Hello

[BobbyD]

Im new to the land of geckos so you might be hearing quite a bit from me in the next few weeks

Tank 24" 15" 12" (old fish tank) Should the top be covered OR left open (Wire Mesh)

I was given woodchip substrate from the pet shop.. Which will now be burnt, along with the pet shop..
Plan on getting slate tiles/sand inbetween. OK??

At the moment i have a heat mat underneth 1/2 no thermostat supplied. and just a strip light for day time light. I was given a 60W spot light but the temp got too high. maybe go lower Watt??

i have a wooden hide over in the cool bit and a makeshift moist in the warm, Real ones in the post along with feeder and water bowl.

I have used a flat rock from my garden (sandstone) no rough edges for it too bask on (it only gets its heat from the mat tho) OK???

Its alot to take in for a beginner, seems to have settled in ok.. coming upto the ends of its first week..
Eaten 4 crickets
Shed its skin once
Handled a few times no bites, but has left me a couple of presents on my hand :main_thumbsup:
Oh i forgot to say..... Its only a baby about 3/4 inches long Not sure of its sex or type..... Its all pink (hence its name, Pink Floyd) No lines just a few barely visable white dots on its back.

After spending a life time reading this... Have i missed anything.

 

[dim&shell]

Hi all sounds good... Your gecko sounds really cute... Take some pictures!! Would love to see him/her...

Have a look at mine:
http://www.geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=21554

 

[Greyscale_Geckos]

The light isn't necessary, leopard geckos are nocturnal. Also, please consider getting a thermostat for your heatmat. The temperatures can get dangerously high. I have to also suggest a thermometer with a probe that can be placed on the ground of the tank right above where your under the tank heater is. The warm side of your tank should be inbetween 88-92 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cody from Pro Geckos has a really nice caresheet:

http://www.progeckos.com/caresheets/leos.htm

Also if you check some of the breeder websites, most of them have caresheets as well.

Welcome, and I hope you enjoy your time here! Do you have any pictures of your new leopard gecko?

Also, tile/slate sounds like a great substrate. You can also use paper towels if you don't mind the look.

 

[dim&shell]

Oh I don't have a thermostat as yet (bit too expensive for me at the moment) but I do have quite a large tank and I use the light on a timer, it goes on at certain points during the day just to keep the temperature up and goes off completely at night

 

[Paco]

Never to expensive

Oh I don't have a thermostat as yet (bit too expensive for me at the moment) but I do have quite a large tank and I use the light on a timer, it goes on at certain points during the day just to keep the temperature up and goes off completely at night

Look around you can find a Basic good ThermoStat for less than $50( don't wanna go to cheap though). Big Apple Reptile Supplies has a very affordable and excellent Theromstat for the Money. There are a lot of tragic stories because people did not use theremostats. Just something to think about.

 

[BobbyD]

Thanks for the replys guys.

No light at all, really?? Would a infra red one be ok, just to light it alittle. As its hard to see.

I do have 2 thermometers in the tank one in hot and cold. the hot one is on the very bottom of then tank to get the hottest reading..
I do have to say that they are quite poor thermometers Bad good Bad reading if you know what i mean...
New ones are also in the post.

Should i keep the mat on at night or keep it on...
The stuff should come on weds. So can post temps and things then..

As for pictures ill need to borrow camera from somewhere but ill get some up soon.

 

[Greyscale_Geckos]

The heatmat should be kept on at all times, basically use it as a primary source of heat. Belly heat for leopard geckos aids in digestion and in general makes a healthier gecko.

Once you get a thermostat you can drop the temperature of the heatmat down at night. If you can't get a thermostat, rheostats also work pretty well.

 

[BobbyD]

cheers Hannah
that care sheet was prob the best one ive read so far.
nothing ive read before has really said anything about feeding... need my calcium to get here now! going to buy my self some mealworms too.
Food for crickets?? Is it a waste of money??? Can i not use fruit/veg etc?? banana skin??

The constant questioning should stop soon, just want lil floyd to be happy as can be.

 

[Mel&Keith]

An low wattage infrared bulb is fine for night time viewing, other than that you don't need any lights. An under tank heater is all you need for heat. We use the Johnson Thermostat for our racks, they're $80 but they work great. These are the digital probe thermometers we use. I think they're $10 or less?

 

[Mel&Keith]

Since you only have one Leo, I would consider a gutload/water product called Ectotherm Cricket Yummies for crickets. It will keep your crickets alive longer than any other product I've found and you won't have to go buy feeders as often. If you feed mealworms then use home made gutload.