need help with leo tank

crazyp

New Member
Messages
49
Location
athens, alabama
i just got my leo sunday, an i got the tank from petsmart. it came with food/water dish, day/night lamp, timp gage, and a hide.i need to know what else i need.
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and i need to know about how often to feed it an how much. i have beed feeding it every night with 2 or 3 crickets and 2 mill worms. an i lev some mill worms in its food dish.
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fuzzylogix

Carpe Diem
Messages
2,115
Location
Dallas, TX
i would get rid of the repticarpet and lights. you need an under tank heater, a digital thermometer with a probe, newspaper or tile as the substrate, and a moist hide on the cool side of the tank.
 

fuzzylogix

Carpe Diem
Messages
2,115
Location
Dallas, TX
i put sphagnum moss in my moist hides. that little i would be feeding mealworms or small dubia. if you feed crickets, they need to be small as well. about the size of the distance between the geckos eyes. you can leave a bowl of mealies in there, but i wouldn't feed that little guy more than 3 or 4, and maybe 1 or 2 crickets. you can feed him/her every day since it's still a baby
 

sausage

BSc AMAS
Messages
1,548
Location
Winchester, UK
i agree i woud add a heat mat under the tank on your hot side but i have heat lamps on all of my tanks aswell as UTH just to help keep the temp up in the glass vivs with no problems what so ever :) if any thing they like it lol
is the other lamo a UVB?
 

sausage

BSc AMAS
Messages
1,548
Location
Winchester, UK
also there is nothing wrong with the repti carpet but i always find it handy to have a few replacments for when your washing that one :p
 

fuzzylogix

Carpe Diem
Messages
2,115
Location
Dallas, TX
also there is nothing wrong with the repti carpet but i always find it handy to have a few replacments for when your washing that one :p

i completely disagree with this. geckos easily get their nails and teeth stuck in repticarpet. seriously, i would use tiles or newspaper. as far as the lights, geckos are nocturnal and don't need UVB. a simple incandescent light will work if you really need it, but i just open the blinds in my gecko room to let natural light in. too much light can easily stress a gecko. if you have a good UTH hooked to a thermostat, and the correct substrate, you shouldn't have an issue with your hot side temps.
 

sausage

BSc AMAS
Messages
1,548
Location
Winchester, UK
new research shows that leos are not strictly nocturnal they are twilight animals (Crepuscular) meaning they do need a very small amout of UVB at a max of 2 for a very short period during the day. this cannot be given by light through lots of glass.
 
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Yoh4n

New Member
Messages
64
Location
Saint Paul, Minnesota
new research shows that leos are not strictly nocturnal they are twilight animals (Crepuscular) meaning they do need a very small amout of UVB at a max of 2 for a very short period during the day. this cannot be given by light through lots of glass.

What do you mean when you say "at a max of 2"?
 

PaladinGirl

New Member
Messages
427
Location
Michigan
i completely disagree with this. geckos easily get their nails and teeth stuck in repticarpet.

As someone who tried reptile carpet for awhile, I know this to be true. It looks nicer than newspaper and paper towel, as is safer than sand, but I watched my little leo get her nails stuck all the time. I personally use brown paper lawn bag, it looks more natural than newspaper and paper towel. There are a lot of good care sheets on the internet that go into a lot of detail on how to take care of leopard geckos. Everyone does it a little different, but I think you'll find there are a lot of basic things that almost everyone agrees on, such as not using sand, using an under tank heater, etc.

I particularly liked http://www.fallenangelgeckos.com/ and http://www.geckosetc.com/care.html, though the 2nd one suggests using sand, which I don't agree with.

Anyways, I hope this helps somewhat. Cute little gecko u have :main_thumbsup:
 

EnigmaEcho

Neo Starpphire Enigma
Messages
106
make sure you are dusting your crickets with calcium everytime to prevent mbd-
i hate repti carpet! my sophie couldnt do anything ( move, catch food) and it made her miserable- right now i have her on papertowels and will be moveing her to a new setup shortly.
make sure you have plenty of places for her to roam around and hide- most animals are uncomfortable if they are exposed to much- also, a cozy hide ( since she is so small) helps too, easyily done also. as she gets bigger, you will be able to give her more space.
undertank heaters are a must, in that geckos absorb heat through thier bellies during the day so they have energy during the night- just be sure to provide enough substrate so that she doesnt burn her belly! ( thats why heat rocks are a no-no, they cause burns)
as a supliment heat/light source, i like to use a moonlight bulb- it doesnt hurt thier eyes and it provides a comfortable basking condition for them.
hope this isnt anoying info! have fun with your baby, your in the right place to get info ( alot of smart people here :)
 

AreUaBadfish2

New Member
Messages
51
Location
Virginia
i completely disagree with this. geckos easily get their nails and teeth stuck in repticarpet. seriously, i would use tiles or newspaper. as far as the lights, geckos are nocturnal and don't need UVB. a simple incandescent light will work if you really need it, but i just open the blinds in my gecko room to let natural light in. too much light can easily stress a gecko. if you have a good UTH hooked to a thermostat, and the correct substrate, you shouldn't have an issue with your hot side temps.

So true. Couldn't have said it better myself.
 

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