I got a new Leo today

[bman123]

Well I got a new Mack snow leo today, it was temp sexed for female but it's way to early to tell. I got her locally also so that was a huge plus. I brought her home and put her in the tank and she took off like a bat outta you no where. She ran as fast and as far away from me as possible.

She's been in the hit hide since 2pm and just came out. I'm laying on the couch in pain and I hear her moving about. I sit up to see what she's doing and as soon as she saw me she high tailed it back into her hot hide lol.

I've never owned a small leo before so this is new to me, she's the second one I have owned but my first was a adukt when I got it. She's small around 10-15 grams I'd say. This is gonna be fun to see how long it takes her to settle in and how long it takes her to eat for me.

I've been reading alot about baby leos and from what I've read they eat alot. Feel free to give me any pointers or advice guys as I've never owned a Leo this small before so it's new to me.

Here's the set up so no one asks what it is. 20ga long with porcelain tile floor, medium exo Terra uth, desert themed background on the back and both sides if the tank. Exo Terra repti cave medium hide on the hot side and the cool side, large deli cup humid hide with damp spaghnum moss inside in the middle of the tank.

Stone water bowl full on cool side, castle decoration in the middle. Hot side temp 96 cool side temp 73. She housed alone also. I'm wondering when she will eat. I haven't messed with her at all. I put her in the tank at 1:45 and she's been in the hot hide with no interference from me at all.

I'm not gonna try to touch her as she is scared of me and I don't blame her, I need to shave lol. When she saw me she booked it back in the hide so I'm not trying to stress her out.

When do you think I should try to feed her? I haven't tried yet I figured it will take her a week or so to settle in, hopefully the car ride wasn't too rough on her, it sure beats flying lol.

Thanks in advance guys. I haven't taken a pic of her as I wasn't thinking when I got her, I should of taken it when she was in the deli cup. Soon as she settles in I will take a pic of her.

She is starting her color/pattern change now. Her black bands are black, purple and blue it looks like lavender. I also wonder how long does it take for her permanent color/pattern to change? I'm guessing she's only a month old or so as she is so tiny.

 

[STUTFL]

You can *try* to feed her right away, she just might not eat it. Wee ones don't typically have the big fat tails, might as well get her started eating as soon as she'll take anything. If you're not dumping a dozen crix in there or anything it shouldn't be a big worry if she ignores one and it escapes.

 

[bman123]

Yeah I just dumped like 6 small crix in the repashy powder, I shook em up and grabbed it with the tongs. It made a smack noise when it hit the tile. She stood in the opening of her hide looking interested. She ran across the tank grabbed it and ran back to her hot hide with it in her mouth. So I dropped like 6 dusted crix in her tank at once. She out hunting them right now.

I'm gonna try to get a pic of her in the act, especially since I don't have any pics of her yet. So far 4 crix down, she has 6 more in the tank now, I gotta get a decent pic of her to show ya guys..

 

[bman123]

I wish I would of gotten a little Leo to start with, this is pretty cool. She is standing in the fron of her hide like she's a statue. When they walk by she comes up frombehind grabs em and runs back in the hide.

This is too funny, a cricket was walking towards her and saw her and stopped. They were looking right at each other. The cricket didn't move at all, she walked right up to it slowly and grabbed it by the head lol, she just earned herself a name.

Medusa, like the lady with the snakes on her head, the cricket looked like it turned to stone when it looked at her and it didn't move so she ate it lol.
This is gonna be cool owning a little Leo, I'm pretty stoked. She's gonna blow thru food if she eats everyday. She just ate her 6th small cricket. There's non in the tank now.

Not bad for a baby who only ate mealies, this is the first time she's seen crickets and she tore em up. That repashy powder smells good too so maybe that helped lol.

 

[bman123]

I got scheduled for lower back surgery on the 28th of the month today, looks like on the 27th I'll be buying about 100 small crickets or more.

How many small crickets will a small Leo eat on avg daily? The dr said it will be about 2 weeks before I am able to get out the house and really walk around without it being unbearable. How many small crix do you think I should get on the 27th? 100 or more?

I've got the room for alot of crickets I bought a large critter keeper plastic container that could probably house 2-300 small crix easily with egg carton in there for them to hide in.
I'm just unsure of how many small crix to buy..

 

[GeckoGathering]

Training a Friend

Well I got a new Mack snow leo today, it was temp sexed for female but it's way to early to tell. I got her locally also so that was a huge plus. I brought her home and put her in the tank and she took off like a bat outta you no where. She ran as fast and as far away from me as possible.

