Hello

J

Jayyoung

Guest
Right,

I am new to reptiles having fell in love with this 3 month old leopard gecko at my local pet shop. I bought it (have not sexed it yet) two weeks ago, and my daughter named it "Echo". Leo's are really interesting, I am a bit worried about husbandry. I found this site and read some of the threads it seems like a good resource.

Just a little bit about my set up.

It is housed in a 10 gallon aquarium with sani-chips for substrate, I am using a plant/aquarium florescent bulb and a heating bulb (I plan on switching that out for a ceramic heat element) I think it is a suitable home. Any suggestions are welcomed.
 
R

ReptileMan27

New Member
Messages
2,409
Location
New York
Welcome :), A couple of suggestions about your set-up, first remove the sani chips and go with something safe, like newspaper,paper towels,tiles,or slate rock. For the heating, go with an under tank heater, bright lights can stress them. Belly heat is the most important for them to digest food etc..
 
Scott&Nikki

Scott&Nikki

New Member
Messages
2,003
Location
DeKalb/Wheeling IL
Welcome to the forum. First off, it might be a good idea to replace the sani-chips. For any leo, especially younger ones, you are risking impaction with any type of loose substrate. Some good suggestions are Paper towel (most popular), repti-carpet, slate tile (what I use), and newspaper. Those are going to be your safest.

It is best to use an Under Tank Heater (UTH) rather than heat from above. Heat bulbs warm the air and what leos really need is ground heat which makes digesting food easier. The UTH should be located on just one side of the tank.

Your leo should have 3 hides. There should be 1 hot hide, one cool hide, and one moist hide to aid in shedding.

You should also have a dish in the tank with just Calcium in it. This ensures that if your leo is not getting enough calcium from other sources, it is available to him/her at all times.

P.S. I got my leo from a pet store, and after being on this forum I realized practically everything they told me was incorrect. Not all pet stores are bad, but as has been discussed on this forum multiple times, the majority are. I would highly recommend asking us any and all questions, primarily about husbandry and food issues. With that being said, I am sure you are going to love your leo and once again, welcome!
 
J

Jayyoung

Guest
oh no!

i have noticed sani-chips in the waste. but it eats well and still produces waste on the regular. next pay i'm going to the shop for lighting and a heat pad. will the ink from news paper not harm the leo?
 
L

lil_katiedan

Guest
Newspaper doesn't harm the leos at all. The ink is soy-based. If you're still worried about it, use paper towel. Tile (which has been mentioned already) is a great idea if you're looking for something more natural. I used the vinyl tile for years, I find it easier than the stone since you can cut it to fit the size of the cage. Impaction does not show up immediately but as you've already mentioned, you've seen the sany chips in it's poop already. It would probably be a good idea to switch as soon as you can to something safer. As for lighting, it's not really required or needed. Leos are nocturnal so they have no need to bask. Providing belly heat is really the best thing you can do for the little guy. Anyways, good luck with you new gecko! They are very addicting!

Oh and if you have a camera you can post pictures of your leo's underside and we'd be hapy to help you sex it.
 
Scott&Nikki

Scott&Nikki

New Member
Messages
2,003
Location
DeKalb/Wheeling IL
As Katie said, newspaper will not harm the leo. From my experiences, newspaper and papertowels drove me crazy with crickets hiding and all that. That is why I went with slate tile and I am very happy with it. But, I think the first step is to get him off your current substrate ASAP if you already notice is in the droppings.

Keep in mind, when you get your UTH, you should also get a thermostat, so that you do not burn your leo with it.
 
R

ReptileMan27

New Member
Messages
2,409
Location
New York
Jayyoung said:
i have noticed sani-chips in the waste. but it eats well and still produces waste on the regular. next pay i'm going to the shop for lighting and a heat pad. will the ink from news paper not harm the leo?
Click to expand...
That was a rumor going around awhile back that newspaper was dangerous because of the ink, my guess is it was made by someone that used sand and didnt want to admit it wasnt safe, so tried making newspaper out not to be safe, crap of course. The ink has to be safe and non toxic by law because of kids eating it.
 
J

Jayyoung

Guest
This site is great!

I changed the substrate to paper towels today and am now using the heating lamp (changing to UTH soon) under the aquarium. also added a cool hide. I'll try to upload some pics the plant/aquarium light got nixed and I placed black cloth over the back and bottom of the aquarium (trying to block the light from the heat lamp)
 
L

Lalo Lalo

Guest
ReptileMan27 said:
That was a rumor going around awhile back that newspaper was dangerous because of the ink, my guess is it was made by someone that used sand and didnt want to admit it wasnt safe, so tried making newspaper out not to be safe, crap of course. The ink has to be safe and non toxic by law because of kids eating it.
Click to expand...
Just to be said, I agree on the point that the ink is safe,
but I thought the thing was that the ink actually was
not so safe past then, because of less good technology?
I have also heard it "outside" the reptile-hobby.

/Fredrik
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Visit our friends

Top