Hey there from snowy, cold Ohio.(:

stephanieluffsu

New Member
Messages
74
Location
Ohio
Well, um hi.
My name is Stephanie and I am from Ohio. I do not have a leopard gecko yet, but thats only because the roads are to bad to go out and get one right now lol. But i figured since i'm getting one soon, i might as well join, and make some final tweaks on the tank.:)
I have never had any other reptiles. I used to have hermit crabs, and they were all taken care of succesfully for 5 years.
Currently i have a 35 gallon aquarium. Its tall, but still considerably long. I am going to use paper towels for my first substrate, and im going to upload pics when its finished. But in the meantime, anyone wanna add me and give tips?? I want my leo to live as long as it can, happily and healthily.:)
 

Bbugs

Animal Addict
Messages
202
Location
Illinois
Welcome! What type of things do you have so far? Do you have an undertank heater? Also, I suggest choosing a better substrate, but some people swear by paper towels. The paper towels do their job, but something like slate tile looks nice, and the geckos love it.

Good luck!
 

stephanieluffsu

New Member
Messages
74
Location
Ohio
Well as of right now i have:
UTH
4 hides
water bowl(lid)
2 food bowls(1 calcium 1 mealworms)
some rocks,and a moist hideout.
as for food nothing yet, but im picking up mealworms,and maybe crickets, and some calcium powder. maybe some gut loading stuff. and i'm just going to breed my own mealworms.
Did I miss anything??
 

stephanieluffsu

New Member
Messages
74
Location
Ohio
IMG000046.jpg

not all of the tank is showed in this pic. but in it is(from left to right): a hidey(cool side)water dish, moist hide,rock steps, random rock, warm hidey, then another hide,calcium bowl.
IMG000045.jpg

top of tank
IMG000044.jpg

another shot
This is my first tank ever for a leopard gecko. What do ya think??
 

BGalloway

New Member
Messages
404
Location
Northeast USA
Great setup! I'm sure your leo will love it. The plants look great.

There's just two things I didn't see you mention:
Do you have vitamin powder on your shopping list?
Do you have a thermometer? Digital thermometers work great and they have a probe so you can get the temp right at floor level.

Welcome to geckoforums. :)
 

gixxer3420

New Member
Messages
2,455
Location
Dansville, NY
Welcome to the forum. Paper towel for substrate is perfectly fine, Ive been using paper towels in my racks for over ten years now with out any problems.
 

WulfSC

New Member
Messages
556
Location
Landrum, SC
Hello, and welcome. I agree with everyone here... paper towels are fine. I've been using them for awhile myself. Safe, and easy to clean up.
 

stephanieluffsu

New Member
Messages
74
Location
Ohio
@ B: Yes I have vitamin powder on my shopping list, lol. As well as calcium powder. and yes I do have a thermometer in there, its just hard to see because of the bad lighting and poor camera quality. And thanks! I might be getting my leo today.
@ Gixxer: I was originally going to use sand, but after reading a few care sheets, and such ,i decided against it.
@Wulf: thanks! I just wish they made some paper towels that were more real looking. :p
Thanks everyone for the welcomes.:)
 

prettyinpink

New Member
Messages
1,838
Location
Austin, Texas
welcome!

I'd suggest slate tile which has a 'natural' look to it. Heats the tank nicely also. You can get some that look and feel like rocks, sand, ect.
 

Dog Shrink

Lost in the Lizard World
Messages
2,799
Location
NW PA.
When shopping for suppliments I would recommend an all in 1 suppliment so you don't need to keep the calcium dish in your tank and it makes your supplimenting program so much easier. I'd get Repashy calcium plus ICB or T-Rex brand leopard gecko dust icb by sandfire foods. Depending on how old the leo is you can dust either every feeding or every other feeding and get all the nutrients you need. When picking food, it should be no larger around the girth than the space between your leo's eyes, and your uth should cover about 1/3rd of your tank floor on either side, not in the middle. you don't get your thermal gradient if its in the middle. Make sure you supply a moist hide for your leo to aide in shedding. A tupperware dish cut with a hole and some moist paper towels will do find and my leo actually prefers it to the one with his sphagnum moss. I keep mine in teh tank 24/7 but usually only wet it when I notice he's starting to ghost up for a shed.

Keep your hot side temps between 88-95 for optimum digestion, belly heat is most important to leos, you want your thermometer probe dirctly on the floor to measure that. Your cool side should be fine at room temp and not need supplimental heating. UV lights are NOT needed. Leos are crepuscular, active most after sunset and right before sunrise, so they do not beneifit from uv lighting and it can actually stress them out. Using lots of natural rock in your tank to make hides and what not will help to maintain a decent ambient temp in your enclosure.

When looking at geckos try to pick one that looks healthy obviously. No pencil thin tails, no protruding bones, all the toes are intact and if they keep them on sand look closely at the lower abdomen region to see if you can see any dark areas that might indicate possible impaction problems, altho some dark spots can be contributed to organs like the liver but better to ckeck. Watch for sunken eyes, or an animal that doesn't want to open it's eyes (possibly stuck shed in the eyes), ask how often and what that particular animla eats, but if being kept in a communal tank they might not know. Ask if it has been pooping regularly, and how they are doing their suppliment program. Also look as best you can at it's mouth for sores, scabs or any misalignment of the jaw. I would try to get a sub-adult (5-6 mos to a year) as a first time owner as there aren't nearly as many problems in caring for a sub-adult as a juvie or hatchling. It can just be a bit easier overall. They're a little more hardy, eating better, past a lot of the juvie scardy-lizard stuff... just easier imo.

Learn a little about morphs and make sure the petshop or wherever you get the lso can tell you the morph of that animal you buy. Certain morphs like Enigma morphs can have problems, please google enigma syndrom or put it in the search bar here, to learn more about it and how it can affect the quality of life for your leo and the problems it may present to you as the owner of such an animal.

Lastly there seems to be a massive influx of Ohioans lately to the forum, maybe you cold get in touch with some of them or find a nice breeder in your area like Ohio Geckos and avoid the whole petshop route altogether and get a really nice lizard for just a lil more money. It is so worth it imo. Nothing beats the piece of mind knowing you got your leo form a knowledgable source who cares highly and properly for their leos they sell.

Welcome to the Forum :D
 

stephanieluffsu

New Member
Messages
74
Location
Ohio
@ Dog Shrink: lol thanks for all the info!
My uth is on the right side of my tank, and i have 2 hides over it. The tempature is about 80 ish right now but thats only because the UTH needs to heat up some more.
Thanks for the welcome!
 

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