Have I done this right?

[LeoGeckoDude]

Hey guys.

If it's alright with you lot, i'd like to run my new setup past you to make sure that i'm doing everything right.

I picked Teicho up on Friday, so he's only been in his new home for a few days. He seems content, however I thought I would ask the experts if everything looks okay.

Please let me know if there is anything you would change or i'm doing wrong.

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Enclosure

I decided to go with the 3 foot wooden vivarium, as this looked like a nice size for Teicho. I have it set up as follows:

Substrate - Reptile Carpet.

The heat mat covers the left half of the vivarium. As you can see I have set up a warm hide and a cold hide, along with a third hide which is full of moist moss to aid shedding and generally provide a nice place to shelter.

Of course, there is fresh water in a shallow dish, and I also keep a small pot of non-D3 calcium powder in the vivarium at all times.

Heating / Lighting

The temperatures are as follows:

Hot Side - 90-94 F
Cold Side - 78-82 F

The heat mat is on a thermostat, so it is constantly kept within the correct temperature range. I also have a digital thermometer with probes which I use to check the temperatures daily.

The light is on for 11 hours (during the day), and off for 13 (evening/night). This is not a heat light, simply a viewing light.

Diet

Teicho is fed on a main diet of crickets, with mealworms when he will eat them, although so far he has only eaten 5 crickets. He has shown little or no interest in any food for the last couple of days. I'm hoping this is because of the constant changing of his enclosure, or that he is simply settling in.

Crickets - Kept in a large enclosure and are gut loaded with bug grub and a slice of apple.

Mealworms - Kept in the fridge with a slice of apple until 24 hours before feeding, at which point they are put into a separate enclosure with a slice of apple and bug grub.

Food dusting alternates between calcium without D3, and calcium with D3.

Supplements

I have bought the following:

Vitamins - I have yet to use this as I only bought it today. I'm a bit unsure where/when/how to use this?

Bug Grub - Self explanatory.

Calcium Powder - This has no D3. A small pot is kept in the vivarium, and food is dusted with this half the time.

Calcium Powder - This one has D3. Only used for dusting food half the time.

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Thank you for reading if you made it this far. I'm sorry for the long post, but this is my first time owning an exotic pet, and I want to make sure he's getting the best life he can. As I said before, please let me know if i'm doing anything wrong, or if there is anything you would change.

Oh, and here is the most important part...

Thank you.

Sam

 

[LeopardShade]

Your setup looks great. It sounds like you have done plenty of research Looks like you've got a nice albino on your hands. He's got a real nice home.

There's only a couple of things I would like to add.

First off, I'm very glad you got a solid substrate. So many people these days buy their first leopard geckos without doing any research, and end up buying loose substrates for their animal such as sand or calci-sand (usually foolishly recommended by petstores). Any solid substrate is better than loose, reptile carpet is no exception, but it does have its flaws. It can harbor bacteria quite easily, and the geckos' teeth and claws can occasionally snag in it when feeding/etc. It's not a bad substrate, but I prefer paper towels or slate tiles over it. I personally use paper towels, due to the fact that they're cheap, and easy to clean. If you want your substrate to look nicer, however, slate tiles are the way to go.

Second, I find the use of overhead lighting with leopard geckos unnecessary, especially bright overhead lighting. Bright light can actually be stressful on these geckos, being adapted for nocturnal/crepuscular activity, they're eyes are very light sensitive. Albinos eyes can be especially so, due to their light eyes. I feel the only times overhead heating/lighting should be used is if they are in the form of a low-light bulb (red/blue) or a ceramic heat emitter - something not so bright.

The multivitamins can be used once weekly or every other week.

Your gecko is most likely still acclimating to his new home. It is very common for most geckos to lose interest in food when relocated. Some can even go up to weeks before accepting anything. The fact that your gecko has already eaten 5 crickets, even though that seems like a paltry amount, is a great sign.

That's all I have to say, the rest of your setup is spot-on. Welcome to Geckoforums and hope you like it here

 

[LeoGeckoDude]

Hey LeopardShade.

Thanks for the reply, and for the welcome to the forum!

I've taken your advice today and unplugged the light. I was wondering this too, so thanks for clearing that up. Hopefully he'll be a little more relaxed now.

One other thing I wanted to mention - The hot hide seems to be containing the heat, making it about 35 degrees inside the hide, which I feel is too hot? Outside the hide, the temperature is around 32 degrees. How do you guys manage the changes in temperature?

Thank you.