SableLynx
GeckosNotGeico
Hi everyone, I am usually hanging out on the Leopard Gecko forum. I won that wonderful Beardie on the Fauna Fund auction and have a few questions. The Beardie seems to be doing great, he is eating well and very active. He had his first shed in my care and all went well. I do have a few concerns though and clarifying questions.
1) Since he is an adult I understand he should be eating 75% veggies to 25% bugs. What I have been doing is feeding him about 12-15 crickets or superworms every other day. Is this enough bugs or should I increase that amount?
2) He gets a salad of mixed veggies and/or greens everyday. (Always gets some type of greens, most of the time but not always has some other veggies included) I dust this every 2nd or 3rd day with repti-vite. Any problems there?
3) I attempt to spray him each day and he used to really like it. Lately he has taken to shaking his head and running away from the spray instead of drinking it. I thought it meant he was not thirsty but he kept it up for 3 days running, so I sprayed him down anyway.
When he does that should I quit spraying him? or go ahead and spray him? I started spraying extra on his veggies when he acts that way so I know he is getting some water.
4) I put him in the tub or sink to swim/soak about every 3-4 days and give him water as explained above but his skin still appears loose. Is it normal for a beardies skin to be a bit loose and wrinkled appearing? Or is he still not hydrated enough?
5) What should I do to help him shed? This last time I gave him the baths as explained aboveand also sprayed the whole length of his body every day that I observed dry loose skin. he had a clean shed but I don't want to give him a URI from to much moisture either.
Husbandry info: Housed in a viv that is about 36 long and 24 in wide. I have tile for the substrate a flat rock under his basking spot and a resin rock formation on the cool side to hide under/behind although most of the time he is on top of it instead. Temps run from 105 under the heat (CHE) to 85 on the cool side. I put a water bowl in there for him on Monday and he did drink from it and also tried to swim in it. When I put him in the sink though he did not want to swim or soak
I forgot to remove the bowl so it stayed in there all night. When I changed out the water Tues and offered him fresh he was not interested so I took out the bowl.
Thanks for taking the time to read my long post, and thanks for any advise that you can offer.
1) Since he is an adult I understand he should be eating 75% veggies to 25% bugs. What I have been doing is feeding him about 12-15 crickets or superworms every other day. Is this enough bugs or should I increase that amount?
2) He gets a salad of mixed veggies and/or greens everyday. (Always gets some type of greens, most of the time but not always has some other veggies included) I dust this every 2nd or 3rd day with repti-vite. Any problems there?
3) I attempt to spray him each day and he used to really like it. Lately he has taken to shaking his head and running away from the spray instead of drinking it. I thought it meant he was not thirsty but he kept it up for 3 days running, so I sprayed him down anyway.
When he does that should I quit spraying him? or go ahead and spray him? I started spraying extra on his veggies when he acts that way so I know he is getting some water.4) I put him in the tub or sink to swim/soak about every 3-4 days and give him water as explained above but his skin still appears loose. Is it normal for a beardies skin to be a bit loose and wrinkled appearing? Or is he still not hydrated enough?
5) What should I do to help him shed? This last time I gave him the baths as explained aboveand also sprayed the whole length of his body every day that I observed dry loose skin. he had a clean shed but I don't want to give him a URI from to much moisture either.
Husbandry info: Housed in a viv that is about 36 long and 24 in wide. I have tile for the substrate a flat rock under his basking spot and a resin rock formation on the cool side to hide under/behind although most of the time he is on top of it instead. Temps run from 105 under the heat (CHE) to 85 on the cool side. I put a water bowl in there for him on Monday and he did drink from it and also tried to swim in it. When I put him in the sink though he did not want to swim or soak
I forgot to remove the bowl so it stayed in there all night. When I changed out the water Tues and offered him fresh he was not interested so I took out the bowl. Thanks for taking the time to read my long post, and thanks for any advise that you can offer.
When it comes to animals health I like to err on the side of caution so here is my plan. I will continue with the Vitamin dust but drop it to once a week as the reptivite does contain the D3. I will either increase the time outside or rig a way to hang a floresent uvb light inside the viv. Oh hey wait I just had an idea, 
the uvb can not penetrate glass but it can go through screen right? I can build in an upper level to put him with the recommended 6-8 inches of the light. Also my viv is just a little bigger then I thought actual floor dimentions are 40" long and 26" wide so that is 1040 sq inches. The ones I saw recomended 48X18 which is 864 sq inches so I think I am good here. Do you see any problems with my plan?