New to geckos

[Pb48]

I have recently adopted my nieces albino leopard gecko. I was told she is between 1 1/2 and 2 yrs old. She was my sisters boyfriends and he left her behind when he left. Her cage was in the corner of their room and from what I could tell received little attention except feeding and water. When he left, My 10 yr old niece cared for her until I took her. I believe she did not receive regular attention and meal worms were her staple diet, Along with 'leopard gecko food blend with flavoring agents and nutrition' bottle. In my nieces care she did get more human contact...she would put a sweater on and let her crawl in and cuddle . Along with..her name is gizelle, my husband renamed her gizmo .. I have an under tank heating pad, hydro meter, thermostat, Calci powder, repti safe for her water, and I recently bought a dual heating/ basking lamp and a vine of leaves. I have done a lot of research on proper care and would love some helpful suggestions on the best care for her as I learn the ropes and she becomes accustomed to me. I turn her basking light on around 6 in the morning and heat lamp around 730 or 8 at night. I have a fan in the room to maintain the humidity level which sits from middle of 'ok' (50%) to higher side of the 'ok' (60%). I change her water and food every evening. I have tried crickets which I was told she had never had, meal worms, the bottle of nutrients I mentioned, grasshoppers...the week I have had her she doesn't appear to be eating at all. Nor, from what I can see, Having any sort of bowl movement. she did start coming out of her hut a few days ago which was good to see. I put my hand in every morning and night and in evenings careful to pick her up and try to get her used to me without stressing her out... I read about bathing and rubbing belly if she was constipated. I had warm water, heating pad to maintain it, and this was the first time i believe she has ever had one as she was clearly not into it. I did get her to sit calmly in the Tupperware and rub her belly as much as I could but didn't want to do this for to long due to her feeling stress. Her belly did feel harder...but what do I know... Anyway any suggestions on how to help her would be appreciated. Thank you for this forum!

 

[acpart]

She may just be getting used to a new routine. Keep offering food and see what happens. Consider ditching the heat lamp and going with the heat mat all the time. Make sure that your calci-powder has vitamin D3 as well.

Aliza

 

[Pb48]

thank you for your reply! I was just going to come onto the forum to ask some questions and you just answered one of them Im in a gecko Facebook group as well. and was told to ditch the heat lamp by someone yesterday. I am using a Uth but thought she needed the heat lamp due to doing some reading online and that’s what her old owner did. basking during day and heat lamp at night. so just the uth 24/7 and basking during day? and her calci does have d3. i had been shaking her food in a bag of the calci and feeding her in evenings. she doesn’t appear to be eating still but is finally going to the bathroom. I upgraded her tank to better fit her hot/humid/cool environment. Which was told to reframe from the sphagnum moss because that wasn’t good for her? And since she never had crickets I am stopping that and just giving her mealworm and gecko food in a bottle they had given her to try to get her to eat. i work with her every evening without forcing her... It’s been a week and half. She looks healthy as far as i can tell…I really want to do this correctly and for her to be ok. I appreciate your feedbacks. Thank you!I plan on cleaning the cage again here tomorrow. And you'll see a white thing up in the corner. I just noticed that just this minute. No idea what that is!! and I'm about to go investigate. If you have any ideas, I am totally open to that. I just took it out and it was full of cream puss substance yuck!!! A Roge cricket I didn't notice turn into a cuccoon or something!!!!! A meal worm cuccoon??

 

[Pb48]

What's your take on reptile carpets like you see in my picture? I have noticed others using them but was advised to not anymore due to Leo's getting snagged on them?

 

[acpart]

That white thing is an infertile egg that she laid. Some geckos lay eggs even though they've never been with a male. She may be more inclined to eat now. Reptiles-carpet does cause some geckos to get their claws stuck, but I don't think it's a major problem. My substrate of choice is ceramic tile but some people don't like that. Since leopard geckos are nocturnal, they don't really bask, but some of mine do seem to be outside the hide during the day.

