Golden Geckos

[Khrysty]

I'm looking into adopting a golden gecko and want to make sure I've got the facts right. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong or give me some tips.

Cage: tall, they're arboreal animals
UVB: not necessary, they're nocturnal
Temp: I'm reading 75-80 from some sites and 75-90 on others. Would a heat pad stuck to the back of the tank work? Would it need to be regulated?
Food: insectivorous or omnivorous? Sites I'm reading vary with that information. Would a diet of mealworms (supplemented with crickets, waxworms, superworms, etc) and maybe CGD work?
Humidty: rather high..most sites recommend misting twice a day?
Water: don't usually drink from bowls but they do like to soak..so a dish as big as the animal is necessary
Substrate: coco fiber seems to be the most recommended.

Is there anything else I'm missing? The animal I'm looking to get is supposed to be male so I won't have to worry about ovulation or it laying any infertile eggs or anything.

 

[T-ReXx]

I'm looking into adopting a golden gecko and want to make sure I've got the facts right. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong or give me some tips.

Cage: tall, they're arboreal animals
UVB: not necessary, they're nocturnal
Temp: I'm reading 75-80 from some sites and 75-90 on others. Would a heat pad stuck to the back of the tank work? Would it need to be regulated?
Food: insectivorous or omnivorous? Sites I'm reading vary with that information. Would a diet of mealworms (supplemented with crickets, waxworms, superworms, etc) and maybe CGD work?
Humidty: rather high..most sites recommend misting twice a day?
Water: don't usually drink from bowls but they do like to soak..so a dish as big as the animal is necessary
Substrate: coco fiber seems to be the most recommended.

Is there anything else I'm missing? The animal I'm looking to get is supposed to be male so I won't have to worry about ovulation or it laying any infertile eggs or anything.

Cage: yup. These geckos rarely come to the ground, so the taller the better. A minimum of something like a 20 gallon high tank.
UVB: totally unecessary for the geckos, but a light on a timer wouldn't bother them if you wanted live plants.
Temps: Most Gekko species like mid 80s ambient with a 89-95F basking spot. A heat pad stuck to the back wall would work, but you would need to regulate. It would probably get hot enough to burn the gecko's feet, which are pretty sensitive.
Diet: Insects mostly, but many will take CGD as well. Most won't eat any worms like mealies or supers. A diet of crickets or roaches supplemented by CGD works well. Dust prey every feeding with a quality supplement.
Humidity: High, 75-90%. Misting twice a day should suffice.
Water: Most don't drink from bowls, and I personally have never seen one soak(not a common practice for most geckos). Soaking might mean the presence of mites, which are common in WCs. Misting 2X a day should take care of water requirements, but no matter what I keep I always provide a water bowl anyways. If anything it adds to humidity.
Substrate: Coco fiber is fine, paper towels, sterile soil, peat moss and fine ground sphagnum work as well. These guys don't spend a lot of time of the ground, so substrate has more to do with humidity retention and ease of cleaning.

That's about all I can think of. Be careful handling, they have rather delicate skin, but some can become quite tame with time. They like sweet stuff, so a drop of honey on your finger can help in making friends. Females are actually pretty hard to come by, seems most imports are males. They're pretty little geckos, active and fun to watch. Good luck with him!