Okay I'm a future Leopard Gecko owner (hopefully) and I'm looking to make sure I've got the right equipment and the right knowledge to properly care for the little guys (or gals for me since I'm planning on getting two females to start, a male will come later and he'll have his own separate tank - don't plan on breeding, not for a long while at least)
SO here goes:
- I've already got a 48"long x 18"wide x 17"tall tank to house the girls in
- I need a screen top
- I'm going to split it down the middle so that each female will have 24"x18" floor space to call her very own
- I've already got the tiles to set down as a substrate
- I'm going to get two (because the tank has this support that runs under the middle of the tank and the UTH wouldn't stick right) Exo Terra UTH's (11"x17")
- two ESU Digital Thermometers with probes (or should I get 4 to keep check of the warm and cool sides of each girls home?)
- a ReptiTemp 500R Thermostat (or should I get two since there will be two different UTH's?)
- a humid hide set on the warm side of the tank with either damp paper towels or sphagnum moss inside
- a warm hide (I'm thinking about one of those cool magnetic rocks - a large one)
- and a cool hide
- a feeding dish
- a water dish
- a calcium dish
- Rep-Cal Calcium with NO Vitamin D3 (the calcium for their dish)
- Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3
- Rep-Cal Herptivite
- Exo Terra Compact Fluorescent Terrarium Canopy (Medium) with regular ol' house hold fluorescent bulbs in it set on a timer to simulate daytime (especially since I like my room DARK all the time)
- a Nightlight Red blub in a reflector dome mainly for nighttime viewing since the red light (as I understand) doesn't hurt their eyes, but I figure it can't hurt to help keep the ambient temps from getting TOO cold since my room gets down right chilly sometimes lol
- mealworms to start but I'll probably look into a variety of other worms as well as crickets (waxworms just as an occasional treat)
- the temps on the warm side need to be around 88-90 degrees F
- temps on the cool side should be around 70-75 degrees F (about room temp)
- dust their feeders with the calcium WITH D3 about every 2 or 3 feedings
- add the Herptivite (vitamin supplement) once a week
- provide a dish of PURE Calcium (the calcium WITHOUT D3) in the tank at all times
I also found a kind of Leopard Gecko first aid kit online someplace and I'm planning on getting the things for that so that if something happens I can patch them up long enough to get them into the vet. Plus two transport containers and some water bottles (to fill with warm water to keep them warm while in transit to and from the vet) and rags (to wrap the water bottles in so the geckos don't have direct contact) so that I can get them to the vet when they need to go.
I've already got a vet picked out too (in Rockwall, Texas around an hour and a half from me but I live in rural Northeast Texas and we're kinda short on good reptile vets), and he appears to have good credentials (he's registered on ARAV - Association of Reptile & Amphibian Veterinarians) and has had experience treating reptiles, including leopard geckos. That and he supposedly takes care of all the local pet stores reptiles and animals.
Just in case anyone's wondering, I'm dividing the tank down the middle because I was told that it's not a good idea to house two gecko's together, BUT I've seen here where plenty of you are housing several together (as long as the tank size permits) and they seem to be doing just fine. Though now that I think about it, I'm going to go ahead and keep them separate since it'll be easier to see who's eating how much, I'll know who's poop is who's lol, if one get's sick there's less of a chance the other will (though if one gets sick I'll probably take both to the vet anyway since they're sharing the same tank even if they're blocked from contact with each other by a piece of plexi-glass, plus better safe than sorry), that and there's no chance of one being bullied by the other (which could happen as I understand even with females). That and they won't have to fight over the hides and what not, since they'll each have their own.
Sorry that was kinda long
Please let me know if I've got anything wrong and/or if I've missed or forgotten something, or if you'd just like to share some of your tips and tricks ^^ I'll appreciate it all.
I probably won't be getting my girls for a while, since I'm going to get their home up and running correctly before I buy them, and so far I've got the tank and the tiles and I'm gradually saving to buy everything else, so it'll probably be several months before I'll actually get the geckos. BUT I'm gathering as much knowledge as I can in the meantime. So any and all you have to share will be welcomed with open arms.