Aliza

 

[Pb48]

Thank you for your reply! My husband told me it was an egg.. Me in my ignorance of this stuff was like"no way?" . A did read ovulating can change they eating. I bought non adhesive shelf liner and will be changing her cage soon. I watched a super informative beginners you tube video and made a plastic humid hut with wet paper towel. . I'm done trying crickets... Not worth the try for the little nutrition they give. I got some pure calci carbonated powder coming in the mail soon. Which brings a question... I have uva basking light and (temporarily due to her not eating allot And therefore not getting the calciD3 ) a uvb light. I shouldn't use that uvb to much as she starts getting more vitamins do to o.d. on d3?? The video said she really didn't think a uvb light was really needed anyway... Anyway thank you!

 

[acpart]

The problem with UVB light and leopard geckos is that it's hard to tell how much they're benefitting if they're hiding the whole time it's on. It seems to make the most sense to not bother with the UVB (which also means you won't need to replace it every 6 months), and supplement with the calcium and D3 every other feeding.

Aliza

 

[Pb48]

The problem with UVB light and leopard geckos is that it's hard to tell how much they're benefitting if they're hiding the whole time it's on. It seems to make the most sense to not bother with the UVB (which also means you won't need to replace it every 6 months), and supplement with the calcium and D3 every other feeding.

Aliza

thank you for your reply . yes, after doing some reading, if i do use the uvb (since i have it now) I only turn it on for a few hrs a day. I now have cali with d3 and vitamins to dust every other feeding and pure calci to leave in there. question though, she doesn’t eat the meal worms right away. how can i gut load the meal worms safely while in the tank? I am buying fridgerated worms. also the best way to care for my super worms (being stored at room tempature) that are still in the pet store container . thank you!

 

[acpart]

You should have some gut load available. Take a serving of mealworms out of the fridge the day before and put them into the gut load until you're ready to feed. Get powdered gut load and a strainer so it's easy to get the mealworms. The super worms should be bedded in gut load and you can also put veggie parings (like eggplant skins, cucumber peels, green veggie stalks) in there for them to eat.

Aliza

 

[Pb48]

You should have some gut load available. Take a serving of mealworms out of the fridge the day before and put them into the gut load until you're ready to feed. Get powdered gut load and a strainer so it's easy to get the mealworms. The super worms should be bedded in gut load and you can also put veggie parings (like eggplant skins, cucumber peels, green veggie stalks) in there for them to eat.

Aliza

Thank you! Right now I'm doing wax, meal and super worms just trying to entice her to eat. Her tail looks good. She looks good and has everything she needs. So I'm just waiting her out till she is hungry enough. . I took her old 10 gallon tank and put the super worms (and the stuff they were in) in that and put some cricket food and water in. I had purchased those and am not doing crickets anymore at leas for now. I have a small cricket carrier thing purchased when getting my first bunch of crickets and thought to put some meal and wax from the fridge in that? Unless they wouLd be ok in the 10 gallon with the super worms? I am shopping tonight anyway so I can pick up some veggies..as well as baby carrots for them. Thank you. I am slowly getting the hang of this although I noticed her poop is still runny so I need to keep an eye on that. But I saw she may be starting to shed

 

[acpart]

Don't put the meal worms in with the super worms. The small cricket carrier is fine. Consider ditching the wax worms because they can become addictive. If the cricket food you have is colored gel cubes, that's really just water with dye. You should be able to get some powdered grain (Flukers makes some stuff like that).

Aliza

 

[Pb48]

thank you for your reply. I put the meal worms in the cricket carrier. the wax worms (still all in the fridge) I bought to get her to eat. I bought some fruit and am now playing around with learning to gut load the worms. I noticed they may not be so crazy about cucumbers and celery lol. I have an apple in there now. She still isnt eating that I can tell which bums me out. but her tail still looks kinda plump. her heat is regulated good now and we are on a routine. I did get some flukers repa boost and tried that once so far…if looks could speak haha. I am not forcing her, kinda of waiting her out. I gave her a ‘bath’ last night…80’ warm water below her head in a plastic Tupperware bowl with loose lid then rubbed her belly.