New leopard gecko owner, want to make sure all is well

[iwannaliveinthesea]

Hello! My husband and I have just bought our first leopard gecko! I've done some research but not near enough to feel super confident about being the person he has to rely on to take care of his needs and make sure he's healthy. I don't know near enough to feel sure he was taken care of well enough and that he's completely healthy, so far he seems good to me, eating well, moving fine and enjoying his hide. But if love it if I could get some other people to look at him and make sure I'm not missing anything important. I would also really appreciate any advice and tips on keeping him healthy, seems like everywhere I've read has different advice on how much to feed, how often, and how often he needs his supplements. The small pet store he came from was feeding him 4-6 large crickets a day and that just seems like so much to me, especially compared to some places saying just to feed 4 times a week. :? It's leaving me very confused and worried that I will not do right for him, any advice and tips are super appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[acpart]

welcome to GU! Your gecko looks great. The stripped down basics of leopard gecko care (most of which you probably know already) are:
adequate heat --low 90's on the hot side floor and not too hot (not above mid-70's normally) in the air in my opinion (but when there's a heat wave, hotter is fine)
appropriate supplementation -- calcium, vitamin D3 and other vitamins and minerals, but not too much. General wisdom is to provide at every other feeding
decent food --there are lots of appropriate feeders and many different feeding schedules. For adults, about every other day is reasonable. Just like people, geckos may eat a lot one day and less another day, so put in an average amount (e.g. 3-6 crickets), adjust upwards if the gecko still seems hungry and adjust downward if it doesn't finish eating. Reptiles sometimes go a long time (months in extreme cases) without eating and since they don't need to use calories for heating, they don't need to eat as often.

There are a lot of ways to accomplish the same thing. Choose a routine and evaluate the gecko regularly to see if it's working. Enjoy your gecko!

Aliza

 

[iwannaliveinthesea]

Thank you! I'm glad to know he looks good, I thought so but wasn't entirely sure how well I could trust my judgement with no experience.