When we first got our iguana, we read that it was ok to use a heat rock. We did. I tested it and it seemed just fine. After about 4 months, one day I noticed a "raw" place on the base of his tail near his vent. We went to the vet and it turned out to be a burn from the heat rock. My poor iguana suffered because back then heat rocks were the thing to use. I would never use one again. I learned an expensive( for me) and painful ( for iggy pop) lesson. Noone can tell you what to do. We can give you our opinions. A UTH is about $15-$18.... most vets are a whole lot more then that so why take a risk. Best of luck with your little guy.
L
Lep-Gecko
Guest
hey its over with. only because i ask twice doesnt mean i dont listen to your guys' opinin. i had the heat rock in my cage once...ever since then it sits next to the cage getting ready to be sold to someone else.
i am not trying to pull it off with you so please feel free to answer to my future questions and threads....
by the way last night i took my geckos coconut und put paper towl inside on the ceiling and i sprayed it with water to create a moist hide for him. what can i say since his colour fainted a couple days ago he is ready to shed. since i modded his home last night the colours fainted twice as much !!!!!
i hope thats good ?!
i am not trying to pull it off with you so please feel free to answer to my future questions and threads....
by the way last night i took my geckos coconut und put paper towl inside on the ceiling and i sprayed it with water to create a moist hide for him. what can i say since his colour fainted a couple days ago he is ready to shed. since i modded his home last night the colours fainted twice as much !!!!!
i hope thats good ?!
L
Lep-Gecko
Guest
for everyone who was concerned about my way of treating my new gecko:
i bought a UTH to give him the neccessary belly heat for proper digestion
yeey
plus i took a lid and cut it a little bit (it was too deep). then i filed the edges until they were smooth enough so my geck doesnt rip himself open on it.
i use it for calcium powder now. so in addition to covering crickets with it i have a nice little bowl with calcium in it
i bought a UTH to give him the neccessary belly heat for proper digestion
yeey plus i took a lid and cut it a little bit (it was too deep). then i filed the edges until they were smooth enough so my geck doesnt rip himself open on it.
i use it for calcium powder now. so in addition to covering crickets with it i have a nice little bowl with calcium in it
Leopardgeckosunlimited
New Member
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- Cincinnati, Ohio
They're all giving you great advice I'm really glad you took out the heat rock! Heat feels different to us then to the gecko's. You need to understand that
1st you need something to adjust the temp on the heat mat they get too hot too, they are safer and don't burn the gecko but still hotter then the heat they should have. They should have a cool side which is room temp about 70-76 and a heat temp of 88-93. I think 90 is the best ideal heat temp. Now if you feel exactly 90 temp is BARELY warm, I mean barely feel it at all ex) is luke warm. If you think about it our body temps are 98.8 so that makes sense. The temp stripes and dials at the petstores don't take accurate heat temps it doesn't matter what kind of heat you use a UTH or heat lamp. I've used both types of heat and they both can work great but the most important thing is that your tank is set up right for the type of heat your using and that you can got the temps right. The UTH require a thermostat or dimmer switch to set temp at 90. I mark my dimmer switch at 90 which makes it easy but you still want double check your temps often. Just make sure you KNOW the temp in the tank your need to use a temp gun (some are only $20) and/or a digital thermometer w/ a probe.
If you do get a pet you don't know much about you need to do alot of good research quickly. Which is different then just asking people on the forums questions. Plus, what if they give bad info? You wont have any idea, just like most pet store workers give bad advice. They didn't & this is one of the best forums, but I've seen it happen.
How long have you had the gecko for? Is it eating yet? You really want to have their tank set up in advance and at least know the basic care info of the leo or animal before you get it, in the future. All the changing around of the tank isn't going to help for your lil guy to adjust the way he could be if it was set up 1st. Also the log from outside worries me too! Are you sure he's eating all the crickets? 2-3 times a day is a bit much once a day will be fine and I'd dust all my crickets. IMO. Also make sure that there's not any crickets left running around in the tank take them all out after a couple mins of feeding. I think books and Care sheets on reputable breeder's sites are probably the best sources of info. As a breeder we've been researching them now for yrs. and caring for many leos's now for yrs. It's our job to know and learn everything we can about them.
To get back to your question you also asked about breeding and when to get the females for your male. Well 1st I'd make sure you get all the care basics down 1st and really get used to your gecko to make sure you really want to breed. There's alot you still need to learn so my biggest advice to you is Don't Jump In it too quickly! I'd wait and do alot of research 1st to make sure you know what your getting into. There has to be a market for the type your wanting to breed, how will you sell them?, where will you keep all the offspring and breeder's? etc.. Breeding takes ALOT of $ and time you have to be willing to spend alot of it before you make any $ trust me. Don't do it for the $. Get Ron Trempers book and read ALL of it BEFORE GETTING ANY MORE Geckos!! But if you decide to get more gecko's and then you need to know to wait to put males and females together til there old/big enough to actually mate. Any and all geckos housed togther MUST be of the same size! You ask why are they all together at the petstore? B/C thats just temp (short term)housing for them til they get bought. Notice any tails get missing that way? If you get females housed too soon w/ the male (or even in the same room as the male then your asking for trouble!) They will breed most likely too early which is very hard on the females. Also if they don't mate and are in the same rooom or tanks the females can also produce infertile eggs which are much hardier to lay then fertile ones making it much easier to become egg bound. Males are sexual mature before females and they require less to become ready for breeding then the males do. Please don't rush it and I house all my gecko's alone until they are ready to breed then I introduce my females together and wait about a month and put the male in when the females are ovulating. After they mate I take out the male. Overall my males and females DON'T live together, this usually doesn't work. If you get females house them alone or at least a different tank then the male if their the same size. There are different ways to breed and care so your get different answers. The 1st yr. health is very important to the females for breeding and can determine how long their life span is. Why don't you post some pics and info we can help better the more info we have from you.