She's been in the hit hide since 2pm and just came out. I'm laying on the couch in pain and I hear her moving about. I sit up to see what she's doing and as soon as she saw me she high tailed it back into her hot hide lol.

I've never owned a small leo before so this is new to me, she's the second one I have owned but my first was a adukt when I got it. She's small around 10-15 grams I'd say. This is gonna be fun to see how long it takes her to settle in and how long it takes her to eat for me.

I've been reading alot about baby leos and from what I've read they eat alot. Feel free to give me any pointers or advice guys as I've never owned a Leo this small before so it's new to me.

Here's the set up so no one asks what it is. 20ga long with porcelain tile floor, medium exo Terra uth, desert themed background on the back and both sides if the tank. Exo Terra repti cave medium hide on the hot side and the cool side, large deli cup humid hide with damp spaghnum moss inside in the middle of the tank.

Stone water bowl full on cool side, castle decoration in the middle. Hot side temp 96 cool side temp 73. She housed alone also. I'm wondering when she will eat. I haven't messed with her at all. I put her in the tank at 1:45 and she's been in the hot hide with no interference from me at all.

I'm not gonna try to touch her as she is scared of me and I don't blame her, I need to shave lol. When she saw me she booked it back in the hide so I'm not trying to stress her out.

When do you think I should try to feed her? I haven't tried yet I figured it will take her a week or so to settle in, hopefully the car ride wasn't too rough on her, it sure beats flying lol.

Thanks in advance guys. I haven't taken a pic of her as I wasn't thinking when I got her, I should of taken it when she was in the deli cup. Soon as she settles in I will take a pic of her.

She is starting her color/pattern change now. Her black bands are black, purple and blue it looks like lavender. I also wonder how long does it take for her permanent color/pattern to change? I'm guessing she's only a month old or so as she is so tiny.

Believe me, she wants a friend
just as you do with her.
Read this.
http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=36375

View This Video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdqmle_8BdU

More Gecko Stuff...subscribe to my YouTube here.
Hope it helps.
Take care. HJ

http://www.youtube.com/user/GECKOGATHERING

 

[bman123]

HJ you da man. I just got her today so I'm gonna take it slow with her, I'm not gonna try to touch or approach her for a week so she gets settled in. When she saw me look at her she did the usain bolt back to her hot hide lol.

Thanks for the info HJ I'm gonna check out your YouTube stuff for sure. She ate 6 small crickets then went in her hot hide and turned away from me so I didn't add more crickets she looked full.

I wonder how many small crix a small Leo like mine will eat a day? I see they eat slot when little I guess I'll just have to get a feel for her eating habits, I just don't want her to eat too much and get all bloated lol.

She's very pretty and my iPhone pic did her no justice at all, I'm gonna try to get a good pic tomorrow of her, I'll wait til it's bright out and I'll open the curtains to let some light in since my iPhone has no flash. Maybe I'll get a pic of her in the act of hunting or with a cricket in her mouth.

I'm very glad I got a small Leo this time, it will give me plenty of time to build a good friendship with her, well I hope it turns out to be a her I named it medusa, I just gotta make sure I don't look her in the eyes or I may freeze and turn to stone like the cricket did earlier.

 

[bman123]

It's just so cool to be able to drop crix in the tank and watch her run across the cage and get em on the first strike. My raptor was 4yrs old and wouldn't hunt the crix, so feeding time was boring with him, now feeding time is fun and she doesn't miss the crickets like the raptor did everytime.

I hope it's a she, if it's a he I'm naming it bolt because how fast it is that lil Leo was running so fast, I've never seen one run full speed before, they sure are quick..

 

[GeckoGathering]

BABIES, Ahhhhhh YES.

I wonder how many small crix a small Leo
like mine will eat a day?
I see they eat slot when little I guess
I'll just have to get a feel for her eating
habits.
I just don't want her to eat too much and
get all bloated lol.
I'm gonna try to get a good pic
tomorrow of her.
I hope it turns out to be a her.

She will let you know when she is full.
Just be careful with feeding crickets.
They contain pin worms.
A concentration in the cricket can lead to
gecko problems if eaten.
Advisable to clear out any uneaten ones.
Anxious to see a photo, as snows are a
favorite here.
Hope you have a female.
Take care. HJ

 

[bman123]

I'm real anal when it comes to the crickets container being clean. Soon as I see a dead one it comes out right away, plus they will stink the house up.
She ate 6 small crickets in about 10-15 minutes, then she went in the hot hide and layed down facing away from me so I put her lid back on and called it a day.

