Leopard Gecko Owners, Please Help

[mira_kaylee]

So I was originally under the impression that I was going to be getting Crested Geckos, but as part of my researching the species that I was going to get, I obviously wanted to at least look at the real thing before committing. I went to 3 local pet stores, holding any geckos that caught my fancy at all 3 (whether I was planning on buying that breed or not). I found that I was absolutely in love with the Leopard Geckos rather than the Crested Geckos....as such I have decided that I want a Leopard Gecko instead. I have 3 questions that I feel would be best answered by someone who actually owns a Leopard Gecko, so if anyone could help me out I would be most grateful

1.) I would very much appreciate a detailed breakdown of your enclosure. Since the gecko that I will be getting is roughly the length of my index finger, I will be starting out in a 10gal glass tank. I have heard many different opinions regarding substrate and heating, and would like some experienced advice on the subjects please.

2.) About how much do you spend on mealworms a month? (Crickets are so cheap that the price isn't even worth putting into a budget) If you feel that you cannot estimate the price, then could you perhaps guess as to the amount that is eaten by one Leopard Gecko? If the gecko is an adult then these estimates would still be useful as they would help me figure out how much to expect for the future when he gets bigger.

3.) Do you/ how often do you mist your Leopard Geckos? While mine will obviously have a water dish, I don't want them to dehydrate.

Preemptive thank you's to all who respond ^0^

 

[Star1]

1) My enclosures all have paper towels since they're easy to clean and I have 9 geckos. But they're also safer because you don't have to worry about them ingesting them. I've heard tiles work well and thought about trying them but I haven't got around to it. I have at least 3 hides in each enclosure... One on the hot side over my under tank heater that's set at around 85 degrees and covers 1/3-1/2 of the tank. You'll need a thermostat with that because otherwise it's going to be way too hot. One hide on the cool side, then a humid hide also on the hot side. Mine are bowls with holes cut in the covers filled with wet coco fiber from the pet store. You can also use wet moss or paper towels in the humid hide. Moss seems to mold faster than the coco fiber and paper towels dry out too fast for my liking. I only use under tank heaters because they need belly heat to digest and they don't need lights, in fact bright lights can stress them. You should have a thermometer with a probe to put it right where the heat is, those stick on the glass ones are useless because they only give you the temperature on the glass, and that's not where your gecko is going to be spending time.Water dish is on the cool side and I usually keep the mealworms right on the edge of the cool side and warm side because they seemed lethargic on the cool side when it started getting colder for winter. Cool side should be around 70 degrees.

2) When I only had 1 gecko I was going through about $15-20 worth of mealworms a month, it depends how much your pet store charges and the size of your gecko though. I started breeding them to save money.

3) I have never misted any of my geckos. As long as you have the humid hide to help with shedding they don't need it.

 

[maverickgrl79]

1. i have natural slate tiles in my tanks with reptile sand to fill the small cracks so no toes get stuck. the slate is easy to clean it keeps toe nails filed down and conducts heat well. i have a water bowl, a small bowl of calcium , decor, and hides. i use heat mat and night heat bulb with a warm side and a cool side. moist hide for shedding.
2. i currently have 9 Leos, 3 are mine 6 are fosters, i buy 1000 mealworms a month give or take costs me 25 bucks, i also supplement crickets and dubia roaches.
3. i have moist hide for shedding but when i see my leos out and about and they are obviously shedding i mist them. they seem to like it.

 

[Caleb C]

1. I use reptile carpet, some people hate it, the only downside of it to me is that the fibers sometimes get caught on their nails/claws, it's no big deal to me.
2. Seems to me other people are overpaying for mealworms. You can buy from online vendors at 1,000 mealworms for $10 shipped. I breed my own, and I sell them locally for dirt cheap/free. The only cost for me is the wheat bran and the vegetables. I recently read online that they can survive with barely any moisture, so i'm keeping a bin in the garage with wheat bran. The ones I keep indoors grow faster, since it's always 70+ degrees, and they're fed all the time. Mealworms can also be refrigerated to slow them down significantly. If you're only getting one leo, i'd get out around 20-30 mealworms at a time, and feed them in a little container, which raises their nutritional value before your leo eats them. They will usually eat more mealworms as a juvenile/baby, as they're growing and much more active, they eat around 4 a day. Once they get old, they get lazy, and will probably eat 3-4 a day/every other day.
Breeding mealworms is easy once you get the hang of it, you just need a plastic rack, like the sterilite ones, with at least 3-4 layers.
3. They don't really need humidity in their enclosure, but lots of people mist them anyway. I mist mine around once or twice a week.

 

[mira_kaylee]

This is going to sound kind of bad, but I don't like handling bugs/ worms anymore than I need to, so my question is this - If I got like a gallon ice cream container (a little bigger if i needed to) and filled it like half full of oatmeal/ veggies, put the meal worms in and then put food in there every few days would they kind of just maintain themselves until it was time for me to pull out a mealworm and feed it to my gecko? As in would they keep breeding and making more mealworms like that?

 

[Caleb C]

Nope, they turn into pupae, then they turn into beetles. So in a way, a mealworm is like a caterpillar. They will survive if you put them in a container and fed them though. The easiest substrate for the mealworms is wheat bran, it's much smaller, and you can sieve them out. If you don't like touching them, get forceps.

