First time Leo owner, needing tips

[fsbulldog24]

Hey everyone, im a first time Leo owner and just had a few questions. Well i have had my leo since saturday afternoon. i have a 20 long tank, zoo med uth, three hideaways, water, food, calcium all in the tank. i am using repticarpet for substrate. my gecko has yet to eat, and usually just hides all day and night, which i have heard is normal when you first get them. one problem i encountered is that the hot end was too hot based on my temp gun, it said 105, so i put down paper towels over the carpet to cool the hot side during the day, at night it is in the high nineties so i guess i need a thermostat? also im thinking of getting digital thermometers already because the dial ones dont measure the surface. Any thermostat suggestions? any thermometer suggestions? also anything i can do to get it to eat? or should i just keep food in the dish and let it be? thanks everyone!!!! just a new worried parent lol

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Congrats on the new leopard gecko, it's very exciting when you first get them, sometimes scary. Don't worry too much about them not eating yet, it's perfectly normal for them to not eat when put in a new environment. Sometimes they'll eat right away, sometimes it'll be a few days, sometimes a week before they start eating. Key is to let them settle in and not to scary them or cause more stress than you have to.

You already have a temperature gun to test the floor temperatures with, so you should be fine there. You don't really need a digital thermometer with a probe, but it won't hurt to have one and they are cheap ($7-$10). I use a temp gun and don't use digital thermometers anymore.

As for thermostat any should work fine. You would set the temperature you want the UTH to be, leave the probe down there, and check the temperature to make sure it's keeping the right temperature. Having a thermostat is a safe bet if you can't find a good temperature on the warm spot with substrate. Some people put additional tiles, rocks, or decoration on the warm spot to get the right temperature. But having a thermostat you wouldn't need to stack more items.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

If you have a temp gun, you don't really need to keep any other thermometers in the tank. 105 is too hot so you do need a way to regulate that. You may also want to consider ditching the carpet in the near future for several reasons. Toes and teeth get hung up, and its a bacteria garden. Hopefully some members who have gone that route will post on that issue. Leave the little one alone tho, and let it get settled, so it will begin to eat.

 

[fsbulldog24]

okay ill leave it alone for awhile to try and let it relax. gonna see about getting a stat today and some thermometers because the temp gun isnt mine lol just borrowed from my father. If not repticarpet, what do you suggest?

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Slate/ceramic tiles work great, they are easy to clean, no impaction problems, no getting leopard gecko teeth/toes stuck, and they conduct heat very well. They are also cheap, $1 per 12x12 piece. If you have one of those 30x12x12 long 20 gallon tanks, those 12x12 pieces would fit in perfectly.

 

[fsbulldog24]

where can you get them? hardware store? maybe ill get them in a month or so :/ just spent a good amount on the tank and everything, so ill wait a little while until i find something good and my leo is warmed up to me

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Yup any homedepot or lowe's will have them, they're easy to find and cheap.

 

[Kat&Rin]

Yah repti-carpet sucks. I used it for about a year before finally having enough of the toes/teeth getting stuck. My tank (which we originally got from someone who kept fish and must have had it custom made) had really funky measurements so we had to cut the tile...believe me when I say that porcelain tiles are NOT easy to cut.

Anyways, I'd definitely recommend the tile so +1 to above responses, but waiting a month shouldn't cause any harm so don't fret about it. As I said, I kept Rin on a repti-carpet *shudders* for about a year ad she's doing fine. Though frankly, the sooner you get your new leo off the icky stuff the better IMO.

Congrats btw on the new leo. Super exciting I bet

 

[fsbulldog24]

got my thermostat and thermometer today. got a zoo med digital thermometer. how do you think is best to attach it to the repticarpet? right now i just have tape over the probe, so that it lays flat on the carpet

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Any way you can lay it flat pretty much. Some people use an existing hide or object in the tank to keep it flat.

 

[fsbulldog24]

okay well we will see what it says, hopefully the stat will bring down the temp a little bit Also i think it started shedding on the end of its tail, because i can see a little flake hanging off of it! Better keep the moist hide nice! Question for everyone one. Name my leo now? or wait until i can determine the sex? hmmmmm....... thanks everyone!

 

[fsbulldog24]

Started taking out some meal worms and placing them by the hide he was using. got him to eat two last night, and about six this morning. isnt shedding anymore, maybe it was just a little bit on the tail, i dont know.

 

[fsbulldog24]

got him to eat more last night, but he still spend all his time in the one hide on the warm side. he will stick his head out and look at me but thats about it lol hopefully he warms up to the new place soon, but atleast he is eating.

 

[fsbulldog24]

he didnt want to eat more than 1 or two yesterday, and then last night i found out he was still quite full! haha well today i started feeding him and found out first hand why not to have repticarpet. he attacked one mealworm and got his teeth stuck in the carpet for just a sec :/ switching to tile soon because i cant bear to see that happen to my little guy again :/

 

[OnlineGeckos]

he didnt want to eat more than 1 or two yesterday, and then last night i found out he was still quite full! haha well today i started feeding him and found out first hand why not to have repticarpet. he attacked one mealworm and got his teeth stuck in the carpet for just a sec :/ switching to tile soon because i cant bear to see that happen to my little guy again :/

Yeah I had repti carpet initially, then saw my leopard geckos continuously get their teeth stuck while hunting. Felt really bad and switched to all slate tiles.

 

[fsbulldog24]

ya im going to switch soon. he seems to be getting more used to me and his tank though. switches his hides instead of just chillin in one all the time

 

[fsbulldog24]

anyone have tips on getting my guy to eat? he has only had like 12-15 meal worms since i got him saturday afternoon, which i think isnt enough, or is it? i know he is still getting used to it so any suggestions or info would be helpful.

 

[Kat&Rin]

Ah! Just a quick note on the tile, don't get rid of the repti-carpet yet, there is a chance that the tile might heat up too much (happened to me) and if this happens then sticking the carpet underneath works brilliantly

As far as feeding goes, if you haven't already, you could try giving your little leo a waxworm or two...just not too many because they're addicting (for the leo). Sometimes a little stimuli is all they need. Rin tried starving herself but I got her a couple crickets and I guess the big change in amount of movement stimulated her hunting instincts and she's now back to eating like a pig.

 

[contracteryin]

Speaking of you guys talking about tiles, I've considered using them but I'm afraid the cage would get too hot from it, so I've been using a reptile carpet.
As far as those go, on a guide for leo's they say after you wash it to run a light flame or whatever over it to melt any frayed edges so their toes don't get caught-- but anyways, I have an under cage heater, and a black heat bulb that I use to get the temperature back up when it's cold. The floor is a fine temperature, it's only warm, but as said, I fear it would get too hot. I also don't have the money to buy stuff to stack in the cage or whatever to control the heat, so that's why I'm iffy about it.

 

[Ryanurso1]

Sorry to hijack the thread but how much more heat should I expect when moving from repti carpet to slate with a UTH? Currently with the uth it is at 86 on the warm side. Would I reach 88-92 or would there be no change/go to high? Thanks!