Hot or Cool Side?

[robin]

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=54046

there is just one...

 

[TFerguson]

I put her in the classifieds and think she needs an experienced Gecko owner who can get and give her a good home.

I gotta say, I'm somewhat blown away by this. You had this creature stuffed in a box, flown in the belly of a cargo plane (where it endured extremes in temperature), and unceremoniously dumped on your front porch. I think we'd all agree that's enough to stress almost any creature to the breaking point.

Then, after a week and a half of handling it and re-arranging it's environment on an almost daily basis, you're ready to call it quits...why?... cuz she's staying on the 'wrong' side of the tank. So by all means, stuff her back in the box and fly her off to somewhere else. Lost cause, that one...

T Ferguson

 

[CallDr]

you want the warm side to be 90 on top of the tile not underneath it. if you can not handle this gecko then you have business with any gecko. you have had her only 1 1/2 weeks. sometimes some geckos can take weeks to start eating. in your enclosure you do not even have a humid hide this is BASIC keeping. you want her hides to be kind smaller they like to be snug when hiding.

i can't believe only after one and a half weeks you feel this gecko needs a more experienced owner. start out reading some of the care sheets in the articles section for basic info.(it is at the top of the page)get her temps right and give her some time to adjust and she will be fine. buy yourself a thermostat so you can control the temps better.

I asked questions you did not answer. I also stated that the temps on TOP of the tile were NOT 100 where the hides were but was trying to get them lower..... did you not read? Plus...... to tell a member they have no business having a Gecko is not a good idea for an advisor! I have in every step tried to get answers from experienced owners.

As far as when I want give my Gecko a new home is my business....... is it not?

Care sheets....... they are a dime a dozen and no 2 are a like.

 

[CallDr]

I gotta say, I'm somewhat blown away by this. You had this creature stuffed in a box, flown in the belly of a cargo plane (where it endured extremes in temperature), and unceremoniously dumped on your front porch. I think we'd all agree that's enough to stress almost any creature to the breaking point.

Then, after a week and a half of handling it and re-arranging it's environment on an almost daily basis, you're ready to call it quits...why?... cuz she's staying on the 'wrong' side of the tank. So by all means, stuff her back in the box and fly her off to somewhere else. Lost cause, that one...

T Ferguson

Here we go again. I ask questions and don't get answers? You guys need to read before judging. I tell you what concerns me. Some breeders keep their Gecko's in plastic tubs in racks. They don't see anyone unless the tub is opened to feed and clean it's entire life. Stress? I think I understand the stress. It's not the flight. It's the 180 from a "clinical" and spec sheet controlled environment into a whole new one.

I am offering her to a new home and when I said experienced owner, that was to be in the best welfare of the animal. You response is like I put her on ebay to dump it. I understand the so called "quick to Judgement" to some degree. I would how ever read my prior posts and see I have made every effort to try and do the right thing.

 

[CallDr]

So should the "most used" Hide be on the hot or cool side?

That was the question I asked. So?

 

[TFerguson]

Here we go again. I ask questions and don't get answers? You guys need to read before judging. I tell you what concerns me. Some breeders keep their Gecko's in plastic tubs in racks. They don't see anyone unless the tub is opened to feed and clean it's entire life. Stress? I think I understand the stress. It's not the flight. It's the 180 from a "clinical" and spec sheet controlled environment into a whole new one.

I am offering her to a new home and when I said experienced owner, that was to be in the best welfare of the animal. You response is like I put her on ebay to dump it. I understand the so called "quick to Judgement" to some degree. I would how ever read my prior posts and see I have made every effort to try and do the right thing.

I have read all your posts. Sounds like your temps are right. It's been pointed out that you need a moist hide. So if you want to do the right thing, after adding the moist hide, turn off the bright lights, quit re-arranging the tank everyday, quit handling the gecko, and leave it alone (except to feed it every other day). If you are able to do this for 3-4 weeks, I would bey my last nickel you would end up with a happy and well-adjusted gecko.

Also, I don't get this "most-used" hide concept. Who cares!? It's got two hides. It'll pick the one that best suits it's immediate needs. You're making this too hard.

T Ferguson

 

[bman123]

I tried to help, I'm new to this so I am limited in my capability of helping but I'm trying. Try to put something inbetween your tile and the glass, that may lower your temp some it might not. You can always get a lamp dimmer tho and do it that way.

Without a thermostat you have to deal with problems like this. That's why that tstat is worth the $100 because it gives you piece of mind. There is still some choices left for you to try with this Leo that's why i said don't give up on her yet.

 

[robin]

So should the "most used" Hide be on the hot or cool side?

That was the question I asked. So?

cool side

 

[bman123]

My Leo spends 90% of his time in his hot hide but he does use the cool hide too. I tried to offer advise about the whole hide thing. It sounds like it prefers one hide over the other. That's why i said to get 2 of the same hides. That hide your using looks huge, it's probably too big for her. two of the same hides would eliminate the problem with only using one hide. you could fix that first then go on to the next problem which is your heat being too hot.

Animals take awhile to adjust sometimes. I know i would be stressed if someone stuffed me in a suitcase and put me on a plane from Ohio to arizona. Then I had to live in a new home with all new stuff. It would be scary just give her some time to get use to it.

I handle my Leo daily. I got him last week, he let's me know when he wants out I don't just take him out i wait til he is ready. Are you doing that or are you just grabbing her out of the tank?

She is a very pretty bell albino, it would be a shame if you gave up on her.

