Hello! Newly adopted leopard geckos!

[Ginger Snap]

Hi! We just adopted two leopard geckos! The look healthy and from what I've read so far they don't seem to be stressed from the move. The habitat is rather blah right now but came with a heating lamp so we went and got a red night bulb for now. I also think their current hide looks rather small for two but still reading up on that. You'll see in the picture that one is standing on the hide.

I guess my current question is about building structures for their hides. I found Critter Clay that looks more reasonable priced than the zoopoxy I was looking at. Is that a good product to use?

Here's some pictures of when we just got them home!

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GF and congrats on the geckos who do look pretty good. What size tank are they in? Ideally they should each have a hide as well as an under tank heater instead of a heat lamp. They will be fine for now. Read some care sheets (you can start with my long one here: https://geckcessories.wordpress.com/leopard-gecko-care-sheet/) and get a sense of the prevailing opinions about how to do things.
Enjoy your geckos.

Aliza

 

[Ginger Snap]

Thanks Aliza! I've been reading a lot tonight. I contacted the previous owner and found out they are male and female so I'm thinking we should separate them? They get along well but at feeding time the male was MUCH more dominant with the crickets. I read I can separate them for feedings which is what we ended up doing. We left the female in the tank for about 20 minutes alone, then added the male back and that seemed to work well.

The tank is 20 gallons long. We also have a 10 gallon if it's a good idea to separate them. The previous owner also said that they have had eggs in the past but I'm guessing she didn't incubate them or have what the female needed to properly hatch them.

They've only ever been fed meal worms and crickets, which I also read on one site that is bad, they need a much bigger variety of insects, so looking into that as well. I'll take a look at your link. Thanks again!

 

[Ginger Snap]

Great info in your link! I saved it for later. I was ready to clean the cage daily lol.

 

[Ruvik]

I think it would be best to put them in different tanks. A 10 gallon would be find til you could get another 20 gallon. You could always look up custom hides made of foam and learn to do that too. There are many many youtube videos on how to do it. Also on how to make other foam things as well.

 

[Ginger Snap]

I didn't go to bed till almost 3 am because I was Googling Ruvik! I did find a bunch of guides on using foam and other materials to make some cool habitats and hides. I'd like to make it as close to their natural environment as possible while still being easy to clean. I also found myself in awe of some people's setups. So amazing!

 

[Ruvik]

If you look for my forum of my two geckos it has mt gecko set up on it. it has two levels and is as natural as I could get it without really making anything.

 

[Jpeck8]

My litter leopard gecko! dark picture is I'm sure to be pre shed, cause she was really light colored when I got her then the next thing I know she is all bright. my place was humid enough for her to not need a humid hide, but I'm getting a dehumidifier soon to deal with that problem. I think she is a super-hypo tangerine baldy, can anyone confirm

 

[acpart]

I would also recommend separating the male and the female. Even if you choose not to incubate the eggs that are most likely going to come, laying takes a great toll on the female and for her to lay with no "payoff" is kind of a shame. I'm sure a great variety of feeders is better but some geckos only like to eat 1 type of feeder and many people successfully keep them with less of a variety. I raise my hatchlings on mealworms and feed my adults alternating weeks of crickets and super worms with occasional feedings of hornworms and silkworms for variety.

Aliza

 

[Ginger Snap]

Thank you everyone who has responded. We have two tanks with screens and stands coming today from a friend. They are 30" x 12" x I forget". I'm not actually sure how big that is but sounds like a 10 gallon, I just haven't had time to Google yet. Some people say 10 is big enough for 1 gecko, others say it must be bigger. I will separate them tonight.

I just got back from the pet store and got them some moss because it looks like they are shedding.

And I'm really freaking out. I read a lot of Aliza's blog and saw that I'm not the only one to apply human emotions to my geckos but I just can't help but feel like I'm doing something wrong. I realize they don't move more than they have too but I just freak out because I can't tell.

 

[Vulli]

Having a male with only one female will most likely result in too much stress on the female. I've read before that if you're gonna have males and females together, there should be multiple females, not just one. Too much stress of egglaying on that one girl, which can result in deficiencies and weight loss.

Good to hear you're separating them!