Leo questions

[bman123]

His hides are fine with those containers I bought they are short and he fits in there good. He does poke his head out the hole all the time to see what's going on. He shed fine everything came off even to skin on his toes. I bought him a small rock water bowl it was only $4.

I wanted a small one so it don't take up much space so it works good. He has room
to move around now with the smaller hide. He can use the hide on the hot side or just lay on the hot side now so that's better I think. He has a fair bit of roo
to move around and he pushes his hides and turns them how he wants.

I just laugh at him and let him arrange it the way he likes. He has to live there not me so I let him re arange his stuff. He loves his little castle thing. He climbs all over it, hides behind it, climbs thru it and used it to shed tonight.

I think he is getting comfy now he hasn't moved his hide except when he shed. I thought it was pretty cool how he moved his hide so he could use it and the castle to shed. I think the rubbermaid to go containers were a good idea. They are light and he can move them how he wants to.

 

[bman123]

His tail is fine, it was a piece of shed skin that was loose. I can't really handle him so it lookEd like a cut. It's fine tho I was just worried over nothing. When I try to handle him he won't stay still so I couldn't really look at it good enough. He is so much brighter now too. I can really see his orange and yellow plus his high white sides.

I am gonna take pics tomorrow with a camera and hopefully use my
moms pc and post pics of him. With the camera I can get good pics. I want you guys to see him and see how long his tail is. He is all tail, his tail is longer then his body.

 

[bman123]

The light in the room isn't that bright so I don't think it should affect him too much. He has never hunted his own food, not even once. It's always been in his bowl. I would love to see him chase after his food but I don't think he will.

I will try to toss his food in next feeding and see if he goes after it or not. I hand fed him today and he missed every worm I gave him. That's why I thought that maybe him having that red eye messes with his sight.

 

[CallDr]

I found that while the wether was cold then hot then cold..... it changed their habits, feeding and pooping. Heat on at night and air cond on during the day..lol. For what ever reason being able to thermoregulate without any drastic changes seems to be the trick. Air temp is just as important as the floor. It has to due with their "core" temp. You see this all the time in the spring-summer when you start seeing reptiles.

The so called adjustment I have seen is getting adjusted to your "climate" in your home with some regular up and downs. They will roam around at night when you are not looking. It's the day or night time when you start to notice the "change" in activity.

Feeding has been a hit or miss for me. I feed what they will take each day. If they show no interest in food.... than I skip that day. You will defiantly see they are interested with the first feeder. I never leave crickets in the tank over night,

Tile is cheap. For just a few bucks it will cover your tank. I use a layer of rep carpet under my tile..... i'm using a Zoo Med and they can get on the Hot side if you don't watch it. Did you say you had a 20 Long? If so all you need is 2 12x12 and 2 6x6 tiles. Just get the natural and not the slick finish.

 

[STUTFL]

Sometimes it seems their accuracy's a little better when the prey's out of striking distance and they walk over to it ... mine has missed and gotten my hand when I hold things too close. :laugh:

 

[bman123]

No I have a 20 tall not a 20long. I like the tile it looks alot better then newspaper.
Got another question also. When I went to the petstore today to get calcium powder everything had d3 in it. I couldn't find anything without d3 in it to leave in his cage at all times.

This was a real pet store and I looked at everything. I ended up getting reptocal which is calcium +d3. Can I leave it in the tank at all times and use to dust feeders?
Alot of other stuff said to dust with it every time, I thought it was overkill to use it everytime you feed. The reptocal says to use 2 times a week. He will only eat 3 times a week probably so I figured to use it every other feeding to dust with.

Please let me know what you think about this. I saw in the suplementation section there was a big debate about it. Please let me know what you think about the product I got as it has d3 in it. Thanks again

 

[CallDr]

The majority of what I read is to keep the non-d3 in the tank at all times and thats what I did. So you might have to buy it on line.

The Tile issue can be solved if you take exact measurement or what I did was just get some of the rubber tile you can cut and make an exact pattern to fit your tank. Then go back and use the pattern to get the right tiles or have them cut them for you.

