Just General Questions About My LG

[JuliaF]

First off, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I looked everywhere and on the threads that looked like it might be for these kinds of questions I couldn't find a post button.

I've had my Leopard Gecko "Toothless O'Malley" (my 4 year old named her when we thought she was a boy) for about 5-6 months now. She's very calm and sweet, she's never lunged at me and seems to love just sitting on her warming rock and watching me type at my computer. I've done quite a bit of research on what I should be doing to be a proper reptile owner, but I still only know the basics. I can't find any sites that can tell me how old she is, when or if she'll produce eggs without a male, or what her lifespan will be with good care. All of the sites conflict with each other.

I bought her at +++++ and they told me she was only a few weeks old, at the time she was about 3 inches. But they also told me to use coconut fiber for substrate which I learned a few days after is not good for baby geckos because it can cause blockage in her stomach (we promptly switched to a fake grass but I can't remember the name of it.) so I'm not sure if I can trust them on that. She's shed about once every 2-3 weeks since we've had her, but it's slowed down since the weather has cooled off, is that normal or should I be worried?

I've got a few pictures of her, I'm not worried about her morph, but I'm pretty sure she's a standard Mack Snow because I've read that that's all +++++ sells.

The first two pictures are when we first got her, the last two are from today. She measures 6 1/4 inches as of today, is that a normal growth rate for her? 3 inches in 5-6 months?






Can anyone tell how old she might be from the pictures? Also, how old do LG live in captivity with proper care?

Does she look healthy? I try really hard not to overfeed her and make sure she gets a little exercise when she hunts, but I don't know how big her tail should be before she's overweight. She eats mealworms on a daily basis, crickets every few days, and a giant superworm once a week, all are live because she has no interest in dead ones. The local petstores don't sell waxworms/silkworms/etc, I've checked; the only place to buy them is online and I don't know who to trust when it comes to that. What good sites does anyone know that can deliver to Texas?
One of the reptile guys at +++++ told my husband LG can eat red wigglers as well, but I don't want to feed her something without evidence that it won't hurt her.

Also, if you were terrified of being bitten, how did you overcome that fear? I have yet to actually hold her in my hand because I'm afraid she'll bite me and get hurt because I'll jerk away (I've read it can break their jaw), and I don't want to stress her out and make her lose her tail...I'd feel so horrible if I did that...but I have pet her and she seems to enjoy it, she's licked me and rubbed against me, but she isn't interested in climbing into my hand which is the only way I'd feel comfortable handling her. Also to any who might ask, when cleaning time comes I wait until she crawls into her hide (a small solid black tupperware dish that I cut a hole into) then I lift the hide and put it into an empty tank, then clean her enclosure, when done I put the hide back and she comes out. Lately though she's begun climbing to the top of her little rock cave and trying to reach the top of the tank, as well as standing on her hind legs and trying to climb up the glass tank walls, does that mean she wants to explore or something? Is she curious? Does she want my attention?

Thanks for any answers/info you can provide

 

[JessJohnson87]

All in all she looks healthy and not over-weight by any means. As far as age, I could not tell you. Unless you know the specific hatch date, telling age is almost impossible. Based on the pictures from when you got her, she looks to be more than a few weeks old, hatchlings generally have bands with no spots. I would say she was probably a couple of months old when you got her and is now around probably 8-10 months. Maybe someone else will chime in on this.

Egg production will happen when she's ovulating, which is hard to tell. She will either lay dud eggs or absorb them. Just make sure she's getting calcium with D3. Leopard Geckos can live up to 20 years under proper husbandry. Mullberry farms and coastal silkworms are good places to get silkworms/hornworms and they do ship them. Leopard geckos don't usually bite when threatened or scared, most of the time they will make noises when they're scared or just scurry off. I've only ever been bitten once and it was because he thought my finger was food. Wall climbing can indicate that she's uncomfortable with something in her environment. Either it's too hot/cold, a new hide, lights can stress them out or they're just trying to escape. I have 3 of the 4 sides of my tank covered in a background or black construction paper and mine doesn't wall climb anymore, unless he's too cold.

