New leopard gecko owner here! a few questions and concerns:

[~Kayla]

Hi everyone!

I just have a few questions regarding the husbandry of my new leopard gecko, Casey (His\her name for now, lol) he\she is two weeks old and I got her two days ago from a reptile breeder.

1: I strictly tong feed him\her mealworms for now, is that okay? I'm not sure if I should just tong feed or put the mealies in a bowl for him\her to eat. otherwise, he\she's a great eater! ate four mealworms the first night.

2: I let her\him crawl on my hand today. is this too early for me to be trying to handle him\her? otherwise the only time I disturb her\him is to mist the moist hide or feeding time which is at 7pm.

3: Haven't seen him\her poop or drink yet, is this concerning?

4: How often should I mist and change out the paper towels in the moist hide, and clean the tank in general? I've heard mixed opinions.

5: When and how can I check Casey's gender? the breeders said I can tell at six months.

6:Lastly, I've attached a picture of Casey and my tank set up below in case I've done something wrong with my tank layout. the substrate is non adhesive drawer liner with paper towels underneath. if you guys see any obvious signs that my gecko is sick please let me know, but she\he looks healthy to me!

 

[acpart]

The gecko and the enclosure look good. Tong feeding is fine, though you may end up tong feeding for many years if the gecko comes to expect that. Consider putting some mealworms in a bowl to see if it will find them and eat them on its own. That way you could have mealworms in there all the time and it could eat as many as it wants when it's ready. If it's eating and appears to tolerate handling, in my opinion, go ahead. Hatchling feces tend to be very small, It could be going under a corner of the liner and you wouldn't notice them. It's probably fine. I think I'll let someone else comment about cleaning so I don't embarrass myself. Is the gecko really 2 weeks old, or 2 months?

Aliza

 

[~Kayla]

Thanks for your reply! I'm almost positive the breeder I got Casey from told me their geckos they were selling were 2 weeks old.
regarding putting the mealworms In the feeding bowl, should I do it in the morning so they are there throughout the day, or should I place them around normal feeding time? (7pm)

 

[acpart]

I would put them in around feeding time so they are newly moving around when the gecko gets active.

Aliza