B
Blind Spot
Guest
Alright, I finally got a leopard gecko after wanting one since I was eight. I got all the stuff first and after setting it up I went to Petco to get the lizard (I know, Petco sucks, but it's the only pet store near me and I figured I could help out one of the critters there). Oddly enough the employee couldn't open the leopard gecko enclosure so I was ready to go home when they mentioned that they had a baby leopard gecko up for adoption. They said it was deformed, but I was interested. It turns out it had a dead eye, it had somehow popped out and died. I was first worried that this would mean he would be less active and healthy, but that wasn't the case, as the cashier had trouble getting him out of his little cage.
The first day I took him home he frantically ran around his 20 gallon long tank
all day, eating only one cricket. That night he slept, too tired from not sleeping all day to follow his nocturnal habits. He also slept the following day, but that following night finally became active again. That first week he did not eat anything except some slurry I whipped up after finding this forum for the first time (this also led to me laying down tiles over the sand). Last week he finally started eating crickets, and at a frightening rate I might add. He ate about 30 crickets in 2 days (!), and I have had to go to the pet store three times this week. I have since decided to order large amounts of crickets off the internet.
I just want to make sure that my setup is sufficient:
On the cool side I have a water dish, a dish filled with calcium and vitamin powder, and a dish where I leave mealworms. A log hide spans both the cool side and the hot side. On the hot side is the humid hide (a small zoo med repti shelter filled with moss that I spray twice a day) and a fake cactus just for the heck of it. The hot side is heated by a infrared light that I leave on all day and use occasionally for night viewing and a heat pad that I leave on 24/7. Though separated from the pad by a layer of sand, the tiles get nice and toasty, but not dangerously so. During the day the hot side stays around 90 Since I live in Texas, the lowest either side gets at any time of day is about 80. Is this a problem?
Although enthusiastic at being handled. the gecko seems to be deathly afraid of water, refusing any attempts at soaking and fleeing from a gentle spray of water or the rub of a wet q-tip. He never enters the humid hide and jumps out as soon as he is put in it. Is this normal? I am afraid that when he starts shedding (which I have no clue when to expect), he will not be able to shed completely. I think it may be because the whole tank has about 50% humidity, when the ideal is usually listed as 40. Is there a feasible way to lower the humidity of the tank?
I am aware that the simple analog thermometers I have aren't sufficient, and a digital one set at ground level is necessary, but would a temperature gun be better? How accurate and easy to use are temperature guns and can I trust them?
Here's some pictures of the little guy:
(That's Spore Creature Creator in the background
)
The dead eye:
The first day I took him home he frantically ran around his 20 gallon long tank
all day, eating only one cricket. That night he slept, too tired from not sleeping all day to follow his nocturnal habits. He also slept the following day, but that following night finally became active again. That first week he did not eat anything except some slurry I whipped up after finding this forum for the first time (this also led to me laying down tiles over the sand). Last week he finally started eating crickets, and at a frightening rate I might add. He ate about 30 crickets in 2 days (!), and I have had to go to the pet store three times this week. I have since decided to order large amounts of crickets off the internet.
I just want to make sure that my setup is sufficient:
On the cool side I have a water dish, a dish filled with calcium and vitamin powder, and a dish where I leave mealworms. A log hide spans both the cool side and the hot side. On the hot side is the humid hide (a small zoo med repti shelter filled with moss that I spray twice a day) and a fake cactus just for the heck of it. The hot side is heated by a infrared light that I leave on all day and use occasionally for night viewing and a heat pad that I leave on 24/7. Though separated from the pad by a layer of sand, the tiles get nice and toasty, but not dangerously so. During the day the hot side stays around 90 Since I live in Texas, the lowest either side gets at any time of day is about 80. Is this a problem?
Although enthusiastic at being handled. the gecko seems to be deathly afraid of water, refusing any attempts at soaking and fleeing from a gentle spray of water or the rub of a wet q-tip. He never enters the humid hide and jumps out as soon as he is put in it. Is this normal? I am afraid that when he starts shedding (which I have no clue when to expect), he will not be able to shed completely. I think it may be because the whole tank has about 50% humidity, when the ideal is usually listed as 40. Is there a feasible way to lower the humidity of the tank?
I am aware that the simple analog thermometers I have aren't sufficient, and a digital one set at ground level is necessary, but would a temperature gun be better? How accurate and easy to use are temperature guns and can I trust them?
Here's some pictures of the little guy:
(That's Spore Creature Creator in the background
)
The dead eye:
