meet Maynard, my first leopard gecko!

[katia]

so yesterday i FINALLY got a leopard gecko! i'm not sure if it's a male or female, but it is called Maynard regardless. only time will tell! before i put him into his viv to settle in i got the chance to snap a few photos! so here's what you all wanna see...

and the last one is a picture of his viv. however i've since taken the big plant out and just suctioned it to the outside back of the viv because the crickets were hiding in it.

oh and a question, are leos big climbers? i ALWAYS find maynard at the very tip top of his bushes, i was not aware they were climbers!

 

[syntheticreality]

They aren't really climbers, they are ground dwellers, so be careful he doesn't fall. He probably cant get hurt at that distance and wont fall anyway, but just keep an eye on him.

He's very cute though and your vivarium looks great!

Is his name Maynard because you are a TOOL fan?

 

[capoeirajosh]

Congradulations!! He is a cute little guy or girl, hahaha. = )

 

[katia]

yep, maynard because i'm a TOOL fan! i'd been waiting to name something maynard FOREVER!

 

[LZRDGRL]

welcome + tip for little climber

Hey,

Welcome to the forum!

My leos are big climbers, too, but they don't manage the hanging plastic plants very well... There's an alternative: buy a Habi Scape rock wall, http://www.herpsupplies.com/product.cfm?groupid=13287&id=SPT1005
and attach it to the back of your glass vivarium with a few drops of silicone (the one that's good for aquariums, because that's not poisonous). These rock walls are a kind of soft styrofoam that you can easily cut with a kitchen knife to fit the shape to your tank. I always cut a hole in to fit the cable for my water fountain through. I usually buy a 20 gallon-sized rock wall which costs $20. The geckos like to climb on it, and bask on the little platforms on top. That's why I always leave about four inches of space between the top and the rock wall platform.

Here, you see my Kira and Nikita doing it on the platform

Greetings,

Chrissy

 

[gecko geek]

nice leo and setup

 

[gage]

awsome setup

 

[Halley]

nice

 

[SubNoiZe]

nice looking setup, and to lzrdgrl; thanks for the link for the rock wall!

 

[fallen_angel]

LOL we are the biggest Tool fans around, very nice name and gecko :evil:

 

[katia]

aw thanks for the tip about the rock wall, i actually have a HUGE piece of that styrofoam rock wall because i bought a 50 gallon exo terra viv for one oy my cornsnakes and it came with that background, but i don't use it.

i don't know if i want to put it in maynards viv though because he is still on 3 week crickets, so they could probably get behind it and get trapped and die. and i'm sure you all know that dead crickets STIIIIIINK!

which brings me to a question, what size prey items should i be feeding, i read that it should be no longer than the geckos head, and no wider than the space in between their eyes. which means he could probably be on 4 or 5 week crickets, but they jsut seem so big!

 

[LZRDGRL]

glue rock wall to tank...

Hi Katia,

I've had this problem with the crickets trying to climb behind the rock wall, but I solved it by gluing it on with aquarium silicone, so there's no big gap to hide behind any more

HOWEVER, one has to be precise when cutting the rock wall to fit the back wall size of the vivarium - if it is only 1 cm too short on the edges, the crickets will hide there, and the geckos will have a hard time eating them!

I also believe that the crickets that do fall behind the wall dry up and don't stink much when they are dead. Only the crickets that give up their ghosts in my water fountain stink like....

Greetings,

Chrisi

 

[MischiefManaged]

Katia,
Maynard is adorable and I love the viv! You did a great job decorating it.
Also...from the looks of it, Maynard looks kinda girly! :main_thumbsup: Time will tell soon enough, but if you got Maynard from a pet store, chances are good that its a girl (many breeders who sell to pet stores tend to TS for female since males need to be separated = inconvenience for the pet store).
If you are worried about the stink, mess, and noise that crickets make, you could feed Maynard a staple diet of gutloaded mealworms...it really simplifies things. My oldest gecko is approaching her late teens and has stayed healthy on a diet of superworms, mealworms, some waxworms, and an occasional pink mouse. Once Maynard is big enough, superworms are a nice option since they are active (attract gecko's attention), odorless, and large (your gecko needs less per week to keep her well fed).
Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Morph]

Awesome name and leo !!!



TOOL!!!!

 

[leonut]

the size of the food should be roughly 2/3 the size of the head. congrats on the new leo!