My new little buddy Naga :)

[mommisgurl]

Hey guys! I finally got a leopard gecko,after many months of researching. I got him/her on Black Friday from my work. I love him/her to death. Already stole my heart (along with everyone else I have) I gave him/her a week to fully settle in before I cleaned out the tank,and I snapped a few pics! Couple of quick questions!
Can you guys give a guess to age/morph?
And when do you guys feed your leos? At night,in the morning? At my work,we feed them in the morning,and I try to keep him on that schedule,but would feeding him at night be better? I was going to try that tonight.
Thanks guys

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Very pretty! I'd say about 2 months, but I'm not an expert, so don't take my word for it. I think most people feed their leos in the evening because that's when they're most active.

~Maggot

 

[Lindz0518]

I feed mine in the evenings and they do well. I agree with Maggot about the 2-3 months on age, and maybe high yellow, possible hypo depending on the amount of spots he/she ends up having on the body.

 

[mommisgurl]

Thank you guys for replying! And I am just about to try to feed the little one now! Thank you again!!

 

[Ghostoftangerine17]

Cute Leo!! Congrats

I feed my at around 9pm or 10. They are usually up and waiting patiently lol. In the mornings they're usually sleeping when I get up.

 

[Snowbug]

Aw Naga is very cute. I feed mine in the evening about 9ish.

 

[mommisgurl]

Thanks guys
I have been feeding him every night,and he does seem to be doing better! But I had a question..I noticed tonight when I was feeding him crickets..he started like..wagging his tail! Like a dog would! But it was slow..but still a wag..Have any of you guys seem this,or heard of it?? Is it something I need to be concerned with? After it looked like he was done,he walked away slowly,would stop,and then slowly wag his tail back and forth..Never seen this before! Any help with that?

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Thanks guys
I have been feeding him every night,and he does seem to be doing better! But I had a question..I noticed tonight when I was feeding him crickets..he started like..wagging his tail! Like a dog would! But it was slow..but still a wag..Have any of you guys seem this,or heard of it?? Is it something I need to be concerned with? After it looked like he was done,he walked away slowly,would stop,and then slowly wag his tail back and forth..Never seen this before! Any help with that?

That's normal for them to do when attacking prey or fighting another gecko. My leo doesn't seem to do it, but a lot of people's do.

~Maggot

 

[Ghostoftangerine17]

My Dango does that a lot. I think I've seen my cats do it too when they're stalking prey (outdoor cats btw). I think it's kinda cute

 

[mommisgurl]

Phew mmkay good! Seems to be liking getting fed at night better. He can hog down quite a few meal worms and crickets. Though I'm not complaining at all! I let him eat as many as he wants!
I have one other question for you guys..before I post a thread about it!
I noticed that he doesn't really spend too much time in his hot hide..Usually right after I feed him,he'll be in there for a while,but always by morning,he's huddled up in his cool hide..Is this normal? His set up is a bit bigger than a 20 long..Reptitherm UTH hooked up to a Hydrofarm thermostat set at 95F,with a 75W Bluelight bulb to keep his air temps warm..Cool side is 72F. He poops great,always see more the next morning..has calcium without d3 in there in a little cap,a moist hide with spagnum moss,and a water dish. Paper towels are the substrate.
Any ideas as to what could be wrong,if anything? Or does he just prefer to be in his cool hide instead?
Thanks guys!!

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Phew mmkay good! Seems to be liking getting fed at night better. He can hog down quite a few meal worms and crickets. Though I'm not complaining at all! I let him eat as many as he wants!
I have one other question for you guys..before I post a thread about it!
I noticed that he doesn't really spend too much time in his hot hide..Usually right after I feed him,he'll be in there for a while,but always by morning,he's huddled up in his cool hide..Is this normal? His set up is a bit bigger than a 20 long..Reptitherm UTH hooked up to a Hydrofarm thermostat set at 95F,with a 75W Bluelight bulb to keep his air temps warm..Cool side is 72F. He poops great,always see more the next morning..has calcium without d3 in there in a little cap,a moist hide with spagnum moss,and a water dish. Paper towels are the substrate.
Any ideas as to what could be wrong,if anything? Or does he just prefer to be in his cool hide instead?
Thanks guys!!

Hmmm. My instinct tells me that with the combination of UTH at 95 degrees + 75W light, it might be a bit warm, hence him rarely being over there, but I'd hate to suggest lowering temps slightly and be wrong. So someone else can address that part. I don't think him spending his time on the cool side will hurt him any, though, as they can regulate themselves just fine.

What I'd really suggest is, if it's bigger than a 20 long, get more than two dry hides. I have a 20 long and have three - one warm, one cool, and one in the middle. She rarely uses the cool side, usually going back and forth between warm and medium. So three or four would give him lots of options and the opportunity to pick the best spot temperature-wise, as opposed to just choosing between hot and cool ones. If you do that, you might find he'll spend more time out of his cool hide.

~Maggot

 

[Ozy]

Yea.. A UTH set at 95 and a 75 watt light is too hot. You are fine with just the UTH. I also use a ZooMed Reptitherm with the HydroFarms thermostat. Mine is set at 93 and I don't use any other lights or heating on her vivarium and she is as fat, strong and happy as she can be.. (Using the term "HAPPY" very loosely, because Ozy is a BIG TIME grumpy brat.) Plus, all that heat can dehydrate him.

 

[mommisgurl]

Thanks guys. I'll turn off the heat lamp and keep just the UTH. How do you guys feed them at night without having any light in there?? If it wasn't for the blue light,I wouldn't be able to see anything! And I don't want to blind him with my room light..

 

[ZombiGecko]

My guys eat just fine when its dark actually lol.. Thats when my girl eats the most!!(shes becoming quiet the piggy as well!)

 

[mommisgurl]

Do you just toss the crickets/mealies in there??

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Thanks guys. I'll turn off the heat lamp and keep just the UTH. How do you guys feed them at night without having any light in there?? If it wasn't for the blue light,I wouldn't be able to see anything! And I don't want to blind him with my room light..

Leos are most active in the evening, but they're active at night as well. Their eyes aren't like ours, so what we can and can't see is irrelevant to them. They have excellent color vision, including at night. I found this article:
'Gecko Vision': Key To Future Multifocal Contact Lens?
That's talking about nocturnal geckos, which leos technically aren't, but they are commonly referred to as such. So whether that applies to leos or not is up in the air, but the "nocturnal geckos" they're talking about have vision that is 350 times better than ours at night. If it doesn't apply strictly to them, the fact is still that leos have excellent night and color vision and can see much better than we can. As far as senses like eyesight, hearing, etc., we're pretty pathetic compared to other animals.

Do you just toss the crickets/mealies in there??

There are a few ways to do it. Some remove their leos and put them in a separate tank to allow them to eat as many crickets as they want in a span of a few minutes, then put them back. I personally leave a few mealworms in a bowl, and then just toss in some crickets. If she doesn't eat them all, they just hide, then come back out later and she eats them then. Just keep an eye on how many are left over. If there are a lot, they'll nibble on and harass your gecko. But a few won't hurt anything, especially since she's not a tiny hatchling.

~Maggot

 

[Ozy]

I just turn on the room's light.. When she sees me go for the mealworm container or the roach keeper and grab her bag of Repashy, she knows it's time to eat. She has ONE certain hide that she likes to have dinner in, so she will go over to her "dinner time" hide and poke her head out. I dust and then drop one insect at a time in there. She'll eat it and so on. I stop when she isn't interested anymore. Then I turn the light back off. Her "dinner time" hide also happens to be her dry, warm hide. So when she's done eating, she'll turn a couple of circles in it until she's comfy, then she sprawls out on her stomach and digests..LOL

 

[mommisgurl]

Okay! Tonight I put in the mealworm container I bought at my store..the natural rock looking one with the curled over edges to prevent escape..I put 12 mealies,then threw in 10 crickets. This is the first night that I've had the overhead light off,and he seems to be more active,though he is in his warm hide alot more..How long should I wait to remove the crickets??

 

[Ghostoftangerine17]

If you're in the room I suppose you could leave them in for awhile as long as you're making sure the gecko is interested in feeding and not being bothered...

When I used crickets I'd put them in one by one as Dango ate them If that's only 1 leopard gecko that sounds like a LOT of food.

 

[mommisgurl]

You should see how much this guy eats!! When I tong feed him crickets and mealies,he will eat 15+ of either one! And he eats his calcium in his dish alot too!
I went back after a few hours and saw that all the crickets were gone! But none of the mealies were touched..I think he doesn't know that they are in there. What kind of containers do you guys keep your mealies in?? I have the natural rock on..But it's not see through,so I don't think he can see them! Do you guys dust them,then put them in there? What about leaving something for the mealies to eat,like carrots?? I'm sorry for all the questions! I just really want to be sure that he is getting everything he needs!
I also noticed that since I turned off his heat lamp,he spends alllll of his time in his warm hide..Though I do see him out more once all the lights are off at night in my room. Is this okay?