My 15 gal is 12x24...... so it took 6"tiles to fit.

 

[Taquiq]

Yep I had to buy my Calcium without d3 online. I keep the non d3 in the tanks and dust with the d3's.

 

[bman123]

I think my 20tall is 12x24 also. How much did the tile cost you and where did you get it. The tile makes the tank look so nice, thus newspaper has got to go lol.

 

[Tony C]

bman.... I went through a lot of pet store hides and by far the Exo Terra MED! is the best I have found!

That is what I use for my leos.

 

[CallDr]

I think my 20tall is 12x24 also. How much did the tile cost you and where did you get it. The tile makes the tank look so nice, thus newspaper has got to go lol.

If your is 12x24 then get the tile that has the rounded corners. Cost 3 bucks? I got mine at Lowes. But I assume Home Depot would have the same but maybe a different name brand?

 

[CallDr]

I think my 20tall is 12x24 also. How much did the tile cost you and where did you get it. The tile makes the tank look so nice, thus newspaper has got to go lol.

I would stay away from news paper and cardboard. Or any material that has ink and is manufactured with chemicals that are or can be toxic.

 

[bman123]

I paid $2.50 for 4 hides by getting those rubbermaid ones they work good, and they are cheap.

 

[bman123]

If your is 12x24 then get the tile that has the rounded corners. Cost 3 bucks? I got mine at Lowes. But I assume Home Depot would have the same but maybe a different name brand?

$3 for all that tile or $3 a piece of tile

 

[bman123]

The lowes website runs like crap on my iPhone. I'm gonna go look at some tomorrow. Showed around 50cents a piece of tile. I will get some play sand too while I'm there. Just so I can fill in any cracks between the tiles. A bag that covers 5cubic foot is only $3.28 I'm gonna be around home depot and lowes tomorrow anyway.

How come out of nowhere my thread turned into a pimp my geckos house ordeal? JK it looks alot nicer with the tile.

 

[bman123]

Not to mention cleanup would be a breeze.

 

[bman123]

Ok here is a question for you guys. My Leo woke up about half a hour ago. He has been scratching the inside of the cool hide for 20minutes. It's not scratching itself but it's scratching the inside of the hide. The hide is bare nothing is inside it. Why would a Leo scratch the inside of it's hide of nothing is in there?

The Leo is said to be a male, I just wonder now if there was a mix up. How can I tell if my raptor is male or female? I will check it tomorrow for sure. Seems like it's nesting but nothing is in the hide. I don't know if I should put some moss in that hide and get it damp just incase he's a she and she lays a egg or something.

I never seen a prego Leo In person so I don't know what to look for or how their pregnant cycle works. He pooped this morning, ate and shed today if that matters.

 

[STUTFL]

Most gravid leos I've seen with fully-developed eggs in them have looked pretty "bulgy" :laugh:, but who knows.
However, mine digs from time to time without any intention of laying eggs. :tongue3:
Maybe he didn't quite finish out his shed yet?

An adult male should have two "bulges" and a v-shaped line of clearly-visible, waxy pores under the tail. If you don't want to hold him upside-down to check this, just set him in a clear plastic container and look from underneath.

 

[STUTFL]

As for calcium, dusting every other week should be fine if your leo isn't growing, gravid, or otherwise in need of a calcium boost and you have the calcium dish.

I'd say if you do order online, leave the calcium with D3 in there at least while you wait for the other stuff to arrive.

 

[bman123]

It's a he I looked. It was just weird to see him do that. It looked like he was trying to make a nest. I'm gonna get tile today hopefully.

His cool side temps are getting a little low and i don't know why. Room temp is 76-78 his cool temp is down to 74 hot side at 91.

I'm gonna get a lamp and red heat bulb today so I can keep his cool side temps good. With it being a 20gal tall tank do you think I need a 50 or 75 watt red heat bulb? I think a 50 watt will be fine but i will listen to what you think lol..