Hi! Proud new leo owner...and new to here too!

[Lyndsey]

Hi everyone! First I'd just like to say that this forum is awesome! I browsed last night and was able to get a few of my questions answered

Last night I adopted a 5 year old leo. He was in a small tank (10 gallons) and only had one very small hide rock that he couldnt even get his big butt into. It also came with a heat lamp (purple bulb), a heat rock, and a water dish. We took the heat rock out because I've read that it can burn them. They were using bark chips as substrate which didnt look comfortable to be on!

Today my husband and I went to Petco and bought a 20 gallon tank, 2 hide rocks (half coconut one, and a plaster rock/cave thing), meal worms, wax worms (as treats), a feed dish, calcium/vitamin powder, a heat pad, and very fine sand as substrate.

Now...to the questions LOL. And yes, I did use the search function but wasn't able to find the exact answers I need (I just might need new glasses...so bear with me LOL)

Question 1: When I talked to the woman she told me that they fed him 15 large adult crickets per week. What they were doing was dusting them, then just dumping all 15 in the tank and leaving them there until he ate them. I read that this is bad as they annoy and can even nibble on the leo. My husband and I decided that we were going to switch him to meal worms since they are easier to deal with, and would only give wax worms and crickets occasionally. My question is how should I transition him and at what time of day to feed him? I have the meal worms in the fridge with some carrot pieces to gut load them. Also, they are giant meal worms. Right now, I have 7 meal worms in his food dish. How many can an adult eat? And how often? I've read varying things such as twice a week, every two days, even everyday.

Question 2: His tank is on top of my dresser (dont have a stand yet)...so I couldn't put the heat pad underneath. I had to stick it to the outside of the tank. I have it on the right side of the tank and his larger hide is right next to it on the inside. Is this adequate heat? Of should I have the heat lamp on too? One hide is on the left side of his tank (the coconut one)...and the other hide is on the right side next to the heat pad. I need to know the full process for that lol

Oh goodness...I hope you guys don't hate me! I'm sorry this is so long. And to you leo experts I probably sound like the biggest idiot lol. I just want the best for my new buddy :main_yes:


Here is a pic of his tank so you can get a better idea. We are going to get him a climbing branch and a couple fake plants next week. Is this set up ok? Anything wrong with it?

 

[eyelids]

Hey Lyndsey! Welcome to the forum! I've had a long day so I'll leave the answers to someone else... :beatnik2: :main_thumbsup:

 

[nightseer00]

Hello! You should ditch the sand reptile carpet is pretty cheap and you don't have to worry about impaction. If you have any questions about calci-sand or what substrates are good then just search around.

I have my viv on top of a bookshelf as well. My undertank heater came with little knobs to stick underneath so i had room for the heater and the chord. Check and see if yours came with them! geckos take in heat through their bellies so it would probably be better if you moved it below the tank. I have mine set up right underneath a half log and they love to sleep right above it!

You should also buy a lamp/temp gauge as well. On one side of the tank it should be between 80 and 90 degrees ( keep mine around 80-85) and the cool side should be about room temp. I dont remember exactly why but on tp of heat the leos need the light from the lamp to help with the calcium in their bodies. I have one lamp for during the day and another for night ( the nighttime on is a redheat one so the light is invisible to the gecks). They like to lay under the lamp and warm up but like i said they take in most of the heat through their bellies!

anyways good luck and welcome!!

 

[GeckoMandi]

Welcome

I think Jessica gave you some good advice, on feeding it depends on the size of the gecko is it an adult, weight etc on how it feeds. But guessing it's adult I feed my adults every 2-3 days mealworms, and crickets. Once you see how many they eat of each you will get an idea of any to leave in tank, I wouldn't leave crickets in there though.

Also you will want to add a humid hide to the tank, this helps the gecko shed better, you can make using a tupperware bowl with a hole cut in the side the gecko can get in and out, you put papertowels in it or some moss.

Hope this helps.

 

[GECKOFREAK]

Welcome!

 

[Lyndsey]

Hello! You should ditch the sand reptile carpet is pretty cheap and you don't have to worry about impaction. If you have any questions about calci-sand or what substrates are good then just search around.

