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jencamp

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hello....my name is jen. i'm a newbee to the forums and leopard geckos :) so anyone who can help and be patient with me, i'd be happy to listen to all who can offer some help! (i don't hang out on the computer long....i have 3 kids...i never get to sit long ;) )

i'll try to keep this short, so not to bore anyone...i purchased a 2 month old or so gecko from a chain pet store for my son's b-day last week. we also purchased a 20 L tank with starter kit in it.....there's the thing....the lizard "expert" at the store said one thing....the booklet that came in the kit says another! i know retail pet chains tell you things to get you to buy their products....i didn't fall for that...so to the ?

i have the sticker thermometer on the back wall in the middle...the numbers that are lit are 75 and 80. i have a under the tank heater on the right...cool on left....is this too cool? i think this sounds too low from what i've "read". the expert said i didn't need to purchase a basking lamp. do i need more heat? (i keep a towel over the warm side to hold in some of the heat)

one more ? for today..."it" or french fry as my son has named "it" does not seem to be eating the mealworms, we only give her one just to see and it's always there, f.f. does like to eat the crickets..several crickets a day...so do i do away with the mealworms? will they eat veggies?
i still have a lot of ?'s. it seemed simple at first but....i just want to do it right.

thanks to all who can help....

jen
 
Hi, Welcome to the Gecko World.lol And the Forum. I will try and answer all your questions.

You Should use a digital thermometer with a probe, as you need to measure the substrate temp. That should be between 88 and 93. the cool side can be high 70's to low 80's. The stick on thermometers aren't accurate. Also you will need some way to regulate that under tank heater as they can't regulate their heat output and they get very hot. I use a rheostat which is like a dimmer switch and you adjust the undertank heater manually. Or you can use a thermostat, you set that to a temp you want and then it takes little help on your part except to check it to make sure its working righ tand to adjust to make sure you have the proper temp.

You will only need more heat if it gets too cold then use a reptile infrared light as they can be sensitive to bright lights being nocturnal, they dont' need a basking spot. They also don't need uv lighting as long as you supplement them properly.

You dont' have to feed mealworms, but do offer variety. The crickets are fine and I feed mine as much as they want in about 20 to 30 minutes. Then take out the rest of the crickets, they will annoy your leo and chew on him if they have nothing else to eat. you will also need to gutload your feeders, I get my gutload from www.cricketfood.com. You can also feed silkworms, superworms, lobster roaches waxworms or butterworms. Go easy on the waxworms, they are high in fat.

I just wanted to make sure that you have the correct supplements, you should have a dish of pure calcium in the cage at all times, I use milk jug caps. Also dust the crickets with pure calcium 5 days a week, a multivitamin one day a week and vitamin d3 one day a week. They can over dose on d3 thats why you only use it one day a week. This is if you have a baby/juvenile.

Also what kind of substrate are you using, I want to make sure the petstore didn't tell you to use sand or any other loose substrate. They can cause impaction and kill your leo. Leos lick their surroundings and ingest sand or other loose substrate then is causes a blockage and they can't pass it. Things that are safe to use are, papertowel, slate/tile, non adhesive shelf liner, or reptile carpet.

I hope this helps you some and that you enjoy your new leo.
Kristy
 
Oh and I forgot to add, they wont eat veggies. They are insectivores and I am not sure they would be abel to properly digest veggies.
Kristy
 
hi kristy...thanks for the info....well, bad news i guess....i have sand.....i asked the "expert" if i needed more sand because i thought the depth was too low, and having the under the tank heater i was purchasing at the time, if that would make it too hot since it was only 1/2" deep...he says naw it's fine....french fry has been pooin quiet often and we've had "it" for 6 days now...so i take it i need to get rid of the sand?

now i feel bad.....ugh

jen
 
I've only heard of problems with sand or anything small enough to fit in the mouth of a leo. Just pour out that sand and get him on some paper towels. You really need to get something to control the heat of that under tank heater, those can exceed 120 degrees and burn animals. Do you have a moist hide?
 
yes...."it" is shedding now....she's not hidding in it as oftened as i thought she would....

the sand is extremely fine...smaller than table salt i'd say.....do i need to buy something to help her pass the sand?

now that i'm going to paper towels what can i get to put over the heater side until i get up there to buy a regulated heater...can i add a bath or dish towel under the paper towels?

the store "expert" said he had geckos and everything i bought was fine.....good lord i am very upset now....why would he tell me all this was fine if it could cost the animal its life? some expert!
 
