new gecko

noctua

noctua

New member
Went on a 2 hour drive to get this wee 4 month old baby from a breeder, it was one of three, and I picked it partially because it was in its own tub, whereas the other two were together and one was very skittish and panicky while the other had apparently bitten its own tail (or been bitten by its cagemate). I picked him up and he explored my hands, lots of tongue flicking and otherwise very calm and alert.

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He did vomit on the ride home, probably stress and/or car sick, but I'll be keeping an eye out for any more. The breeder had hides with vermiculite so I'll be watching for any potential impaction, and it looks like it was eating adult mealworms, which I feel like is too big. I'll be widening its diet to crickets and locusts as well as the mealworms the breeder gave me.

He's chilling out in a hide on the cool side for the last few hours, he popped his head out earlier to see if i was still around. I'll probably put a couple small mealworms in the dish with a piece of carrot later and he can eat some overnight so long as the mealworms can't escape.

I'll be taking him to the vet in a couple weeks for a wellness check and hopefully s/he'll be with me for a long time!

Still need to decide on a name though!
 
Zux

Zux

New member
Hi there,

Congrats on the new addition, the sickness in the car is very common and most Leo's I have taken on such journeys are also sick. When you go to the vet, take a fecal sample (stored in the fridge - pref 24 hours before) and request the vet do a test for parasites or similar. This is cheap and will give you the peace of mind in knowing the Gecko is free of any nasty hitchhikers.

Locusts, as you probably know are the most popular live-food staple in Europe. Having said that, as you can imagine, the notion of s 'staple' diet is not something to be recommended.

With that said, I have read the article Elizabeth posted, the most recent data from Europe's largest insect farm/distributor closed release suggested the opposite; with Locusts coming in very low indeed in terms of both insect relative cholesterol levels and fat, we should note many of these statistics, particularly fat and cholesterol can be altered a great deal by the diet the insects are fed throughout their lives.
 
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noctua

noctua

New member
He got himself stuck behind the rock wall last night so I had to rescue him this morning lol, he was ok, just a little cold.
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He seems to prefer this one cave on the cool side, I haven't seen him move at all towards the much warmer side, but I assume he'll know what he's doing and maybe move to the warm side when I go to bed. I've got mealworms in the dish with a bit of carrot but he hasn't shown any interest in doing anything but sleeping unless I disturb him.
 
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Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
noctua said:
He got himself stuck behind the rock wall last night so I had to rescue him this morning lol, he was ok, just a little cold.
View attachment 42395

He seems to prefer this one cave on the cool side, I haven't seen him move at all towards the much warmer side, but I assume he'll know what he's doing and maybe move to the warm side when I go to bed. I've got mealworms in the dish with a bit of carrot but he hasn't shown any interest in doing anything but sleeping unless I disturb him.
Click to expand...

Awwwwwww, what a little cutie!

Some keepers cover both sides and the back with paper towels or brown paper bags. If he's already in a corner, cover the remaining side. That offers more privacy.

It takes a while for leos to settle in and begin to eat.

Verify the hide temps first! If he doesn't "find" his warm hide on his own, try placing his favorite hide on the warm end instead.
 
noctua

noctua

New member
I woke up this morning and he was on the warm side hiding under the fake plant at the back of the tank, so at least he knows where the warm side is!
 
noctua

noctua

New member
This was her fourth day without eating, so I offered a mealworm with tweezers (it wormed its way out of them and dropped onto the floor) where she struck at it a few times, completely missing, and then when it got itself wedged in a corner and she couldn't get at it, she gave up and ignored any more that I offered.

I gave her a break for a few hours then offered a dusted cricket on tweezers, and she chowed down on that! It's the first time she's eaten crickets, the breeder I bought her from fed only mealworms. She ate a freshly shed mealworm I offered her after that and then didn't want anymore, so I'll wait til the evening and try her on more!

Also, I decided to name her Azula!
 
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Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
noctua said:
This was her fourth day without eating, so I offered a mealworm with tweezers (it wormed its way out of them and dropped onto the floor) where she struck at it a few times, completely missing, and then when it got itself wedged in a corner and she couldn't get at it, she gave up and ignored any more that I offered.

