First time owner just a introduction a question!

grboxa

New Member
Messages
689
Location
Mississauga
Hey guys, first time owner here just want to make sure everything is okay, me and my girlfriend were talking about getting a gecko but always held it off until we took a trip to our local petshop, we werent going to buy anything but they had a promotion so we said go for it, we were told that there the easiest of the geckos to maintain, but we realize we have to have the setup correctly. Now, we have a 10 gallon tank and we had switched from coco husk since we heard it was horrible for it, to very very fine zoo-med sand. I read that sand is bad for the leo's, but a local petsmart employee claimed he breeds geckos and that the sand he recommended was very fine which he uses and would go straight through his system. I have a heatlamp over the warm side, temps are 90-92 surface of subtrate, and 90-94 air, aswell as around 87-89 at night with a blue lamp. Basically my question is about the shedding area, from the picture you can tell theres 2 "hides", I was told that you should ahve a seperate 3rd hide such as a tupperware container, but I think thats really ugly. My question is can I put some coco husk in the hide on the warmside and spray the corner with water and use that as a shed hide?. The little guy likes to lay in the left side of the warm cave, Ive only had him for 3 days but i never seen him go on the right side, so thats where I want to put the husk. I just really think that the tupperware container would be really ugly and it would be very clustered if I had a 3rd hide. I heard there toes may not always shed right, so if the setup isnt correct if you can recommend me another alternative setup, and if the tupperware method is the 100 percent best then so be it. Thanks alot and sorry for the long post :).
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,289
Location
Somerville, MA
Welcome to GF and congratulations on your new gecko. As far as the humid hides goes, anything that can maintain humidity is fine. Another choice is to go with the tupperware but to get some nicely patterned contac paper and cover it so it looks nicer. You can also put glue on the outside and then roll it in sand.

There are differences of opinion about geckos on sand, but there is more universal agreement that babies and juvies should not be on sand, so if yours is a baby, consider that seriously. A nice alternative is ceramic tile.

There are some people who provide heat to their gecko's warm side with overhead heat lamps, but in general most people prefer under tank heaters. I use no lights at all for my leopard gecko tanks.

If you want to get other opinions on care, click on the "articles/caresheets" tab at the top of the page.

Aliza
 

grboxa

New Member
Messages
689
Location
Mississauga
Yeah I ordered a zoo-med UTH for the winter, I realize that the lamp wont be enough during the winter especially in my room. So do you think the cave which is the small cave in the picture in with husk in it be okay?. Thanks for the tip on the contac paper, but id have to take something out in order to put a container, well most probably that log, but ive seen him on that log mostly all the time when hes active and I'd feel bad to remove it. Thank you for the reply
 

grboxa

New Member
Messages
689
Location
Mississauga
Thanks for the info, I was talking to couple of people in the chat and suggested I put towel paper soaked on the side he dosent sleep in :)....should I soak the window corner?.
 

5HiddenLizards

Tight Budget Herping
Messages
539
Location
San Antonio, TX
That should help some. Idk about soaking the sand though. My gecko on sand doesn't have a moist hide, he actually hates when the sand is damp. Even slightly damp.

Idk if you keep the sand continuously moist, if it could mold...might be best to have a damp paper towel and THEN put cocofiber, or whatever damp media you use, on top of that. Or multiple paper towel stacked up.



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grboxa

New Member
Messages
689
Location
Mississauga
I just took a peice rolled it up nice and soaked then put it in the corner...ill add the husk for extra humidity...btw should i change the paper towel everyday?
 

grboxa

New Member
Messages
689
Location
Mississauga
BTW your like the 3rd person I came across that uses sand....let me ask...I keep hearing its bad...but Ive never come across a person saying they actually had there leopard gecko suffer from impaction with sand...whats ur experience with sand...mine is a juve...and im extremely stubborn but willing to do whats needed...sand just looks awsome..the breeder told me the type of sand I bought is what he uses for his geckos because it is very very fine and it would just go through his system
 

5HiddenLizards

Tight Budget Herping
Messages
539
Location
San Antonio, TX
I have paper towel in my moist hides. I change it every week. I let it dry completely before I moisten it again.

When I got my first gecko, back in '06 (Jayke). I didn't know what I was doing, set aside what I read off the care sheet from the store. He was about 6in. I had him on paper towel for a few weeks & then switched him to sand. (It conducted heat from the heat lamp better & stayed warmer longer after it was turned off.) And I never had a humid hide.

Long story short...he's never had a problem with impaction, never had trouble shedding, never had a problem with the heat lamp. When he did get sand in his mouth, from missing his target, he'd "spit" it out with his tongue & and rub his face on his hide. Yeah a small amount would come out in his poo, but it was ever so small.



{via Tapatalk}
 

grboxa

New Member
Messages
689
Location
Mississauga
Okay cool thanks for the info!, Im wondering I dont know if you can tell from my pictures, but the top part of the cage isnt mesh type its just caged at the top with spaces....im worried about the crickets...these guys jump is there a chance that they can jump through the spaces from the top?.
 
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