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New to geckos

A humid hide is a hide that is filled with a substrate that will help add and hold humidity. Take any hide and add paper towel, sphagnum peat moss or coco fiber. Wet the substrate down once a day. This will help aid your gecko in the shedding process.
 
From the pic is my little Hektor ready to shed? He is not getting that grayish color like other lizards i have seen that are ready to shed.
 
ok I took a better look at Hektor and his back is getting kinda gray, i put in a humid hide, but he doesnt seem to like it. he has his regular hide. should i remove that to get him used to the other one?
 
Just leave it in there. The less messing about you do with him, the less stress he will have. Especially in the first couple of weeks, you want to disturb them as little as possible so that they can settle in and not be stressed.

It takes time for geckos to explore their environment and see what it has to offer. It does not hurt to have it in there, so just leave the humid hide there. He might not be ready for it yet.

Goodluck.
 
I am looking into another heat soruse other than the pad. i thought the light i had produced enough heat but it doesnt. I am looking at the creamic heat source. is it any good? What about the night bulbs? are they any good?http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...<>ast_id=2534374302023694&bmUID=1133805309550 ceramic heat source

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...<>ast_id=2534374302023694&bmUID=1133805309641 night bulb

or should i go with this http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...<>ast_id=2534374302023694&bmUID=1133805309692
 
Heat tape is good and inexpensive.
IMHO the very best gift you could give your gecko is to spend a couple hours or an afternoon reading the posts in this forum, as far back as you can. There is a wealth of information here, I can guarantee that if you do this, your gecko will be happier and healthier if you implement the knowledge you find here.
 
Evelyn,

Your heat pad would be fine if you connected it to a reptile thermostat and removed all the sand in favor of paper towels. The heat generated by the heat pad simply cannot penetrate through all that sand. And without a thermostat its just unsafe to be running any undertank heat source. You can buy thermostats for as low as $20 and up to $200. Let the value of your property and your family and animals lives be your guide.

If you do this...you really wont need a ceramic heat emitter. The night bulbs are OK if you just wish to view your geckos briefly at night, but shouldn't be considered as your main heat source. Your main heat source should come from one side of the belly of your enclosure and be thermostatically regulated. Incandescent lighting would provide ambient air temperatures along the correct range and can be tweaked easily by changing the wattage of the bulbs.

Good Luck, and if you need help, try getting in touch with Matt Greybeal from Just Cage. He's a member here and specializes in reptile heating products. I'm sure he can whip you up something fairly inexpensive thats appropriate for your setup.

Psst..and heres a secret....tell him a very "sharp horn" sent you and you might get a discount. Nah just kidding.....
 
Rioko said:
i put in a humid hide, but he doesnt seem to like it. he has his regular hide. should i remove that to get him used to the other one?
Click to expand...

Keep both in the tank and make sure both hides are somewhat dark inside. If you're using a Tupperware type hide with a clear lid or clearish colored lid then place a small terracotta plant dish (with calcium in it) on top of the hide to shield as much light out as possible. It works and its functional.
 
both hides are terracotta pots. the tank is only a 10gal so i had to do a little rearanging but not much. i just had to move his stump. he does have crickets to eat. I plan to take more pics of him soon. he does love to be held
 
i looked for a leo gecko book and did not find any. i will ask my family for some leo gecko books and books on mexican redknee tarantulas
 
Good job, I hope you know you are doing the right thing and your gecko will appreciate you more this way. Use dry paper towels.
 
ok i did put in dry paper napkins ( all i had other than TP). I still have plenty of other fresh sand. so i dumped out the old. would it be ok for me (at a later date) to try forrest bed for hektor? I have a bunch left over from my tarantula (never been used)
 
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