Hi there all.

[LilMissCuddles]

Hi there, My name is Crystal and I'm a first time lizard owner....lol

For my first guy I got a Hypo Tangerine Leopard Gecko, here is a few pics:

This is his cage set up:

any help on anything else to add would be greatly appreciated.

I got him from a commercial pet store but the guy who sold him too me was very good with them, and knew a lot about them, being an owner of about 20 lizards on his own, including geckos....lol Which made me feel better.

They estimate his age is almost a year, but if someone here has a better estimate that would be great....lol so I can figure out better....lol

I am glad to have somewhere now to go for advice about my new little babe.

 

[mainelygeckos]

Hello and welcome to GF! He is one handsome boy that you have there Sand is not a good substrate but what you keep your leo on is up to you. Besides being back for them and possible impaction that could eventually cause death, they dye the feet and bellies of your leo and suck to clean. He should have a cool hide on the cool end and a warm hide on the warm end and a moist hide for shedding n such. Good luck

 

[THE WHISPERER]

Welcome to GF . I would recomend a calcium/vitamin dish as well. I also vote for losing the sand.:main_thumbsup:

 

[LilMissCuddles]

What can you guys recommend for the tank then? The sand is what they gave me at the store to use in the tank.

 

[ariana]

i use tile, you can get it at lowes and they normally will cut it to fit the tank (measure the inside of the tank)
its a one time buy lasts forever and easy to clean, its what i use in all my tanks.
welcome to GF btw
and the calcium in the dish should be WITHOUT d3,
moist hide and cool and hot hides are good to have, at least have a moist hide that doubles as a cool hide if possible
does he have a UTH?? belly heat is important to help them digest
wish you the best of luck..theyre addicting,
i started with one and now have 7, one passed away so total is now 6 with one on the way

 

[LilMissCuddles]

wow thanks so much guys.....

Ariana I don't think I have a UTH, what exactly is that....

 

[ariana]

under tank heater, its sticky so it stays on the bottom of the aquarium

 

[chachasushi]

Hello and welcome!!

 

[ARiES]

welcome to gecko forums!!!!!!!! try geting 2 hides one on each side and id also lose the sand and replace it with newspaper or papertowel for easy clean ups and a safe enviroment

 

[LilMissCuddles]

Thanks all for the welcome. I went to the pet store today and bought a UTH and gonna be changing the sand out to tile as soon as I get to a home depot store....lol The guy I talked to today says he's about 7 or 8 months old. I also bought the stuff to make the moist hide for the other side of the cage.

 

[Kitsune]

Welcome to GeckoForums. =)
Your leo is a cutie. :3

 

[rawson5084]

Welcome to GF and very pretty leo

 

[EchoPet]

Hi and welcome! Very cute gecko, congrats! I think everyone's already mentioned most of the things you should change/add about the set up, but one other thing I would recommend is a digital thermometer with a probe. Inaccurate temperatures can be a cause of all sorts of problems in reptiles, so it's important to be able to monitor what your temps are, especially on the warm side of the tank. For leopard geckos, surface temperature is really important which is why UTHs are more practical than unnecessary lights. They need belly heat on one side of the tank to create a temperature gradient, and it should be about 95 at the warmest spot. The ambient (air) temperature that most thermometers measure isn't as important for these guys. With the probe, you can put it right on the floor of the tank (over the substrate) and get an accurate reading. Depending on what the temperature is in your house, you might need a thermostat to regulate the heat output of your UTH, but the only way to know is with the thermometer.

 

[CornBall]

Nice Gecko!