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What makes a leo look their best?

C

cbusdave

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I have recently dived into leos and made a few purchases. They all have great personalities and are eating like pigs. I can't help but think that I am not doing enough for them because they aren't colored up quite as nicely as their pictures before they were shipped. Can some of the experts provide some tips on this?

As an example, I have a patty that was bright yellow, with some orange at the tail base with the rest of the tail being white. Since arriving, she is a darker, more mustard-like yellow with a mostly grey tail. I also have an albino what doesn't seem to have her orange showing as much.

I just want them to be happy as they can be and am not sure I am doing the best with them.

Thanks for your help in advance.
 
Well... depending on who you got them from, a lot might have to do with the pictures you received as opposed to the reality of the gecko. Pictures can sometimes hide the color, but often, they can be made to POP the color.

For example...

test.jpg


The middle pic is the most accurate right now, she is getting ready to shed, but with a few level tweeks you can see what can be done and how different the same gecko can look. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, the same effect can happen with different lighting, different cameras and different settings. But just wanted to make you aware that the camera and the computer can sometimes do weird things!

Now, for the ulitmate in LOOKS, right after a shed is usually best, and warm temps will pop the colors as well. I know my brighter geckos if they are hanging out on the cool side of the tubs tend to look duller then when on the warm side. Stress will effect color as well... LOTS of things, I know with my blizzards thier moods can change thier color TOTALLY....

So... its a flucuating thing. Just keep doing what you are doing, keep em healthy and happy and they will look fantastic I am sure!
 
1) Keep them well-hydrated. Leos look nicer if they've got a humid hide they use a lot. And the best way to get them to use it a lot is to make it comfortable. Make the humid hide dark and secure with an entrance just big enough for them t squeeze through (as opposed to a gaping hole). Use substrate that they can fluff like a pillow, i.e., peat moss or coconut fiber. And keep it so that the hide itself gets a little mini thermal gradient on the warm side.

2) House them individually. This will relieve your leo of a lot of stress that might not be apparent from a human perspective. The stress relief itself is a good way to improve the appearance of your leo. But additionally, bite marks occur in colonies where the leos supposedly get along. I keep my colonies housed in my bedroom and didn't realize they were bite marks until I saw one leo nip another during a meal, and it left a white scratch on the skin. They can be very tiny, but they still give your leo that white, flaky skin.

3) Gutload your feeders! And I dont mean on just carrots, potatoes, and oatmeal. You have to gutload your feeders on the healthiest stuff you can find. Veggies with anti-oxidants, protein, omega-3 fatty acids... Nutrition is key!

4) Switch your feeders too. Variety is the best way to go. I have to say this, but leos fed strictly on mealworm diets just don't look as good as leos fed crickets or other foods. They might be fat and robust, but the colors don't look as bright, and sometimes their shape is a little weird. Does anyone else notice this too?

5) Keep the temperatures on the higher end. Rather than opting for 85-88, go for 90-93. I know some people will shoot me for saying this, but I have leos that will comfortably spread themselves out on hot spots of 99 degrees too. Then again, I don't keep my leos on racks, so they can afford the higher temps without any detriment (better air circulation, more walking space, etc.)
 
Yep what Xelda said, and IMHO its most likely the temps, albinos and patternless loose their colors faster when the temps are not high enough.
 
Here are some of the things that keep your geckos looking their best:

- keep them warmer (like Xelda said, around 94-95 degrees on the warm side)
- keep a natural photocycle in their environment
- keep them on white paper towel or a very light-colored substrate
- make sure they are supplemented properly
- make sure their feeders are gut-loaded with nutritional food
- keep them as unstressed as possible
- do not breed them

As far as photos go, ANY gecko can be made to look like a high-end morph with lighting, background, and camera setting variations. Keep the background light so it will reflect the light, and keep the light as natural as possible.
 
A lot of the high yellows i used to have dulled before when they were in smaller cages. I moved them afterward into larger ones and they brightened up real quick like.
 
Thanks for all of the good feedback. I plan to do the following to help out:

> Raise temperature on the warm end of the tank.
> Do a better job with gut loading

A few questions:

Marcia – can you describe the photocycle that you mentioned?

