is this right?

[andrew444]

hi im new to leopard geckos and wanted to make sure everything was alrite so this is my setup
40 gallon tank
repti carpet
3 hides 2 moist hides
digital thermometer on warm and cool side
a red bulb with dimmer to adjust temps
uth ofcoarse
water dish food dish and calcium dish
driftwood
and then the leopard gecko


as for feeding i feed crickets dusted with plain calcium i dust with d3 once a week i also keep plain calcium in his tank at all times....then for temps i keep the warm side 90-94 and the cool side 75-80...sound alright?

 

[5HiddenLizards]

Everything sounds good! Some people might object to the use of repti carpet, but just observe your gecko & make sure he doesn't seem to have any problems walking on it.



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[andrew444]

thanks and he seems to walk on it fine

 

[5HiddenLizards]

Oh, one more thing...how are you measuring the temperature of the UTH? Does the thermometer have a probe?



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[OnlineGeckos]

Looks like you got it all setup right. Next time when you are going to clean the tank fully, probably in a month or two, look to see if you can replace the repti carpet with slate or ceramic tiles. They will make your tank look a lot more natural, a lot easier to clean, absolutely no impaction risk, and your leopard geckos won't get the teeth & toes caught on the carpet.

 

[andrew444]

yep the probe is taped to the carpet

 

[andrew444]

i was thinking about getting tile but i was worried it wouldnt be warm enough

 

[OnlineGeckos]

It conducts heat very well, even though it does seem thicker than the carpet

Your repti carpet will do just fine for now, don't worry about it too much. I used repti carpet for almost 2 months before I switched to slate tiles. It was disheartening to see my leopard geckos get their teeth stuck on the carpet while they ate. It didn't hurt them though. But the ease of cleaning is night & day when changing from carpet to tiles.

 

[andrew444]

i havent seen his nails or teeth get stuck. but i do feed him with tongs

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Yeah that helps, but there are also horror stories of geckos losing toes if they can't get unstuck. So it's a chance you'll have to take by using repti carpet.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not happening. Not only is it a PIA to keep clean, but repti-carpet harbors a lot of nasty bacteria that washing doesn't kill.

 

[andrew444]

Then ill buy tile tommarow I wouldnt want to take any risks...if you feed crickets how much do I feed mine a day. I feed 5 small/medium sized crickets.

 

[TranceZ]

Paper towels work great just to let you know

 

[andrew444]

Forgot to mention hes a juvie.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Then ill buy tile tommarow I wouldnt want to take any risks...if you feed crickets how much do I feed mine a day. I feed 5 small/medium sized crickets.

That sounds like a good amount. You'll get used to it and get a feel of how much they eat soon enough.

 

[andrew444]

should i put sand under the ceramic tile?

 

[artes]

I have my tile sitting just on the glass, and it conducts heat fine. One tip - if your gecko has one corner that he/she goes to the bathroom on, get a smaller tile cut to sit on that corner. That way, you can just remove the one small tile to clean daily, and just do a full cage clean once a week, or every other week, as needed. It makes life a lot easier.

 

[andrew5859]

I have my tile sitting just on the glass, and it conducts heat fine. One tip - if your gecko has one corner that he/she goes to the bathroom on, get a smaller tile cut to sit on that corner. That way, you can just remove the one small tile to clean daily, and just do a full cage clean once a week, or every other week, as needed. It makes life a lot easier.

I do the exact same thing except I use a piece of paper towel and it works like a charm! If only my two bratty girls didnt go in their hot side hide and my male didnt miss the towel every week :wall: Its a good thing I have other geckos that actually value the things I give them lol

 

[Kat&Rin]

yah, I used repti-carpet for quite a few months....then one day Rin got her toes stuck pretty good and I'd had enough. Tiles all the way now And I figure that if the power went out for a couple hours the tile would retain at least a bit of heat for a lot longer then the carpet so thats another plus in my opinion

When I first got Rin she would sit by the mealworm bowl and chow down...I swear she was such a pig. She'd down a good 10 mealies in the space of five minutes and then come back half an hour later for more XD I'm shocked she didn't explode lol. She's settled down now so I wouldn't worry about overfeeding a juvie. They need lots of food to grow.