New leo owner

I bought a leo at a reptile show last week (from Southeastern Reptiles - she's about 2-1/2 mos old). I've read the pinned care sheets on here and picked up some valuable information, but there seems to be some conflicting information as well - even at the reptile show where two different breeders gave me differing information. So - maybe some clarifications are in order. I know the word "best" is very subjective, so lets stick with necessities and must-haves - please confirm:

heating pad - Must have?
Heating lamp or overhead heating - subjective as long as heating pad is warm enough?
Two hides - one on hot side, one on cold?
Don't have a moist hide yet, but can just stick a moist paper towel in the cool side hide?
Not a sand substrate, using fabric?
Not going to touch the leo for at least a week?
She isn't eating real regular, which is to be expected for a new leo?
Kind of shy compared to the first day or two?

One other thing, I've read that these don't climb, but then I've read that they kind of do - not on the walls, but they do like to have things in their habitat to climb on - or do they??

Last, I have two kids who are great with pets and aren't crazy (at least not all the time). Is there a best or worst time of day for them to hold and play with their new leo a bit? They'll see her for the first time this weekend.

Anything else I need to know so I don't kill it or emotionally scar it for life?

Thanks!

Did you mean Southeastern Exotics? They have some great geckos. Nice people. I personally do not use any lights or lamps. My geckos never seemed to come out when I used them. Sounds like everything you are doing is correct. Congrats on your new leo!

Yes, I meant Southern Exotics. They were really helpful and friendly. It's really surprising how much conflicting information there is out there - overhead lamp or not, what to feed them, climb or not, advantages to buying male or female, etc.

My goal right now is simple - keep her alive and growing! If I can do that, then I can experiment with food, heating, habitat, etc, over time. Thanks for the input!

The thing I think almost everyone will agree on is they need an under tank heat pad, some other things are down to choice but that's a non negotiable in my eyes. Get that set up and there's no need for a heat lamp. Also mine climbs whatever he can


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bought 8 Leo's from southeastern exotics at the baltimore repticon 3 weeks ago. Including the last Diablo Blanco of the year

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

Mine climbs a lot! She especially loves climbing her plants! don't have a heat lamp as I have heard they stress them out and my breeder even said they can blind them! Congrats on your Leo![emoji5]️


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Heat pad for sure. I would avoid heat lamps. They have very sensitive eyes. The floor temp should be about 90 F over the heat pad.

Moist hide is a necessity, but they are very easy to make out of a tupperware. Generally just putting a wet papertowel under a hide does not trap enough humidity.

I would avoid handling the gecko for at least 2 weeks. Not eating right away is normal. I've had them take over a month to eat before.

Fabric may work, but it will be harder to clean and will harbor more bacteria than other things (tile, papertowels) so maybe you want to keep a couple of swaths of fabric so you can change them out when the gecko soils them.

Handling (in my opinion) is best done in the evening/at night because leos are nocturnal. Make sure your kids are very gentle. You are aware that they can drop their tails if they are handled roughly or startled enough?

I would add that in addition to the heating pad you should get some sort of thermostat. I have several of these http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0018...00_QL40&keywords=zilla+temperature+controller and they work flawlessly. Very affordable too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A young gecko will benefit from multiple hiding places. They don't have to be actual 'hides' but just areas around the cage besides the main warm hide and humid hide where they can conceal themselves if they want to and you should avoid placing their cage somewhere in your house that gets a ton of traffic. All of my geckos like to climb. Mopani wood, cork flats, and sturdy fake plants are good for this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the input. I have a moist hide now, that she's been using lately, the warm hide, and a cold pseudo-hide (it's a fake wildcat skull, so it has a mouth and eye sockets, so it's not a complete "hide" but it is a spot to go).

My kids played with her a bit Monday and she was great. Tuesday, I accidentally dropped her. I'm 6'3, so it wasn't a short drop. She landed on carpet and crawled away fine, so hopefully all is well. But that night and last night she not only hissed at me, but gave me a long, drawn out hiss. Is this normal? Could she be shedding and wanting to be left alone? Maybe just has times when she doesn't want to be held? Monday she crawled into my hand (with a little prompting) but since - not even close.

One other thing, I have the warm hide all set up with a heating pad under the tank on that side. The air temp is around 80F there. I have a digital therm with a metal sensor/probe that I have under the hide, but above the carpet (the wire is held down by the hide structure). The digital readout is usually between 98-102 or so. Occasionally lower, sometimes a degree or two higher. Thoughts?