 

[JuliaF]

Oh ok thank you! I'm happy she looks good lol. I do gut load the insects before I feed her, I bought Pep-Cal Calcium with Vit.D is what the little container says, she also has a little dish with the powder in it that she sticks her tongue in and "eats" it a few times a week. I've heard that they do better with under tank heaters, but I can't find one with an adjustable heat setting and I don't want her to get too hot, right now she has a red "night" bulb that I use 24/7 on one half of her tank. I tried using a day bulb as well, but she didn't seem to like it too much so I use it for my venus fly trap terrarium instead. She's in a 10gal, the pet store said that should be fine even when she's fully grown, but I plan on upgrading her later this month since she's getting pretty long, I'm just not sure if she'd like more room right now, but it can't hurt right?

What should I do with eggs if she does lay some? I don't plan on breeding her until I know more about LG, it looks like a lot of work for a beginner and I don't feel comfortable bringing babies LG into the world unless I have the means to care for them, or homes for them to go to.

Do LG need any sort of mental stimulation other than hunting? I've seen all sorts of things at a big chain petstore that claims "your lizard will love playing with this!" and my husband feels like stuff like that are just scam items. She does enjoy chasing a laser pointer, and I reward her with a small head rub when she "catches" it, is that ok or should I stop? I've never had a reptile before and have been told doing that is stupid/cruel by friends and family.

She's never made any noise before, so I guess I'm doing something right. But I will try adding construction paper to her tank to see if that helps, do you think that bedding I'm using for her could be aggravating her? I've read you can use newspaper and paper towels, but I was worried about the ink getting on her when I mist while she's shedding. I use a wet washcloth in her hide to help with that as well and she seems to enjoy the feel of that.

 

[JessJohnson87]

If you're going to leave calcium in the tank, make sure it has no D3. Too much D3 can cause reverse MBD, right now I would just stick with weekly dustings if you're gut-loading the insects. I have my adult male in a 20 gallon long and he thinks that he's hot stuff. I use ceramic tile as my substrate but some people do use the reptile carpet with no problems. Once you upgrade the tank, I would put like some driftwood or something like that in there. Mine will climb on his hides and lay down on the driftwood. Some people put paper towel/ toilet paper rolls in their tanks for them to "explore." Leopards are generally chill lizards, I take mine out to run around on the couch or bed for exercise. I would leave the laser pointer to cats, the laser can hurt their eyes if you accidentally shine it in there. I have wash cloths under both of my dry hides, he will not sleep in his dry hides without one. I use moss for my moist hide so he uses that as a bed when he goes in there.

With under the tank heaters, you will need to get a thermostat. I use a hydrofarm thermostat with my heat pad. You can discard the eggs if she does lay them. I've only ever had one female lizard and she laid one dud egg, I threw it out.

 

[JuliaF]

All right, taking the bowl out now to rinse. Thanks so much. I did put a branch in there at one point for her, but she didn't care for it, I'll try again, maybe she wants a thicker one...no more laser pointer. I was looking at the site you recommended for insects, how does your lizard react to hornworms? I've never seen one in real life, but the pictures I've looked at show that they grow to be pretty big. Do I have to worry about her choking on one? She handles 2 inch superworms pretty well, but they aren't nearly as fat as some of those hornworms. I was worried about using moss because I don't want her to eat it on accident, plus I don't want mold growing, what kind should I use? Should I boil (and of course cool) it before adding it to her tank?

 

[JessJohnson87]

If you get horworms under 2 inches, they can eat them. I got some for mine and he loves them, so much that when he ate one he actually shook his head side to side before gobbling it up. They're like a nutritious kind of gecko crack and full of moisture so the poops will be a bit runny. To keep them small, I put mine in a cooler with ice packs and kept it at about 55-60*, changed the ice packs morning and at night. Silkworms have a bit more complicated housing and heating requirements so I don't think I will be getting any of those any time soon. I put a paper towel roll in Ziggy's tank and he's been rolling around on it so I'll keep it in there for now.

I bought some kind of terrarium moss from a big box store, I've had it in his moist hide for a month or more and no mold. Eco-earth is good for moist hides to. I made my moist hide out of a tupperware type container and cut a hole in the side, so long as it's contained, it is fine. I had a cricket go in there one time and cringed when Ziggy snapped it up, but no moss hanging out of his mouth or in his poop.