Jessica
1st you need something to adjust the temp on the heat mat they get too hot too, they are safer and don't burn the gecko but still hotter then the heat they should have. They should have a cool side which is room temp about 70-76 and a heat temp of 88-93. I think 90 is the best ideal heat temp. Now if you feel exactly 90 temp is BARELY warm, I mean barely feel it at all ex) is luke warm. If you think about it our body temps are 98.8 so that makes sense. The temp stripes and dials at the petstores don't take accurate heat temps it doesn't matter what kind of heat you use a UTH or heat lamp. I've used both types of heat and they both can work great but the most important thing is that your tank is set up right for the type of heat your using and that you can got the temps right. The UTH require a thermostat or dimmer switch to set temp at 90. I mark my dimmer switch at 90 which makes it easy but you still want double check your temps often. Just make sure you KNOW the temp in the tank your need to use a temp gun (some are only $20) and/or a digital thermometer w/ a probe.
If you do get a pet you don't know much about you need to do alot of good research quickly. Which is different then just asking people on the forums questions. Plus, what if they give bad info? You wont have any idea, just like most pet store workers give bad advice. They didn't & this is one of the best forums, but I've seen it happen.
How long have you had the gecko for? Is it eating yet? You really want to have their tank set up in advance and at least know the basic care info of the leo or animal before you get it, in the future. All the changing around of the tank isn't going to help for your lil guy to adjust the way he could be if it was set up 1st. Also the log from outside worries me too! Are you sure he's eating all the crickets? 2-3 times a day is a bit much once a day will be fine and I'd dust all my crickets. IMO. Also make sure that there's not any crickets left running around in the tank take them all out after a couple mins of feeding. I think books and Care sheets on reputable breeder's sites are probably the best sources of info. As a breeder we've been researching them now for yrs. and caring for many leos's now for yrs. It's our job to know and learn everything we can about them.
To get back to your question you also asked about breeding and when to get the females for your male. Well 1st I'd make sure you get all the care basics down 1st and really get used to your gecko to make sure you really want to breed. There's alot you still need to learn so my biggest advice to you is Don't Jump In it too quickly! I'd wait and do alot of research 1st to make sure you know what your getting into. There has to be a market for the type your wanting to breed, how will you sell them?, where will you keep all the offspring and breeder's? etc.. Breeding takes ALOT of $ and time you have to be willing to spend alot of it before you make any $ trust me. Don't do it for the $. Get Ron Trempers book and read ALL of it BEFORE GETTING ANY MORE Geckos!! But if you decide to get more gecko's and then you need to know to wait to put males and females together til there old/big enough to actually mate. Any and all geckos housed togther MUST be of the same size! You ask why are they all together at the petstore? B/C thats just temp (short term)housing for them til they get bought. Notice any tails get missing that way? If you get females housed too soon w/ the male (or even in the same room as the male then your asking for trouble!) They will breed most likely too early which is very hard on the females. Also if they don't mate and are in the same rooom or tanks the females can also produce infertile eggs which are much hardier to lay then fertile ones making it much easier to become egg bound. Males are sexual mature before females and they require less to become ready for breeding then the males do. Please don't rush it and I house all my gecko's alone until they are ready to breed then I introduce my females together and wait about a month and put the male in when the females are ovulating. After they mate I take out the male. Overall my males and females DON'T live together, this usually doesn't work. If you get females house them alone or at least a different tank then the male if their the same size. There are different ways to breed and care so your get different answers. The 1st yr. health is very important to the females for breeding and can determine how long their life span is. Why don't you post some pics and info we can help better the more info we have from you.
Jessica
L
Lep-Gecko
Guest
wow that was like a whole book. thank you very much Jessica.
to get to your question if my gecko is eating yet...he ate from the beginning on. i got him in the tank he was in because the person i got it from sold not only the gecko but the tank and interior as well. so he was used to everything which made it easy for him to adjust...
i wasnt really getting into breeding since i dont even have the time for that i think. i was just wondering if geckos need company but thanks for the info as well....
also i would like to add pictures as soon as i have time. i just switched from felt on the bottom of the tank to paper towl because i didnt like how the gecko sometimes got stuck on it while hunting crickets...soooo ya will do that soon
thanks for the book above
to get to your question if my gecko is eating yet...he ate from the beginning on. i got him in the tank he was in because the person i got it from sold not only the gecko but the tank and interior as well. so he was used to everything which made it easy for him to adjust...
i wasnt really getting into breeding since i dont even have the time for that i think. i was just wondering if geckos need company but thanks for the info as well....
also i would like to add pictures as soon as i have time. i just switched from felt on the bottom of the tank to paper towl because i didnt like how the gecko sometimes got stuck on it while hunting crickets...soooo ya will do that soon
thanks for the book above
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