? Recently she rotates between her cool hide and her warm dry hide when she's sleeping. When she's more active will hang out on top of a hide or on top of a water dish
Is the temperature decreased at night? by how much? Right now no, thinking of getting a timer for the ceramic heat bulb.
Humidity
Is the humidity measured? No, need to get on that!
Humidity range: Unknown
Diet
Insects and worms, list type: Right now just mealworms, trying to get her to eat crickets!
Regular diet fed to the insects and worms: Carrots and oatmeal for mealworms (looking to change that based on recommendations here)
Are the insects and worms formally “gutloaded” 1-2 days prior to feeding off to your gecko? If so with? For the refrigerated mealworms, I take them out about 12 hours before feeding and put them in a container with carrots and oatmeal
How often do you feed your gecko? Every other day, thinking of moving to every third day to get her to eat crickets!
Please list any supplements (with brand names) used. How are they given and how often? I dust the mealworms always with calcium. Every other time or so I use RepCal with D3.
What calcium brand are you using? with D3, without or both? Unbranded, got at local reptile store
Is the calcium in the tank with D3 or without? No
Multivitamins (include brand name)? RepCal with D3.
Please list any recent additions/changes in the diet: None
General Health
If your gecko is sick, please describe the signs and how long your gecko has been showing these signs: Currently not sick
Is your gecko’s general activity level normal, decreased, or increased? Normal
Is your gecko’s appetite normal, decreased, or increased? Normal
Have you noticed any of the following?
Weight (loss or gain): None
Discharge from the eyes or nose: Nope
Increased breathing rate or effort: no
Change in the droppings: no
Urates
---white or yellowish: White
---size of urates as compared to size of feces: Roughly the same
Abnormal skin color or shedding: no
Parasites on the skin or in the feces: no
Weakness: no
Previous problems and/or illnesses: Scooter went through a period about six months ago (while living with her previous owner, my mom) when she was wasn't eating and became very skinny. My mom reexamined the husbandry and gave her something (an antibiotic? Don't remember) with a stopper, and now she's back to having a nice, healthy tail.
Other Critters in Same Cage or in Household: Just me
List other animals that are kept in the same cage: None
Recent acquisitions (new pets within the past 6 months): None
Are any of your other pets ill? Nope