I offer both a dry and moist hide on the heated side of the cage and a dry hide on the cool side. I keep the water on the cool side and mealworm dish where ever it fits, just not directly on the heat. If you can get some air space between the cage bottom and the heater you should be alright. Try soda bottle caps or somthing like that.
 
thanks jon!
is there a really good book out there to read....this booklet that came with the kit is uh.....says nothing like what i'm getting here....
i hate to keep asking questions.....maybe i could just read....although "hands on" is the best advice....

thanks again....i've got some work to do now.

jen :)
 
You're welcome. Lots of pet store information is trash as you're learning now. You've come to the right place for good information.
 
A good book I would recommend reading is the Leopard Gecko Manual. Its very informative. Also definately get rid of the sand no matter how fine it is. I am sorry you fell victim to the petstores "expert advice" I have told petstores what they can do with their "expert" advice in the past. lol Anyway, I use Tile that i got from lowes, It was likk $15 dollars for a box of it. It looks good, its safe and it conducts heat very well. Here is a pic of one of my cages just after I had cleaned it. And ITs easy to clean. Also you will only have to buy more if one breaks. So its also low cost.
IMG_3701.jpg


Also, If you find that he has stopped eating and pooping he may be impacted. What you can do is give him warm soaks in 90 degree water up to his shoulders for about 20 minutes a day, this will usually help them poop.
 
I think the best and most up-to-date book to read now is "The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos" available at http://leopardgecko.com/book.html . This book is basically the new version of the book that houdini recommended and is a great read. As she said, loose substrates aren't good for hatchlings or for new keepers trying to keep leos for the first time, so the switch to paper is a good idea. Also, instead of getting something to regulate your uth, you can simply put cardboard down on the bottom of the cage, then you paper towels. Just be sure to have an accurate thermometer (I personally like temp guns) and then just layer however much cardboard you need to get the surface at the right temps., it usually only takes one or two pieces of cardboard.
 
geckoeye said:
I think the best and most up-to-date book to read now is "The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos" available at http://leopardgecko.com/book.html . This book is basically the new version of the book that houdini recommended and is a great read. As she said, loose substrates aren't good for hatchlings or for new keepers trying to keep leos for the first time, so the switch to paper is a good idea. Also, instead of getting something to regulate your uth, you can simply put cardboard down on the bottom of the cage, then you paper towels. Just be sure to have an accurate thermometer (I personally like temp guns) and then just layer however much cardboard you need to get the surface at the right temps., it usually only takes one or two pieces of cardboard.
Click to expand...


That Cardboard is a great i dea!! I have talked to a lot of people on other forums who dont have the money to buy a thermostat or rheostat and didn't realize they needed one. I will have to tell them about that.
Kristy
 
wow....all of you are great thanks :D i did switch to paper towels, used the bottle caps to lower the uth and added some greenier...french fry likes it a lot better i think. now to get the right themometers....we got hit with killer storms last night and 10" of water....hopefully we'll dry out to get to the store.
again, thanks to each of you.

jen
 
The thermostat is MUCH safer. The real risk with any heating device is that it freaks out/shorts out/ etc. and runs hotter than normal. I would think it would be possible to scorch the cardboard, which could lead to a potentially deadly fire.

I used an UTH with Sand-like substrate for my breaded dragons. One day I checked on them and smelled something burning. Turns out that the UTH freaked out and had literally burned a hole in the dresser the tank was on, and it got so hot that it actually cracked the glass on the bottom of the tank. Luckily they were dragons and the sand was thick so a couple of hours at 115-120 didn't kill them, but it could have been a lot worse if I wouldn't have been home. I've used thermostats on my UTH and similiar heating elements since.
 
Milwaukee Reptiles said:
The thermostat is MUCH safer. The real risk with any heating device is that it freaks out/shorts out/ etc. and runs hotter than normal. I would think it would be possible to scorch the cardboard, which could lead to a potentially deadly fire.

I used an UTH with Sand-like substrate for my breaded dragons. One day I checked on them and smelled something burning. Turns out that the UTH freaked out and had literally burned a hole in the dresser the tank was on, and it got so hot that it actually cracked the glass on the bottom of the tank. Luckily they were dragons and the sand was thick so a couple of hours at 115-120 didn't kill them, but it could have been a lot worse if I wouldn't have been home. I've used thermostats on my UTH and similiar heating elements since.
Click to expand...

Oh my thats scary, Maybe I wont tell people to use carboard. Or just as a quick fix untill they can get a thermostat. But tell them the dangers.
 
thermostats also are not error proof I did have one take a crap on me a while back it stayed on and melted a few of my bins on a rack system. the really bad part was that the melted plastic burned through the heat tape and caused a short. at least there was no fire and no Leos were lost.
 
True, which is why you see some people out there with Double-Helixes wired together. Depends on the level of safety required. Also note that the cheap $19 ones are a lot more error prone when compared to something like a $125 helix.

The thermostat is there to provide some protection, but it's far from error-proof, just like everything else.
 
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