Thanks
SO here goes:
- I've already got a 48"long x 18"wide x 17"tall tank to house the girls in
- I need a screen top
- I'm going to split it down the middle so that each female will have 24"x18" floor space to call her very own
- I've already got the tiles to set down as a substrate
- I'm going to get two (because the tank has this support that runs under the middle of the tank and the UTH wouldn't stick right) Exo Terra UTH's (11"x17")
- two ESU Digital Thermometers with probes (or should I get 4 to keep check of the warm and cool sides of each girls home?)
- a ReptiTemp 500R Thermostat (or should I get two since there will be two different UTH's?)
- a humid hide set on the warm side of the tank with either damp paper towels or sphagnum moss inside
- a warm hide (I'm thinking about one of those cool magnetic rocks - a large one)
- and a cool hide
- a feeding dish
- a water dish
- a calcium dish
- Rep-Cal Calcium with NO Vitamin D3 (the calcium for their dish)
- Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3
- Rep-Cal Herptivite
- Exo Terra Compact Fluorescent Terrarium Canopy (Medium) with regular ol' house hold fluorescent bulbs in it set on a timer to simulate daytime (especially since I like my room DARK all the time)
- a Nightlight Red blub in a reflector dome mainly for nighttime viewing since the red light (as I understand) doesn't hurt their eyes, but I figure it can't hurt to help keep the ambient temps from getting TOO cold since my room gets down right chilly sometimes lol
- mealworms to start but I'll probably look into a variety of other worms as well as crickets (waxworms just as an occasional treat)
- the temps on the warm side need to be around 88-90 degrees F
- temps on the cool side should be around 70-75 degrees F (about room temp)
- dust their feeders with the calcium WITH D3 about every 2 or 3 feedings
- add the Herptivite (vitamin supplement) once a week
- provide a dish of PURE Calcium (the calcium WITHOUT D3) in the tank at all times
I also found a kind of Leopard Gecko first aid kit online someplace and I'm planning on getting the things for that so that if something happens I can patch them up long enough to get them into the vet. Plus two transport containers and some water bottles (to fill with warm water to keep them warm while in transit to and from the vet) and rags (to wrap the water bottles in so the geckos don't have direct contact) so that I can get them to the vet when they need to go.
I've already got a vet picked out too (in Rockwall, Texas around an hour and a half from me but I live in rural Northeast Texas and we're kinda short on good reptile vets), and he appears to have good credentials (he's registered on ARAV - Association of Reptile & Amphibian Veterinarians) and has had experience treating reptiles, including leopard geckos. That and he supposedly takes care of all the local pet stores reptiles and animals.
Just in case anyone's wondering, I'm dividing the tank down the middle because I was told that it's not a good idea to house two gecko's together, BUT I've seen here where plenty of you are housing several together (as long as the tank size permits) and they seem to be doing just fine. Though now that I think about it, I'm going to go ahead and keep them separate since it'll be easier to see who's eating how much, I'll know who's poop is who's lol, if one get's sick there's less of a chance the other will (though if one gets sick I'll probably take both to the vet anyway since they're sharing the same tank even if they're blocked from contact with each other by a piece of plexi-glass, plus better safe than sorry), that and there's no chance of one being bullied by the other (which could happen as I understand even with females). That and they won't have to fight over the hides and what not, since they'll each have their own.
Sorry that was kinda long
Please let me know if I've got anything wrong and/or if I've missed or forgotten something, or if you'd just like to share some of your tips and tricks ^^ I'll appreciate it all.
I probably won't be getting my girls for a while, since I'm going to get their home up and running correctly before I buy them, and so far I've got the tank and the tiles and I'm gradually saving to buy everything else, so it'll probably be several months before I'll actually get the geckos. BUT I'm gathering as much knowledge as I can in the meantime. So any and all you have to share will be welcomed with open arms.
Thanks
