My first gecko

[franky_402]

hello everyone,

let me start off by telling you how i got the gecko then ill explain whats going on with him.

I currently own 2 green anoles at my house and my girlfriend wanted a lizard that you could hold occasionally so we went in search of a beardie or gecko. we decided to look on craigslist to see what we could find.

We ended up buying a supposed 3/yr blizzard gecko with his tank, a tree, the sand, water dish, and the red nightlight with the 6" lamp all for 40 dollars, seemed like a good deal for sure!!

We bring him/her?? home and have him set up in the tank the same way he was with the old owners. They were feeding him crickets that even i was afraid of, they were about twice the size of his head. so we took the remaining 3 out of the cage and went to the ******** down the road from us. Ive never had a gecko before so we took the advice of the employee there.

She was an iguana owner, and told us our little gecko needed a uv light for the daytime or he would die and also expressed to us that she doesnt think our gecko is 3/yrs old (btw i am doubting this as well) They were out of crickets so we bought the new light and went elsewhere and got some smaller crickets.

now ive been doing some research this morning and have since learned that since the gecko is a nocturnal animal that they do not like the uv lighting, Dang.. now here is where i need your guys help.

This morning we woke up to check on the gecko and noticed he wasnt in his little cave like he was before we had ever used the uv light. also this morning i had noticed that our little gecko has thrown up three undigested crickets. is this because of the uv lighting we were using for him?? Did he get sick from too much uv exposure?

We had the uv light on last night for about 4 hours and he was laying directly under the light on his own will. After a little while he moved under his tree and left his tail under the direct light and then he would go back out to the light. At around 10pm we turned off the uv light and switched to the red night light and everything seemed fine, he was walking around a little bit but still wasnt interested in the one cricket we dropped in there.

We switched the light back at 10am as to provide him with his 12hr cycles and thats when i noticed the throw up and lethargic attitude. So i came online to read about him and just shut the uv light off and started this somewhat lengthy post.

Enclosure -

10 gallon tank
blue calci-sand
hide on cool side of tank
tree with hides inside directly under lamp
water dish in the center of the tank
nightlight is 100w
uv bulb that was purchased was a 50 watt
not sure of exact temps as we forgot to get a thermostat


Im thinking we should take back the uv light and exchange it for a small heating pad, but my question is what side should i have the pad on?? Should it be on the side with the hide or on the side with the lamp. Should i get him some waxworms or could he just be stressed from the move that is making him not wanting to eat?

we are also wanting to get the reptile carpet instead of the sand but on a limited budget at the moment is this a major concern or is it ok to wait a little while for this change??

I appreciate everyones help in advance and ill post up pictures of him yesterday when he was out. I dont have access to a scale so im not sure of his weight but his tail definitely looks skinny, and now after throwing up his lower abdomen is also pretty thin.


EDIT***

After writing this entire post with the uv light off he seems to be more active now, he is walking around now and he keeps opening his mouth like he is trying to throw up. He his closing his eyes, opening his mouth really wide with is tongue sticking out and will wiggle his head back and forth pretty fast. why is he throwing up?? is he not in the right temps or did he over feed himself or can he not digest that big of a cricket. I dont know whats going on exactly and my gf is scared for her little gecko!!

 

[Mel&Keith]

Improper housing, stress, eating too much at one time, and illness can all cause regurgitation. It looks like you're on the right track as far as fixing the housing problems.

Definitely take the light back and swap it for an under tank heater. Usually they prefer to have their hide on the side with the heat mat but you can also put another hide on the other side. He will also need a humid hide but you can make this yourself out of a margarine container with the side cut out. Just place a moist paper towel inside and you're good to go.

If you want to go ahead and get rid of the sand you can use paper towels. An alternative to reptile carpet is tile. The hardware store will usually even cut it to the size you need for free and it's easier to clean.

Make sure you grab a probe thermometer at the pet store if you don't already have one. The strips or gauges that stick on the side don't work very well and you really need to know the temperature on the floor of the tank on the warmest spot.

Hopefully he's just been regurgitating from the stress of the UV light and the move to a new environment. The sooner you get the temperature corrected the sooner he'll start settling in. By the way, normal room lighting is enough to establish a day and night cycle. The only exception would be a basement or closet where there are no windows for light to peek through the curtains.

Good luck!

 

[fl_orchidslave]

In addition to what's already been said above, it's a good idea to leave it be for at least a week before handling, to let it get settled. If you take out the sand and replace with paper toweling, put it in a box of some kind while you fix things up. You will need to use supplements, calcium both with and without D3, and a multivitamin powder. A gatorade cap is great to put regular calcium in to leave in the tank. Check out the supplementation section on this forum for more info. Also, adults do not need to eat every day, every other day is fine. Usually they don't eat for a few days while settling in a new home.

 

[Dog Shrink]

In addition also to what's been said... leaving crickets in with your leo can cause him stress as well esp. if he's weak, inactive as it is. They can harass him, nibble him, and cause all sorts of problems. Also you might want to try to vary his diet a bit between super worms (if he's big enough) crickets, and the occasional wax worm as a treat. I give my leo 2 wax worms a week, and have him on a mon. weds. fri. feeding schedule. For example his dinner last night included vit. dusted, 3 meal worms, 1 super worm, and 1 wax worm. He usually walks away and goes back to his hide when he's full so if he had told me he was full I wound't have offered the wax worm, which is always the last bug I offer. He has eaten as many as 12 meal worms in 1 sitting with out regurging them, and was happy to eat the following scheduled feeding time.

