bowsertime
The Geckonator
- Messages
- 95
- Location
- Winnipeg, MB
Hey all.
A friend left me a message on Facebook in the middle of the week, saying that her son was no longer living with her and he had left his pet gecko behind. She knows I keep a lot of weird animals, including reptiles and amphibians, and decided giving me the gecko was a better idea than trying to find someone among her younger son's group of friends. So, that said, I am now the proud new companion to a golden gecko named Clark.
Clark was, unfortunately, pet store-bought and lost his tail by accident about a month ago. This aside, I think he has quite a bit of weight on him and looks fairly healthy. She tried feeding him freeze-dried insects, but he didn't (understandably) want any part of it, so she gave him live crickets, which he apparently enjoyed. I'm not sure if she'd been dusting them and there was some mold in his 10-gallon tall terrarium, but... all is well now, as it's been totally hosed down, every ornament cleaned, and coco fiber substrate changed out for a nice, muddy-smelling forest moss substitute.
Unfortunately, Clark is very shy and I've barely seen any of him since he's come home with me. I don't expect to right away - first, he's a goldie, second, he's just been rehomed. I think he snuck a butterworm out of the dish already, though! He has gorgeous eyes, but he's very dark in colour. The first night he was brought home, I checked on him in the dark and he was hanging from the top screen of the tank. Upon noticing me... he let go. Kerplunk. Scared the bejeezus out of me. :<
I think he's settling in quite well now. He used to run around like a nutter every time I bumped his table a little, but now I can open the tank's doors and he won't even move. I've finally gotten his humidity to 80% and he has heat lamps running day and night (daylight bulb during the day, red light at night). His temps run around 72-77F at night and about 78-85F during the day... I think I'll want to get that a little higher. I looked into getting him a fogger for his humidity at first, but on recommendations from another goldie owner on another forum, tried a 'warm wet towel atop the tank' trick and it worked beautifully.
So, to sum it up...
- 10 gallon tall terrarium with plastic hanging plants, a grounded plastic fern, forest moss, and a stryofoam 'cliff' wall he can climb
- 60W daylight heat bulb during the day, 60W red heat bulb during the night, roughly a 12h/12h split
- 75%-80% humidity, sprayed 2-3 times a day as needed with towels re-wetted every morning and night and a pair of custom-cut glass panels to sit the light on so he doesn't burn himself hanging from the screen
- 72F-77F at night, 78F-85F during the day - working on getting this higher
- May have eaten a butterworm; has another in his dish now until the mealworms are properly gut loaded for him - trying to avoid crickets if I can
- Has lost his tail (and it looks kinda funny because of it), but has some considerable weight on him - I'm almost concerned he's overweight, but his previous owner says she was only giving him 2-5 crickets every night or so
- Never closes his eyes, even during the day... weird?
- Has a fresh dish of mixed fruit baby food in his tank, changed nightly
- Has a fresh dish of water in his tank, also changed nightly
- Hygrometer/thermometer suctioned onto tank walls
Anything I should add to make Clark's life more comfortable, or is he in a little lizard happy place as it is?
A friend left me a message on Facebook in the middle of the week, saying that her son was no longer living with her and he had left his pet gecko behind. She knows I keep a lot of weird animals, including reptiles and amphibians, and decided giving me the gecko was a better idea than trying to find someone among her younger son's group of friends. So, that said, I am now the proud new companion to a golden gecko named Clark.
Clark was, unfortunately, pet store-bought and lost his tail by accident about a month ago. This aside, I think he has quite a bit of weight on him and looks fairly healthy. She tried feeding him freeze-dried insects, but he didn't (understandably) want any part of it, so she gave him live crickets, which he apparently enjoyed. I'm not sure if she'd been dusting them and there was some mold in his 10-gallon tall terrarium, but... all is well now, as it's been totally hosed down, every ornament cleaned, and coco fiber substrate changed out for a nice, muddy-smelling forest moss substitute.
Unfortunately, Clark is very shy and I've barely seen any of him since he's come home with me. I don't expect to right away - first, he's a goldie, second, he's just been rehomed. I think he snuck a butterworm out of the dish already, though! He has gorgeous eyes, but he's very dark in colour. The first night he was brought home, I checked on him in the dark and he was hanging from the top screen of the tank. Upon noticing me... he let go. Kerplunk. Scared the bejeezus out of me. :<
I think he's settling in quite well now. He used to run around like a nutter every time I bumped his table a little, but now I can open the tank's doors and he won't even move. I've finally gotten his humidity to 80% and he has heat lamps running day and night (daylight bulb during the day, red light at night). His temps run around 72-77F at night and about 78-85F during the day... I think I'll want to get that a little higher. I looked into getting him a fogger for his humidity at first, but on recommendations from another goldie owner on another forum, tried a 'warm wet towel atop the tank' trick and it worked beautifully.
So, to sum it up...
- 10 gallon tall terrarium with plastic hanging plants, a grounded plastic fern, forest moss, and a stryofoam 'cliff' wall he can climb
- 60W daylight heat bulb during the day, 60W red heat bulb during the night, roughly a 12h/12h split
- 75%-80% humidity, sprayed 2-3 times a day as needed with towels re-wetted every morning and night and a pair of custom-cut glass panels to sit the light on so he doesn't burn himself hanging from the screen
- 72F-77F at night, 78F-85F during the day - working on getting this higher
- May have eaten a butterworm; has another in his dish now until the mealworms are properly gut loaded for him - trying to avoid crickets if I can
- Has lost his tail (and it looks kinda funny because of it), but has some considerable weight on him - I'm almost concerned he's overweight, but his previous owner says she was only giving him 2-5 crickets every night or so
- Never closes his eyes, even during the day... weird?
- Has a fresh dish of mixed fruit baby food in his tank, changed nightly
- Has a fresh dish of water in his tank, also changed nightly
- Hygrometer/thermometer suctioned onto tank walls
Anything I should add to make Clark's life more comfortable, or is he in a little lizard happy place as it is?