 

[JuliaF]

Oh ok, I'll try to get some. So they're like superworms, only give them one every once in a while? I'll try the paper towel roll, I think she'll like that. That's how I made her moist hide, took a plastic box from a fast food place, cleaned it real good, put the lid on and cut a hole in it; she loves it. Guess I'll be making a trip to the local petstore this weekend. Thanks for all the answers and help!

 

[JessJohnson87]

I haven't gotten any hornworms lately, but when I had some, I fed one hornworm and like 2 roaches. I tried to only feed one a week, maybe 2. A pod of them has about 15 so they would last a while, only down side is they have to eat a special food since in the wild, they consume tomato or tobacco plants which are toxic if the worms are ingested. I fed mine Repashy Bug Burger and they seemed to liked it.

You're welcome! If you need anything else, feel free to ask

 

[JuliaF]

When should I start feeding her less? I know she has to eat everyday as a baby, but as an adult only a few times a week, are there any signs? So far she gobbles up anything she can catch so I've been feeding her daily.
And yeah, on the site they have the food, so i think my only problem will be keeping them from growing too fast, it's warm in my house, but too cold in my garage to store them. I'm not sure if my husband will want to buy a cooler just for the worms lol

 

[JessJohnson87]

I have 3 coolers laying around. A lunch box might work, I used one of my meat thermometers to monitor the temps in the cooler, it's the kind with a probe that has a cord that plugs into the box. I feed mine 3 times a week but I limit how much he eats. I'm not making the same mistake I made at Thanksgiving when I left him unattended with about 40 mealworms, he ate all but like 6! Pig...

You can start reducing the frequency of her feedings now, she seems healthy and chunky enough that it won't hurt her. She may not like it but she will get over it

 

[JuliaF]

Good grief lol, O'Malley is the same way, she'll eat all but a few mealworms and then they die and she won't touch them. But I'll start feeding her less since she looks good. I ordered some hornworms so we'll see how she likes those, do they explode when they get bitten into? They look so fat and I really don't want to have to scrub bug guts off of the tank walls lol.

 

[JessJohnson87]

[video=youtube;Y4R_S77DvbQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4R_S77DvbQ[/video]
I took that when I fed mine a hornworm.

 

[JuliaF]

Aw, he looks so happy! I'm not sure if O'Malley will be interested if it doesn't move a bit more...was it like a mealworm? It doesn't move too much until it gets warm? I can't wait to see if she'll like them though, and I'm glad it didn't pop lol.

 

[JessJohnson87]

That was actually the most violent he was with them. I haven't fed him any lately with the Holidays coming up. Will be gone during the week of Christmas so they would get up to 4 inches and turn into moths before we get back home, not going to ask our friend to babysit hornworms for me while I'm gone either. I will be getting him some more after the holidays are over with. I would rather feed those as a treat than wax worms.

 

[JuliaF]

What's wrong with wax worms? Are those the ones that look like maggots?

 

[JessJohnson87]

Yeah. They're nothing but pure fat, like the equivalent to us eating a quart of ice cream in one sitting. Hornworms are like eating carrots and celery with ranch dressing as a snack.

 

[JuliaF]

Oh wow, good thing I can't stand the sight of maggots, I've never bought them; only seen pictures. But now I have even more reason to avoid them lol. Thank you for all of your help though

 

[JessJohnson87]

They're actually a Wax moth larvae, they just look like maggots. Phoenix worms a Black Soldier Fly larvae, or maggots lol, but they're so nutritionally superior. Phoenix worms contain lot's of calcium and moisture but are low in fat, mine doesn't care for them much though.

 

[JuliaF]

Well, if I ever get over my fear I'll look into getting some. Unless my husband feels like feeding them to her lol

 

[JessJohnson87]

I can't stand roaches, but I put that aside to feed Ziggy one of the best low chitin feeders that live longer than stinky crickets do. I still won't pick them up with my bare fingers, I found a long plastic spoon that I use to scoop them out of the kritter keeper.