Fairly new to the Gecko scene

[gm333]

Hey all, I thought I would introduce myself a little before posting. I am fairly new to Gecko's, but have had some reptiles and amphibians in the past. Mainly tree frogs and turtle. My main hobby is aquatics. I have a 135 gallon reef tank, and a 55 gallon cichlid tank. My turtle is a three toed box turtle rescued from a pool skimmer basket. He was the size of a halfdollar when we rescued him. He is now 4yrs old and pretty good size.

5 months ago my paddletail newt escaped from his tank. Needless to say it was tough for the family to get another pet at that time. 2 mnths later my son acquired a leopard gecko named "Fire" he bought for himself, one thing led to another and the family fell in love with him. We decided to get a couple more after a couple of months of making sure we were comfortable with the husbandry of gecko's.

So we went out and purchased 2 geckos to put in a 20 gallon long tank I had used for my Dumpys tree frog.

I do believe they are females, but am having my brother come out to check to make sure since he has years of experience with leopards.

Anyhow enough rambling here are some pics of the tank and pics of the gecko's yet to be named till we ID the sex.

Gecko 1

Gecko 2

And my sons Leopard gecko "Fire"

 

[Pepper]

Very nice.

Although I would take them off the loose soil.

 

[rawson5084]

Welcome you have very pretty geckos and I agree with Pepper about getting them off of the loose soil. I use Reptile carpet and paper towels.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

Welcome to GF, I was also wondering what your sorce of heat was?

 

[gm333]

Thanks for the comments.
I am using the ecoearth substrate at about 1". I have ordered an under the tank heater mat to add with the T-Rex 60wt red bulb on the left hand side of the tank. The left hand side has a screw in flourescent bulb and thier is another uv tube bulb I am using just for light. I do realize gecko's don't need uv like turtles so it is only asthetic.
Why is everyone suggesting me to get rid of the ecoearth? I personally don't like the look of paper towels in my tank and I don't think carpet or fake turf look good in the tank.
I like sand, but was told sand can be more troublesome than it is worth.
I want to make the tank look as natural as possible.

As far as heat, is 80 through the day and night not a good thing? Humidity is around 70%.
I am open to suggestions as to what would be best for my gecko's, but I also want to keep a more natural looking environent as well.

 

[LIZARDLOVER]

Sand, soil, same risk. Geckos can get impaction, where the substrate that they eat for calcium gets caught in their digestive track and eventually leads to death. They can get impaction on virtually any loose substrate. I would highly recommend that you get your leos on repti-carpet, slate, or paper towels ASAP.

 

[malt_geckos]

Welcome to GF! There's a ton of info on here I recommend reading. We can sex your leos on here if you can give us pictures of their vent areas.

Also, like everyone else says, I recommend using paper towels as substrate. If you have an under tank heater, you don't need a heat lamp. Leopard geckos need belly heat to help digest their food. The temperatur on the ground of the warm side of the tank should be about 90 degrees. Feed calcium always in the food dish and dust with herptivite and calcium with d3 every other feeding. And make sure to have double the hides in the tanks since you have two geckos in there. They can become teritorial. Also have double the food and water dishes.

Hope that helps some!

Good luck and cite geckos btw!

 

[Pepper]

You don't even have to use paper towels.

I use a sandy colored reptile carpet and it looks really natural. I use a small square of white paper towel in the potty zone and that's it.

You can also get very natural looking tile and lay it in.

It doesn't make sense, that people would rather look at a nice tank(when they don't live on soil or sand in their natural habitat) and risk their gecko's life, rather than just making a quick fix to possibly save a gecko's life..I just don't get it.

 

[linda]

welcome:main_thumbsup:

 

[gm333]

Thanks for the comments and advice.
I will consider everyones advice and look into re-arranging my tank that will better suite my gecko's.

If I use a type of tile will it bother the gecko to walk on the tile?
Also will the "hides" as you call it need to be over the under tank heater?
Will the tile get too hot with the heater under the tank?
From my understanding unless the air temp in the tank gets too low I really dont need the heat light, right?
How easy is it to clean the carpet? and how quickly will the carpet get dirty?

 

[Kitsune]

Welcome to GF~ Cute geckos. =D

Carpet is really easy to clean. A lot of people throw it into the washer, or wash it by hand in the sink.
It's easy to keep fairly clean if, like Pepper said, you keep a piece of paper towel in the area your geckos go to the bathroom. It's easy to remove and replace as needed and it cuts down on the dirtiness of the carpet.

 

[gm333]

Thanks for the info, I went out tonight and purchased the tan colored carpet for both tanks. Also purchased another hide for the tank with 2 geckos.

I did not purchase the UTH temp controller because the LCS did not have one. So I will have to purchase one online.
If the temp gets too hot on the surface of the carpet is it ok to add paper towels under the carpet where the UTF is to get the right temp until I get the controller in?


Also, I have taken pics to determine sex and I do believe they are females.

Here are the pics if anyone care to take a stab at it.

Gecko #1

If you need the fullsize pic to tell, click here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reefbum333/3211954106/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Gecko #2

If you need the fullsize pic click here,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reefbum333/3211953734/sizes/o/in/photostream/

 

[gm333]

Am I correct in assuming these are both females?

 

[Sturt]

Hi Gary welcome, the first one is definately a female, and I would have said the same for the second before I saw the enlarged picture however it is more likely to be a male, since there are two hemipenal bulges and slightly enlarged preanal pores.

Stuart

 

[gm333]

Thanks for the input. Would it help if I pulled the tail up a little and took the pic?

 

[Slager]

Also make sure to put a humid hide in there to aid with shedding. This will help avoid any stuck shed on the gecko's digits. The humidity also seems a bit high. This should change though, when you put the carpet in that you have purchased. Good luck with your geckos!!!

 

[gm333]

Thanks, the humidity has gone down quite a bit after taking out the Eco earth. I am going to change to tile as the gecko's seem to have a big problem with the carpet.