I have my viv on top of a bookshelf as well. My undertank heater came with little knobs to stick underneath so i had room for the heater and the chord. Check and see if yours came with them! geckos take in heat through their bellies so it would probably be better if you moved it below the tank. I have mine set up right underneath a half log and they love to sleep right above it!

You should also buy a lamp/temp gauge as well. On one side of the tank it should be between 80 and 90 degrees ( keep mine around 80-85) and the cool side should be about room temp. I dont remember exactly why but on tp of heat the leos need the light from the lamp to help with the calcium in their bodies. I have one lamp for during the day and another for night ( the nighttime on is a redheat one so the light is invisible to the gecks). They like to lay under the lamp and warm up but like i said they take in most of the heat through their bellies!

anyways good luck and welcome!!

Thanks so much for your advice! You are a sweetheart! I had read a little about compaction...but not enough to realize it was thought of so badly. I will get some reptile carpet next weekend when I get paid.

I found the little knob looking things (4 of them and they are clear, right?) that you were talking about. I put the heating pad underneath the tank. I put it under the bigger cave looking hide. The coconut hide is his moist hide now and it is on the side of the tank without the heat pad.

I used a paper towel and folded it into fourths. I misted it until it was moist and put it on top of the sand with the hide sitting on top of it. Is that how you do it? Or do you like line the hide with the moist paper towel?

When I got Flecko, he had one of those temp gauges that stick to the tank. I have that on the side that's next to the warm hide. It's reading 80 right now. I will have to get another temp gauge for the cool side of the cage when I get paid.

The tank we got didn't have a mesh lid...so I will have to get that too when I get paid next Friday lol. I have a lid wih calcium powder...so I hope that will suffice until I can get a lid to sit his heat lamp on! :dunce:

 

[Lyndsey]

Welcome

I think Jessica gave you some good advice, on feeding it depends on the size of the gecko is it an adult, weight etc on how it feeds. But guessing it's adult I feed my adults every 2-3 days mealworms, and crickets. Once you see how many they eat of each you will get an idea of any to leave in tank, I wouldn't leave crickets in there though.

Also you will want to add a humid hide to the tank, this helps the gecko shed better, you can make using a tupperware bowl with a hole cut in the side the gecko can get in and out, you put papertowels in it or some moss.

Hope this helps.

Yes, Jessica gave me great advice!

Right now I just have 7 giant meal worms in his food dish. I have 2 small chucnks of carrot in there for them to feed on. He hasn't eaten them yet, though. Can I just leave them in there all the time? Or do I have to take them out and replace them with fresh ones? They are all still alive.

Thanks for the advice on the moist hide...it really helped!

 

[ReptileMan27]

Welcome

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Welcome to GeckoForums.net, Lyndsey!

 

[Lyndsey]

Thanks for the welcomes! You're all too sweet!

 

[KiKi]

welcome and if you can replace the sand with paper towel for know,untill you get the reptile carpet,their moist hide should also be on the warm side and temps on the warm side should be 90-92

 

[GeckoMandi]

Yes, Jessica gave me great advice!

Right now I just have 7 giant meal worms in his food dish. I have 2 small chucnks of carrot in there for them to feed on. He hasn't eaten them yet, though. Can I just leave them in there all the time? Or do I have to take them out and replace them with fresh ones? They are all still alive.

Thanks for the advice on the moist hide...it really helped!

Sorry missed this yeah I would leave the worms in there all the time, I have to add worms about every 2-3 days to my geckos bowls. You will get an idea of how much to add over time

 

[moosassah]

Hi & welcome. I've only had Hidey for a few months. She took a meal worm from the dish for the 1st time today. I keep them in there all the time & will pull a few out each night & toss them in front of her. Now that she understands where they are I may have to replenish more often. I do try to pull out mealie shells daily & I keep some calcium in that dish. As for crickets, I give them a few times a week. You'll be amused to watch the take down, complete with a tail "rattle" prior to the strike. They really seem to enjoy the hunt. Good luck, you're going to be reading more information than you can possible handle here. It's amazing & awesome & way helpful.

 

[nwheat]

Welcome, Lindsey!