Please help.

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Geckogirl83

New member
Hi thereso I'm the new owner of a leopard gecko. I purchased one for my son and it's my first time owning one. I'm a little stressed about it lol I'm unsure of the lighting. I bought a zoo med starter kit. So I put the thermometer in the tank, and the tank rests at about 85 without any lights. When I turn on the day light or the night light it goes to 100. So I'm unsure if I should keep the lights on. Is that too hot? Please help explain the lighting to me. I don't want to injure him and I don't want him to be cold. Rocky is about 3-4 inches alsohow many crickets should he be eating? And is it daily? I've done so much reading online and there's so many different answers. My biggest fear is rocky dying, and my son having a broken heart. I wanna be a good gecko mom. They say they're for beginnersbut I'm finding it complicated. Please help. TIA

Kind regards
One stressed out mom :?
 
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logan1234

New member
I will try to help some, hopefully some of the people that were so kind to me will help you also.

To measure temperatures, this is a thermometer i use: ZOO MED™ Reptile Terrarium Digital Thermometer | Humidity & Temperature Controls | PetSmart

1. First off, make sure you aren't using sand. Sand can hurt them bad or even kill if they eat it. I strongly recommend using paper towels.

2. There should be a warmer side and a side not as warm. The side with the heat pad should be around 88-92 degrees. There should be a hide there and you should put a thermometer probe in it to make sure of temperatures. By hooking up your heat pad to a thermostat, you should be able to achieve these temperatures. I recommend buying 2 of these. One for lighting and one for heat mats:https://www.amazon.com/MTPRTC-ETL-C...13692&sr=8-2&keywords=thermostat+for+reptiles. The other side should also have a hide and in it you should measure around room temperature. Aim for lower than 78.

3. Instead of using day/night bulbs you should use a CHE with a ceramic lamp. This is one that is good: https://www.amazon.com/Flukers-Repta-Clamp-Lamp-Switch/dp/B0002DHODQ?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0.
With the lamp I use this ceramic bulb: All Living Things

4. I only owned an adult leopard gecko, so I will let others help you with feeding.

Please ask away, as this is a friendly and helpful community! And it is confusing at first, but then you guys will enjoy having a leopard gecko pet!

EDIT: ALSO, Please use Elizabeth's care sheet! It is EXTREMELY helpful to new owners. http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...-macularius-demo-video-4-jan-2013-update.html
 
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World of Herps

New member
I agree with Logan he/she brought up some good points. Sadly many leopard geckos kits aren't that good. You might not need a ceramic heat emitter if your tank is warm enough. Flukers makes a good heat mat. For substrate you can use paper towel, slate tile, and reptile carpet, I've heard you can use Eco-earth but there's some debate about that. What I use is zoo med excavator clay which is amazing but you'll need to put your gecko in a different place while it dries. You'll want two hides one on the hot side, and one on the cool side. I use the Exo terra reptile cave (medium) and the Exo terra gecko cave (again medium). In the cool hide you should have damp moss, I recommend sphagnum moss. I prefer temp guns over reptile thermometers because they're more accurate, and you can just point the light anywhere. You'll want to feed your gecko small crickets or mealworms. Make sure you gut load the insect for at least 24 hours in a separate container before feeding them. Feed about 5 insect every day for the first 6 months, then feed medium sized insects every other day (about 10 insects) . Make sure you dust the insects in calcium (without D3) on week days, and multivitamin on weekends. Repashy supercal and supervite are great, and repashy calcium plus is an all in one supplement you use every feeding. Okay I think that's the basics. Please look at different care sheets and books, just be careful because there's a lot of bad info out there.
 
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Geckogirl83

New member
You guys are great. Thank you for all your help. I just ordered a heating mat. My tank with no lights on rest at about 85. I will get a thermometer gun as well. Thanks again to both of you :)
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Geckogirl83 said:
You guys are great. Thank you for all your help. I just ordered a heating mat. My tank with no lights on rest at about 85. I will get a thermometer gun as well. Thanks again to both of you :)
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:D

What size enclosure have you? It's best to get a heat mat half the size of the base?

The Jump Start thermostat Logan recommends has a digital readout and a small metal probe. It's the best inexpensive thermostat for controlling your heat mat. It will turn off automatically when your thermostat gets too warm and turn back on when it get too cool.
 
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World of Herps

New member
If you want to save space you can just put the moss in when the gecko is shedding. You can tell the geckos shedding because they will become white. The heat mat should be 1/3 the size of the tank at least. I do recommend that when the lizard gets bigger you get a 15 gallon tank.
 
Zux

Zux

New member
Geckogirl83 said:
Ok. Right now he's tiny about 3-4 inches. But I will definitely upgrade the tank. Thank you
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When you do upgrade though, rather than a 15 gallon, it is generally advised here to go no lower than a 20 Gallon Long tank. They really do appreciate the extra space and will be much more content with the extra hides and appropriate thermo-gradient this affords.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Would you like to see a suggested feeding and supplement schedule for your son's new young leo?

When Logan was getting ready for his leo Flynn I made one.
 
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logan1234

New member
By the way, if you have spare money, I agree on getting an exo terra tank with front opening doors. They save a lot of effort and scares new geckos less (from what i've heard). My dad may be getting me one for my birthday/Christmas. Good luck!
 
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