 

[robin]

I asked questions you did not answer. I also stated that the temps on TOP of the tile were NOT 100 where the hides were but was trying to get them lower..... did you not read? Plus...... to tell a member they have no business having a Gecko is not a good idea for an advisor! I have in every step tried to get answers from experienced owners.

As far as when I want give my Gecko a new home is my business....... is it not?

Care sheets....... they are a dime a dozen and no 2 are a like.

i am sorry i didn not answer your question i can not follow every thread. next please if you have a question that you want my opinion on send me a note. i would love to help you.

as far as caresheets oh yeah they are a dime a dozen but some of the sheets we have here are written by some of our more experienced breeders and keepers.

 

[robin]

I tried to help, I'm new to this so I am limited in my capability of helping but I'm trying. Try to put something inbetween your tile and the glass, that may lower your temp some it might not. You can always get a lamp dimmer tho and do it that way.

Without a thermostat you have to deal with problems like this. That's why that tstat is worth the $100 because it gives you piece of mind. There is still some choices left for you to try with this Leo that's why i said don't give up on her yet.

even a rheostat is ok as long as she check the temps and there is no huge fluctuations in how cool or warm the room the gecko is in and she can buy a rheostat from zoomed for around $20 prolly.

 

[bman123]

I forgot all about a rheostat. I've always used a lamp dimmer when I need to control a heat source plus they are cheaper then a rheostat.

 

[robin]

pretty much the same thing

 

[CallDr]

I have read all your posts. Sounds like your temps are right. It's been pointed out that you need a moist hide. So if you want to do the right thing, after adding the moist hide, turn off the bright lights, quit re-arranging the tank everyday, quit handling the gecko, and leave it alone (except to feed it every other day). If you are able to do this for 3-4 weeks, I would bey my last nickel you would end up with a happy and well-adjusted gecko.

Also, I don't get this "most-used" hide concept. Who cares!? It's got two hides. It'll pick the one that best suits it's immediate needs. You're making this too hard.

T Ferguson

First as too the bright lights. That was when I was feeding and turned the overhead light on that was bright. Was told Albinos were more sensitive to light. So I changed the other lights..... to not be Bright.... as suggested!

As to changing her cage every day....... not true. After I got the tile cut and the 1 hide and Log...... all I did was switch them. The "idea" and it happened..... when I switched the Hide to the cool side...... thats where she went. She followed the hide..... not the Temp.

The whole idea is for them to Thermoregulate right? But if they are always on the warm side...... get it?

Remember, I have a Normal that moves on a regular basis from hot to cool. She is healthy, happy and very tame.

As far as handling her everyday...... only once did I put my hand in the tank and let her walk on to my hand ( in the tank) and then let her back down.

Most used hide..... I'll explain. I have found that the Exo terra Hide ( not log ) has been well liked by both. The reason? I think it offers one small door and all the "security" to HIDE from people, things and Light. Why care? I only care what the animal likes and feels safe in. The issue is tank size. It's Large for a 10 gal vs 15. See Pics. Not enough room move or adjust over the UTH or hot side. As far as the UTH..... there is the other "variable". On a 10 gal it covers one side with little gap.

It's not that I don't want to care for her. It's really because there is a rep show in Columbia in June and me and my granddaughter want to go pick one out. I don't want 3 Gecko's to take care of now. ( 3 tanks )

This all started when I was told I could get another one and put it in the same tank as my Normal. It was obvious that the Bell was way too stressed to do that and I did NOT want to Stress out my Normal I had worked so hard to get adjusted and doing great!

I don't think it was right for an Advisor to tell me I am not fit to own a Gecko. Look at the pics of my granddaughter who feeds, handles and cares for HER animal and she is only 10 years old. I guess my standards are not up to the par.

 

[CallDr]

As far as the moist hide. I use either paper towels or Rep carpet under the hides..... you just can't see them.

 

[robin]

one thing though, you need to ALL geckos settle in before putting them into another enclosure with another gecko. it doesn't matter if it is this bell albino or another gecko you get. you always want to quarantine any new gecko before placing it in with any other "established" gecko. so yeah it is very likely that in time you could have the bell live with the other normal. you need to let her settle in first.

 

[bman123]

Have you tried what I suggested about using two identical hides? If the hides are the same then there is no following the hide problem anymore as it doesn't make a difference if both hides are the same. I use those rubbermaid small to go containers which have lids on them. My raptor male switches hides, he's in the cool hide now and has been in there for about 2 hours now. I'm just trying to eliminate one problem at a time. But indont know if you even tried this yet..

 

[bman123]

+1 to what robin said about letting it settle in by itself first.

You never know you could get a sick animal and placing it with your healthy one could cause problems.

 

[CallDr]

one thing though, you need to ALL geckos settle in before putting them into another enclosure with another gecko. it doesn't matter if it is this bell albino or another gecko you get. you always want to quarantine any new gecko before placing it in with any other "established" gecko. so yeah it is very likely that in time you could have the bell live with the other normal. you need to let her settle in first.

Again..... I was told coming from the same breeder and supposed to be the same size that quarantine was not needed. I made a judgement call and separated them after I saw the Bell and Normal were not too happy about the drop in arrangement.

Give me a little credit here...... I was told one thing and observed an opposite reaction by both. So I moved them to separate tanks.

 

[CallDr]

Have you tried what I suggested about using two identical hides? .

No. I am not a fan of tupperware with plastic see through tops like yours.

I did how ever agree 2 hides the same would be some what ideal. I tried 2 Hides the same....... they were too large to fit my 10 gal tank.

I have posted this before. I think the 15 gal or 12x12x 24 offers a lot more floor space and options to arrange and adjust as the Gecko "likes".