Any suggestions?

[cstone]

I recently purchased my first reptile (Jan 26th) , obviously a leo since I'm posting here, and she is named Raka. I read all that I could find from what seemed to be reputable sources before buying her and feel like I am doing pretty well, but would like some reassurance or guidance in case I've missed anything.

She is in a 10 gallon tank (I know larger would be better but I don't have the space currently)
Substrate is repti-carpet
I am using 2 lights
1 red 50 watt which is always on directly over the hot side
1 purple (UV) 55 watt which is on from 7AM-6PM in the middle
Originally I had a daylight bulb during the day, but she seemed to be bothered by the light so I got rid of that and switched the blacklight to the day as strictly a heat source and got a red bulb for night so I can actually see her while she is active.
UTH under the hot side and an extra heat source all the time
Hot side stays at 90°F during the day and 80-85°F at night
Cool side stays at 75-80°F during the day and 70-75°F at night
Humidity ranges from about 2-20%
1 dry hide on the hot side made of natural rocks with multiple caves which I rearrange often to keep things interesting for her
1 moist hide on the cool side made of a plastic container with an entrance cut in the side (no sharp corners or edges)
Water dish in the middle

When I bought her she was only fed mealworms which were always left in the tank so I started off by feeding her mealworms in a similar dish and leaving them always in the tank so she could get used to her new home. After a couple days I fasted her for a day and then left meal worms only overnight to establish a strong feeding response. After a week of that, I switched to crickets which I continued to feed at night. 2 times per week I fast her for 1 night at a time. I keep mealworms around as a backup food now, but crickets are her primary food source. Crickets are always gutloaded (Flukers) and dusted with a Calcium/vitamin mixture made for leos (should they be dusted every time?). I handle her most evenings after she comes out of her moist hide which she stays in all day. She will generally climb onto my hand if I place it in front of her, but occasionally she needs a light tap on the rear to make her step forward. She is clearly very comfortable climbing around my on my hands, arms, legs (when I'm sitting), up to my shoulders, around the ground, and wherever else I let her play. She is even comfortable most times with gentle stroking sometimes she arches her back towards my finger (like a cat does) and other times she presses her body closer to my hand. If she seems startled when I try to stroke her I just let her crawl on her own for a while.

When I feed her, I take everything but her repti-carpet and her out so that the crickets can't hide from her (for mealworms I leave everything in). I feed her as many crickets as she will eat, a few at a time so she isn't overwhelmed, and quickly remove any uneaten crickets when she stops paying attention to them. While everything is removed I check her moist hide to make sure it isn't dried out, remove any poops/urates, clean and refill her water dish, and about 1 time per week I rinse the carpet with water. She generally eats about 12-18 small crickets or about 5-8 medium crickets. Sometimes she will not poop for a night and other times she poops 2-3 times in a night. She seems to be growing rapidly and her tail has gotten noticeably fatter I know that she has shed once and I believe she is getting ready to do so again.

Here she is on the day I brought her home:

Here she is about a week ago:





If I didn't mention something important, I probably am not thinking about it so please let me know. Is there anything that I am doing wrong? I think she seems happy and healthy, but I'm still new so I could be missing something.

 

[j&k lemmy]

You need a calcium dish too
It could be a soda cap. It ain't gotta be big. Leo geckos always need a little extra calcium.
Bones don't grow right without it.

10 gal is fine for one leo.
UTH is the best heat source & you got that.
Dust bugs every time.
I use vionate as my vitamin supplement. It's for everything cats, goats, lizards, etc
I keep leos, cresteds, a hedgehog, ferret, turtles, & a dog to. I can give them all vionate. I'd almost use it for myself almost.

The lights you don't need. What you have is okay. Nothing bright lol
Night Geckos hate bright.

 

[cstone]

Thanks for the info, I'll find something this evening to put calcium in. I am using Rapashy Superfoods Leopard Gecko Calcium Plus. I got that one because it had other vitamins as well and I had read that was better than just a calcium powder. I'll look into vionate when I get low on what I have.

As far as the lights go, the only one I use for visible light is the red bulb so that I can see her at night when my house is otherwise dark, from what I have heard and what I can tell leos can't see red light so I figured that this should not be a problem. They are primarily for added heat because it is still winter here and my house gets cold sometimes so the UTH can't always keep up. As temperatures rise for the summer, I'll adjust the light schedule to keep her temperatures in the proper range. I will definitely stay away from anything bright, she doesn't even like when the room is at normal brightness. lol

 

[Dinosaur!]

just make sure that the calcium in her tank is D3 free, and and is "pure" calcium to much D3 or vitamins can harm your gecko if not used properly.

 

[cstone]

just make sure that the calcium in her tank is D3 free, and and is "pure" calcium to much D3 or vitamins can harm your gecko if not used properly.

So for dusting it is good to use calcium with vitamins, but for the calcium left in the tank it should be pure calcium? If that's the case I'll hold off on putting calcium directly in the tank because I only have the Leo vitamin calcium listed above and some flukers brand calcium with D3 that came with my cricket cage.

 

[Dinosaur!]

Im just going to tell you a basic guide to dusting. (there are other ways to supplement, but this is what works for me, and what i know about)

1- calcium WITH D3: dust evey feeding, or every other feeding. Your gecko needs calcium with D3, because D3 is essential for them to be able to metabolize calcium. but D3 can be toxic in large doses, so you never keep it in their tanks

2- Vitamin supplement (containing vitamin A): dust once a week. Leopard geckos need vitamin A also, and it keeps their skin healthier (better sheds), keeps their eyes healthy (sight), and is over all essential to your geckos health. But it can be even more toxic then vitamin D3, so you only dust once a week.

3- Pure calcium: You should keep a cap or bowl full of pure (D3 free) calcium in your gecko's tank at all times. This is because our geckos may go through a growth spurt, or feel that they need more calcium then what we are dusting with, and with the pure calcium, they can eat as much of it as they want without poisoning themselves on D3 or vitamins.

I hope this helps you out

 

[cstone]

That helps a ton! Thanks Dinosaur! I already have calcium with vitamin supliments (including both D3 and A) so I'll switch that to weekly and I have calcium with D3 only so I'm set there. I'll pick her up some pure calcium this weekend. I'm really glad I posted here because I thought I was doing a good thing using the vitamins every feeding.