I would absolutely trade in the UV light (and bless out the iguana girl for her ignorence) and get the Under tank heater and possibly a night light (sometimes called a moon light) to help suppliment heat if the mat falls short. For a 10 gallon tank I don't imagine you'd need much bigger than a 4x4-ish sized mat to provide the temp gradient he would need between hot and cold side. The fact that he is even out and exploring is a good thing. I use vinyl tile in my tank (my breeder said it would be fine), I wanted to go with a more natural look. You can look at the photo section there is a section devoted to "show us your set up" which could give you some great ideas. http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=22299

Hope some of this helps.

 

[franky_402]

So I went and got the uth and I'm getting ready to clean the tank now, we want to get rid of the sand but don't have anything else to put down for a substrate. Would using linoleum flooring tiles be ok with the heater or what. It says not to use paper road with It so I'm not sure

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Paper does not come into contact with the UTH with proper installation (under glass) so there is no danger. Vinyl tiles work too but be sure you have a probe thermometer to measure floor temp. You want it to measure somewhere between 90-96.

 

[Dog Shrink]

I agree. I have high end 12x12 vinyl tiles in my tank and the probe always reads between 89-98 depending on what secondary heat source I have on. At 98 the secondarys go off. What size & brand heat mat did you get? Did you kick the iguana girl in her butt (metaphorically speaking)?

 

[franky_402]

I agree. I have high end 12x12 vinyl tiles in my tank and the probe always reads between 89-98 depending on what secondary heat source I have on. At 98 the secondarys go off. What size & brand heat mat did you get? Did you kick the iguana girl in her butt (metaphorically speaking)?

I got a zoo med repti therm designed for 10-20 gallons I got the tiles in and he is exploring his tank now input him in his hide with the uth and he stayed in there for a few minutes and came out to go back in the tree under the red nightlight. how do I regulate the heat during the day if he doesn't like the uv lighting?? Would a regular house bulb suffice. And the iguana girl was off today lol.

I have a regular thermostat stuck to the glass on the side of the tank with the light, near the bottom. At the moment its reading about 95 this is a little too warm for night conditions right.... do I need a lower cottage bulb then, perhaps a 50 instead of 100?? Appreciate all the replys ill get a pic of him up soon.



Ohhh actually another question really quick. His thin tail is kinda purple towards the end and so is his stomach, almost like he is the gecko that has the like see through skin, but im kinda doubting that's the case

 

[franky_402]

 

[Dog Shrink]

Ur pix didn't work go to lowes or home depot and get a prob thermometer. It's like 5 bucks. If you have a stick on and it's reading that hot then ground temp is likely 5 degrees-ish higher. I use a 15 watt regular house bulb now during the days and it only adds about 3 degreees of temp. I have a 50 watt night light that will bring the temps up over 100 (I think 103 ws the highest I saw with the nightlight when temp testing) and a 75 watt infrared that I've seen it get as high as 110 when I was temp testing. If he keeps running to the cold side I'd be willing to bet your ground is too hot. My leo barely ever gets outta his hot hide. Some one else will have to answer the purple question. I'm still too new to leos to answer that one but it could be a little bit of a burn but don't quote me on that.

 

[GeckoGurl]

Some will also depend on the temp in your home... I do not keep my red light on it is there in case temperature drops in the house to help keep tank warm... Unless I have had a home with poor heat I have not had to use anything but the UTH at night time and that cools the temp down perfectly for night time weather. I have my humid hide on warm side and another hide on cool side.

 

[franky_402]

Some good news he ate 6 crickets tonight, I think he is feeling much better with proper heat and new flooring. we switched the calci sand out for some ceramic tiles. Now I just hope he doesn't regurgitate them tonight. And also hope to start fattening him up since his tail is extremely skinny. I'm not sure why my pictures aren't working I used Picasa so ill look into that as well.

I also have another picture of him in my gallery, what morph do u guys think he is, blizzard, patternless or what

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Be careful not to overfeed, he will regurge. A steady proper diet is all he needs to gain the weight

 

[Dog Shrink]

Why does it look like he has blue toe nails? Is that from the sand? And like Laney said, don't over feed 'cause it could do more harm than good. A steady consistant scheduled diet feeding the same amount at each sitting would be more productive than eating 6 crickets one feeding then like 2 another etc. It makes feeding predictable and IMO easier to tell when they're "off" feed. Keep up the good work. Getting a leo back on track with weight should be a slow steady process.

 

[franky_402]

yes is it sand, also looks like a little bit of unshed skin as well that i am going to need to take care of as well. How long does is take for toes to fall off from dead skin?? i just dont want to stress him out yet if i could wait a couple days

 

[Dog Shrink]

Usually it's recommended to let them soak their lil feet in some warm water if you have stuck shed and from what I've read on other threads most geckos seem to relax in warm soaks rather than stress so maybe worth a try if you're worried about losing toes.

 

[franky_402]

Whats a good temp to soak in? A little warm to the touch or should I get a little more scientific about it and go for a specific temp. We went today and got some wax worms for him, I figure he could use a little treat and also help him gain a little weight. He has held down his crickets so far and seems to be doing fine now. I still wouldnt say he is really active and running everywhere but he seems much be tter already.