 

[Eve Saint]

Yeah I feed my Leopard geckos the mealworms or other worms with these long tweezers that I bought from the pet store. Sometimes they love to grab the worm right from the tweezer!

 

[mira_kaylee]

I shall probably invest in one of those, at least in the beginning >.>

 

[Star1]

I didn't like touching them at first either but now I don't really care. Mealworms are the only bugs I've gotten used to touching though. I still won't touch the beetles.

 

[mira_kaylee]

Well, the way i look at it I fell in love with the gecko, not the bug, so it's okay if i keep buying the bugs rather than breeding them lmfao.

 

[Geckomaster743]

Hahahaha, Heres what i got for ya. From the day I got my Leopard gecko i was a bit Hesitant but i knew that the gecko has to eat so i put my fear behind me, Mealworms are much easier to feed and you get over it real easy though your not going to get over crickets or the mealworm beetles. So just keep Mealworms in the fridge ( NOT FREEZER ) because they hibernate, If you keep them for a while make sure to toss in a potato in there for water ( Moist potato ) and make sure that the mealies have at least 5 Min each day to move around and eat, ( I don't enslave my worms because I would feel horrible if i was bred to die so I try to let them move around, Eat, Drink that sort of think. I may seem like an over sensitive person but I put every thing in my position to understand what they would probably feel like. ) For substrate I used Reptile carpet though Tile and Paper towel work. I prefer Reptile carpet though at times they may snag there mouthes on it though they get used to not doing that, Paper towel gets expensive and you have to use alot of it and it just some times gets messy ( I have a Leopard gecko on paper towel and 5 On carpet ). NEVER USE SAND. You will impact you gecko and it will die. Nothing you can do if it gets impacted but the vet, Its not a good situation to be in at all. For mealworm costs I pay around 10 - 20$ A month because some geckos eat the Giant mealworms, I may pay in advance for the next months mealworms, Some times Athena has to get her tail a bit fatter so I feed Wax worms in Moderation. Breeding is dirt cheap in all like Caleb said but I don't know about smell and the extra work thats why I buy mine. Mealworm breeding tends to get messy some times if your not clean and you have to sort Worms from the beetles and then Baby worms from the Normal worms. Gets really annoying. Every enclosure must carry a Hiding spot, Water bowl, 10 Gallons worth of Space at least for a happy gecko. Keeping them in small cramped boxes is prison, I would rather you don't get a gecko. Some professionals do it and they meet some standards like space,Heat,Hiding,food and I'm fine with that but don't do it if you can afford the cage. Please. Just trust me you don't even really get to see the gecko, It wont be as easy to tame blah blah blah. Misting isn't as necessary but only do it when they are in shed. Don't mist the geckos but the walls of the cage. I like Heat lights and Heat pads but I use all heat lights because I didn't know that Heat pads are better though its much easier to see your gecko. Though you can still see your gecko with out heat lights and well basically Heat pads are important because they need Belly head for digestion. So that will get important a lot later.

Heres a Sum up of all this.
Leopard Gecko:
Substrate: Reptile Carpet ( I Prefer ), Papertowel ( Ok, I dont like it as much ), Tile ( Sounds cool, Never Tried it.)
Sand ( NEVER. USE. IT NO SAND)

Food: Mealworms - Giant Mealworms ( Only for Full Size Leopard geckos that are 2,3 Years+ Should be atleast half the length of your arm when eating Giants, Mealworms are best for all sizes of geckos but some times bigger Geckos need bigger worms. Search up to see what a Giant Gecko or Full Size gecko looks like before feeding them Giant, They can choke and throw up. )

Space: 10 Gallons Minimum Per Gecko. 20 Gallons can hold 3, Make sure those geckos are good with each other.

Handling: DONT GRAB THE TAIL OR HEAD, Tail will fall off and its not as amazing when it grows back. Its just a blob, Not much of a colorful tail any more. Did i mention your gecko can get an infection and DIE?

Breeding: If your a beginner dont do it, It gets exciting and I know the feeling once you find out but at that point you would be moving too fast. Ive had my 6 geckos for 2 Years and I seriously dont want to breed because of Space,Time,Care,Bills, Death of Geckos because of Birth defects... Blah Blah Blah there are a lot of reasons why and take me seriously. Breeding is better for people who have 5+ Geckos, Know EVERY thing about breeding, Have Equip, Space, The time ( Feeding all those mouthes gets you busy, I spend an 20 Min to an Hour trying to get these 6 Geckos to eat some times.

Heating: Heat pads work great and give belly heat which is very IMPORTANT and its more of a One time payment thing because you will always be buying bulbs from the store over and over for heat lights..

Information: Dont take Information from Pet's Mart, Pet Co, Pet land, There are employes probably know less then you. * SHOCKER *. Forums are you best shot at good information. Such as this one

Care and Devotion: A Gecko is a Responsibility, Once you get one theres no going back. If your giving it away make sure its going to home where it will be happy. Not to some 4 Year old who will toss it in the toilet. Please
Geckos can feel pain and they can feel happy and will get attached to you. Good luck! Im sure your going to love geckos like I do

 

[mira_kaylee]

0.0 That was brief (for being a bottomline-gecko care sheet), to the point and incredibly helpful. Thank you.

 

[Geckomaster743]

No problem, I could have gone on for ages but thats what you need to know now!

 

[mira_kaylee]

Lol I agree, thank you