What about background? I don’t have anything on the glass currently. Maybe white?

I have a tank with a large footprint. I could go with paper towels but I would have to use several of them. Are there any recommendations for something larger?
 
Marcia will probably elaborate in this, but basically a photocycle is providing a simulated day/night cycle if they are in an environment that does not provide for that naturally.

For my larger tanks I use shelf liner for the bottom, you can buy it in pretty big sheets are walmart in the household department. Also, I have my tanks closed in on three sides, the back and two sides in most cases, by taping dark bristol board to the outside of the glass. It helps to provide a greater sense of privacy and safety, or so my geckos tell me ;)
 
saltwaterreptiles said:
Marcia will probably elaborate in this, but basically a photocycle is providing a simulated day/night cycle if they are in an environment that does not provide for that naturally.

For my larger tanks I use shelf liner for the bottom, you can buy it in pretty big sheets are walmart in the household department. Also, I have my tanks closed in on three sides, the back and two sides in most cases, by taping dark bristol board to the outside of the glass. It helps to provide a greater sense of privacy and safety, or so my geckos tell me ;)
Click to expand...

Cory, what is bristol board? How about a picture?
 
Bristol board is just poster board, a heavy gauge paper is all, you can get it at Wal-mart or any office supply shop. I looked at my online pics and I don't have a picture there that shows it all, I'll snap one when I get home tonight.

Any dark paper or even material would work the same though, as long as you remeber to apply it OUTSIDE the tank... ;)
 
DontShootMe said:
Sometimes you just got to say I LOVE THIS SITE. The info you get from these people are just so helpful.
Click to expand...

They are the best of the best indeed. As far as loving this site...well...lets just say they would be the best no matter what site they were contributing on. ;)
 
Marcia – can you describe the photocycle that you mentioned?
Click to expand...
Cory described this correctly. I would like to add that even though leos are primarily nocturnal, they know when it is daytime and when it is night time. They do not need any special lighting, but it is important that they have the appropriate amount of 'daylight' according to the season. In otherwords, in the summer they need 14-16 hours of daylight and in the winter they need about 8-10 hours. This will regulate their natural photocycle.
 
Marcia... in further reference to the photocycle... I have artificial lighting in my herp room on a timer, however, I also have two large windows in there. The lights are in sync with the natural daylight, but just for people who don't have external lighting, is natural ambient daylight enough in your estimation, or should one have an artificial light source as well?
 
Dave another option for substrate is a light colored tile. You can get vinyl tile (which you can cut to size with a pair of scissors) in very light colors...just make sure if you get tile to get a non-glossy tile. Tile is my personal favorite substrate, it looks good, is very easy to clean, nothing can get under it, its cheap, it holds heat well....
 
StinaUIUC said:
Dave another option for substrate is a light colored tile. You can get vinyl tile (which you can cut to size with a pair of scissors) in very light colors...just make sure if you get tile to get a non-glossy tile. Tile is my personal favorite substrate, it looks good, is very easy to clean, nothing can get under it, its cheap, it holds heat well....
Click to expand...


Can I get a little more info on the tile idea? I like the idea of holding heat but I am concerned that the material might not difuse the heat enough and get too hot because of the material.
 
I have used tile in the past Dave and didn't run into into problems with heat diffusion. What I did do though, to help the matter, was took two sheets of paper towel and laid it down in the tanke BEFORE I laid the tile in.
 
It does spread the heat some. I haven't actually used under tank heat with vinyl tile (heat tape and cable work great with ceramic tile...but ceramic tile would have to be cut at the store if it didn't fit into your tank)
 
Another way to make the tile fit your tank is to make a mosaic. I broke my tile into pieces and puzzled them together. I had a bag of calci sand that the gentleman I bought my first fat tail from INSISTED that I needed :sigh: and I used that mixed with water to grout the tiles. I then painted a very thin layer of non-toxic water based adhesive over the whole floor of the tank to waterproof and seal the area...


Here's what I ended up with....

jaxsubstrat.jpg
 
that looks nice! :) Seems like it would be harder to clean than regular tile though, since that can't be taken out
 
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