It's gonna be hard to get a good pic of her. When she sees me she runs away, and really fast too. I have a background on the back and sides of the tank. I'm gonna try to be sneaky tomorrow and do this. Open the blinds take her lid off and throw like 6 crix inside the tank. I'm gonna stand on the side of the tank behind her hot hide and try to get a good pic when she comes out to get the crickets.

For some reason tho I know it's gonna be harder then it sounds. She looks like she's getting ready to shed, so she's kinda dull looking. I plan on taking photos of her frequently so when she gets big I can see how she's grown. I really hope it's a she, it's too young to tell right now plus medusa would be a sweet name if it's a girl.

 

[bman123]

I wish I would of got her when she was all black and white, her color is really pretty if it goes the way it looks now she's gonna be a real looker when she's a adult. I know snows are a favorite here on the forum, they are beautiful animals.

When I saw her I knew she was coming home with me.

 

[GeckoGathering]

Snows, Ahaaa Yes.

Pin worm concentration in the cricket is caused
from an uneaten cricket that eats the gecko poo
containing more pin worms.
I vacuum uneaten ones out.
With 1 or so tanks you could hand catch them.
Take care. HJ

 

[bman123]

I only put them in like 6 at a time and I never put any in if the Leo has made a mess in the tank. I leave the crickets in for 15minutes max, if the Leo hasn't eaten them by 15minutes then I take them out and put them back into the critter keeper with the rest of the crickets..

I never leave food in the cage for that to happen and I'm the poo inspector lol I like the leos cage to be clean. That's why I used the tile because leos normally go in the same spot so it's super easy for me to see the poo on the tile and it's super easy to just take out that piece of tile and clean it.

Yeah I only have one 20gal long tank with that Mack snow in it she's my only Leo..

 

[bman123]

I wonder how long it's gonna take for her to settle in and realize I'm not a big mean monster, I'm the nice monster that gives her food. I was outside smoking and I came back inside. She was in the middle of the tank and as soon as she saw me she ran full speed back to her hot hide.

I'm glad she is actually coming out to explore the tank, she has alot of room in that 20gal long all by herself. It feels weird going from a 9 3/4 inch fat raptor to a four inch skinny baby Mack snow. It's a huge difference for sure but I'm lovin it.

 

[bman123]

I'm not worried about holding her that will come later, I want her to properly settle in, eat good and start to explore the tank and get comfortable at her own pace..

Once she doesn't run away from me anymore then I will eventually put my hand in her tank and let her come to me when she is ready, I know she will sooner or later, the last thing I want to do is to stress her out by putting my hands all in her face lol...

 

[STUTFL]

Hm - sort of unrelated note, I wonder if leos react to the scent of smoke the way some seem to with perfumes, etc. Mine was not thrilled when I tried to say hi to him after peeling an orange. :laugh:

 

[onemodog]

Congrats on your new leo.
We have had our leo for a month exactly and yesterday was the first time I saw him crawling on top of his hides and doing more exploring, so it may be awhile before yours is out and about too. Our leo had come out of its hide before but I had never seen it explore the other areas like yesterday...though it may have explored at night.

 

[STUTFL]

When I got my leo he was an adult and more or less used to being handled, and he remained in the tank that he'd lived in for years before - but he would have nothing to do with me or the world outside his log hide for several days. :laugh: If it weren't for his little spotty tail sticking out I wouldn't have known he was in the cage - thus his full name, Spotted Thing Under The Fake Log.

 

[bman123]

She will poke her head out of her hide and if no one is looking she might come out, as soon as she sees me or my daughter looking at her she high tails it back into the hide. I'm sure it will take awhile to adjust, she was housed in a 6qt tub now she's in a 20long. It looks like a mansion with her in it.

I have the background on the back and sides of the tank hoping it helps ease her in to her née home. She's been in the hot hide all day, I haven't seen her once today..

 

[bman123]

I want her to come out on her own so I can see her color and pattern change. By the time she comes out on her own she's gonna look like a different gecko. I haven't messed with her at all, she's scared enough as it is I don't want to make it any worse by messing with her.

I wonder if she will eat again today, I'm waiting for her to poke her head out the hide so I know she's awake..