I recently moved into a apartment where my roommate owned a leopard gecko. Having some knowledge on the care of herpes, mainly snakes and turtles, I though my roommate might be mistreating her leo. After talking to her about it she agreed to let me take him over. He is now getting upgraded from a 10 gallon tank to a 20 gallon, is upgrading from one hide (cold) to three (cold, moist, hot), and will very soon have a heating elements for his tank (under tank heater, and lamp). All of the things I ordered for him are arriving on 3/23. My concern and question to the community here is that; This Leo has never had a heated tank. The apartment is generally in the low-mid 50's in the wintertime. My understanding is that my roommate has kept him this way for a year. He is very lethargic right now due to the cold. I worry that moving him into a heated tank on the 3/23 will cause more stress to his already stressed out system. I don't want to do him more harm than good by suddenly changing the temp of his surroundings. Is this a valid concern for a leo? or should I trust that he will move around in his new tank to regulate his own temp. accordingly?
It should also be noted that I believe that this leo is very underweight. I think my roommate only feeds him once every 2-3 weeks in the winter. He is so cold he shows very little interest in eating for her and so she did not feed him the recommended every 2-3 days. Also he was not receiving regular fresh water.
I know that this leos situation is very upsetting. I am doing everything I can to get him situated the way he should have been in since day one. Any advice from breeders or individuals who have raised/owned leos would be appreciated.
It should also be noted that I believe that this leo is very underweight. I think my roommate only feeds him once every 2-3 weeks in the winter. He is so cold he shows very little interest in eating for her and so she did not feed him the recommended every 2-3 days. Also he was not receiving regular fresh water.
I know that this leos situation is very upsetting. I am doing everything I can to get him situated the way he should have been in since day one. Any advice from breeders or individuals who have raised/owned leos would be appreciated.