I gave her a break for a few hours then offered a dusted cricket on tweezers, and she chowed down on that! It's the first time she's eaten crickets, the breeder I bought her from fed only mealworms. She ate a freshly shed mealworm I offered her after that and then didn't want anymore, so I'll wait til the evening and try her on more!

Also, I decided to name her Azula!
Click to expand...

Welcome Azula! I'm glad that you're eating. Yum, yum, yum! :)

Maybe wait till tomorrow to feed her again.
 
noctua

noctua

New member
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I was changing the mealworms substrate (i think it took 2 hours, i need to buy a sieve lol) and put a dish of fresh ones in her tank, and a few minutes later she pops out watching what I'm doing before half climbing in the dish to catch a few worms. I just can't get over how adorable she is!
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
noctua said:
View attachment 42441

I was changing the mealworms substrate (i think it took 2 hours, i need to buy a sieve lol) and put a dish of fresh ones in her tank, and a few minutes later she pops out watching what I'm doing before half climbing in the dish to catch a few worms. I just can't get over how adorable she is!
Click to expand...
Hi there! I see you. :)

Will this sieve work for your mealworms?

Click: Amazon.com - Polder 6631-75 Stainless-Steel Sink Strainer with Extending Rubber-Grip Arms - Colanders
 
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noctua

noctua

New member
Hey, just wondering as far as supplements go, if I'm giving her enough.

I'm following the schedule that's often quoted on this site for leos under 18 months, with zoo med calcium+d3 on mondays, reptivite on wednesdays and reptile one plain calcium on fridays.

I still haven't had a chance to weigh Azula because she's still a little skittish when it comes to me picking her up, but as it is I dust two small (2cm) crickets and feed her those via tweezers to make sure she gets them. Do you think two dusted crickets are enough? She's only 4-5 months old.
The crickets are usually almost solid white by the time I'm done shaking them around in the ziploc bag.
On top of that she gets 10 gutloaded mealworms in her dish a day, and she usually eats 7-8 of those overnight.

Once I get a chance to weigh her I can dust more according to zoo med's instructions, but should I be dusting the mealworms as well? I tried once to dust them but it's difficult to get it to stick.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
noctua said:
Hey, just wondering as far as supplements go, if I'm giving her enough.

I'm following the schedule that's often quoted on this site for leos under 18 months, with zoo med calcium+d3 on mondays, reptivite on wednesdays and reptile one plain calcium on fridays.

I still haven't had a chance to weigh Azula because she's still a little skittish when it comes to me picking her up, but as it is I dust two small (2cm) crickets and feed her those via tweezers to make sure she gets them. Do you think two dusted crickets are enough? She's only 4-5 months old.
The crickets are usually almost solid white by the time I'm done shaking them around in the ziploc bag.
On top of that she gets 10 gutloaded mealworms in her dish a day, and she usually eats 7-8 of those overnight.

Once I get a chance to weigh her I can dust more according to zoo med's instructions, but should I be dusting the mealworms as well? I tried once to dust them but it's difficult to get it to stick.
Click to expand...

I just tweaked the schedule a little. All I did was switch the Reptivite to Friday and the plain calcium carbonate to Wednesday. This is based upon dusting nearly all the feeders (bugs and worms) at each feeding. I don't recommend using D3 calcium OR Reptivite multivitamins more than @ 1 feeding a week each.

Last month I switched the insect/worm days because supplements stick better to crickets and to dubia. However, coat insects lightly!

Instead of the plastic bag idea take a 32 ounce deli cup, add some supplement powder, add the insects or worms, and then gently swirl. Then kinda "bounce" the insects off the bottom of the container to shake some powder off. Set up 3 separate dusting containers with airtight lids. Then you're prepped for the future.

/\ Does that make sense?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Weekly Schedule for Leopard Geckos 12 months old & under
tweaked August 2017​

Crickets or dubia >> Monday - lightly dusted with Zoo Med Repti Calcium with D3
Mealworms >> Tuesday
Crickets or dubia >> Wednesday -lightly dusted with precipitated calcium carbonate without D3
Crickets or dubia >> Thursday
Crickets or dubia >> Friday - lightly dusted with Zoo Med ReptiVite multivitamins without D3
Mealworms >> Saturday
No food or free choice >> Sunday

Future weeks:
Continue on since all weeks are identical. . . . . .
 
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