New and have a few questions

[Shera]

Hi everyone, I'm new to leopard geckos, and already (as of today) own 2, but their vivarium isn't fully set up as it needs to be (which I know isn't a good thing, but you can read my story here: http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=54436

I have a couple of question. First, I got a Exo terra heat wave desert undertank heating pad, but I was unable to find a thermostat to regulate it. Right now I just have paper towel down, but I have some ceramic tile (left over from doing the bathroom), and my intention was to do a layer of sand and then the tile on top completely covering the sand so they can't get at it. My question is: Do I truly need a thermostat, or can I experiment with sand depths to find the optimum temperature? I am certainly willing to search far and wide to find a thermostat if I need one. Right now I'm using a red IR heat lamp and the dumb heat rock that I got with them. I want that rock out of there now, but I don't want to kill them by over heating them with a UTH without a thermostat, or freezing them, so the heatrock (which they have successfully used for 2yrs without burns, but I know can malfunction at any given time), is a stopgap measure. Does anyone else here use a UTH without a thermostat?

My second question is, how do I gutload the crickets and meal worms that I bought? Do I just stick them in a container with the special food 24 hrs before using them? Do I need to feed them something else until then? How long do they last without food before being gutloaded? I really know nothing about this part, lol.

Thanks in advance

 

[Angel]

I have a uth and no thermostat however i have thermometers on the bottom you will need to know the temp as so it doesnt burn them and with 2 of my tanks i use paper towel the other i use a natural fiber carpet kinda like fake turf. you also want to make sure the uth doesnt cover the entire bottom they need a cool area as well. { i have those uth as well the exo terra dessert and find my temps are about 90-95 however in one of my tanks i had to use the heat light as well as it was only 85 {its winter here a bit cold} make sure the thermometer is on the bottom of the tank reading the temp from the ground and not on the side of the tank.
As for gutloading put the food in the day before , do you have a cricket keeper? i just keep mine in one and put the gutload food in there sometimes a slice of fruit and i use water crystals for the water . make sure I d say about twice a week when giving the crickets to them put them in a bag and add some calcium powder and gently shake them to coat them before giving them to you leos. As well as keeping the small dish of calcium in the tank with them that should be good enough to keep the nutrients in your leos, make sure the dish in the tank is only calcium and the stuff you shake the crickets can have D3 in it as well.
im sure there is more opinions and advice to follow but hope i helped you a bit =)

 

[mindgamer8907]

I use a ZooMed UTH (even on the particle board nightstand i converted) and my breeder girlfriend uses similar versions for all of her breeding stock with no incident. I'd guess the exo terra uth is fairly similar and should be fine. I wouldn't even bother with the sand. Just another medium to worry about (cleaning, getting the heat through, etc.) not to mention the debate (and I know Gregg would beg to differ but there's a debate) over impaction etc. It's much simpler and less worrisome without it. Tile works well, and so does construction paper (my gf uses that) or paper towel. I'd go with the tile, it should work fine.

I know with meal worms you simply throw them into a container with the substrate (gutload) and pull them out as necessary. The "feeders" section should be able to tell you more about crickets. Though if you got them from a pet store (chain) they're usually ok to just feed straight away. Don't keep the crickets and worms together though, bad things happen I've heard.

 

[mindgamer8907]

Oh and good call Angel on the thermometer, it's always a good idea to check the temps regularly if you don't have a thermostat.

 

[Shera]

Great thanks. I did buy 2 thermometers with probes to place on the bottom of the hot and cold side. My tank is 75cm long and my heating pad is 28cm, is that big enough? it seemed about right to me. I know about the sand debate, and I would never place them on straight sand, or anything small enough to ingest, but the bottom of tiles have grooves on them, and won't be flush with the glass, I thought the sand might aid in heat transference, as air is an insulator, and I could also just increase or reduce the amount of underlying sand when the seasons change in order to keep the tile temperature where it needs to be. Hmm, it might get messy if water spills and seeps between the tiles thought eh?

 

[mindgamer8907]

As far as size goes I believe your tank is just under 2.5 ft by 1ft, I think that's a good size for two youngsters but you may consider buying them each their own tank and heater, especially considering they could begin to fight even after years of peaceful cohabitation. If you want to just get it as a back up tank that would be good. If that's what you mean i may be beneficial to see this thread: http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=54451 it may have some relevance.

 

[Shera]

As far as size goes I believe your tank is just under 2.5 ft by 1ft, I think that's a good size for two youngsters but you may consider buying them each their own tank and heater, especially considering they could begin to fight even after years of peaceful cohabitation. If you want to just get it as a back up tank that would be good. If that's what you mean i may be beneficial to see this thread: http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=54451 it may have some relevance.

Yeah that's about the size, I guess it's about 30 gallons? Crud, you really think I need to get a new tank? They are 2yrs old I think, and haven't had any issues up until now. I'm pretty certain they are both female. They actually seem to like each others company.

 

[mindgamer8907]

I would always keep a spare because even geckos that have lived together for years can turn on each other for no discernible reason. Over night they can become competitive and begin to fight. A 30 gallon would be perfect for them while they get along, but a 10 long would be best to house one for an extended period of time such as if they're fighting (about 20 dollars American at most pet supply stores). Though I would wait for someone else to chime in on that suggestion. Most people agree though, separation is a good thing, or if its a 30 you could split it into two separate enclosures.

 

[mushraeddur]

Hi everyone, I'm new to leopard geckos, and already (as of today) own 2, but their vivarium isn't fully set up as it needs to be (which I know isn't a good thing, but you can read my story here: http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=54436

I have a couple of question. First, I got a Exo terra heat wave desert undertank heating pad, but I was unable to find a thermostat to regulate it. Right now I just have paper towel down, but I have some ceramic tile (left over from doing the bathroom), and my intention was to do a layer of sand and then the tile on top completely covering the sand so they can't get at it. My question is: Do I truly need a thermostat, or can I experiment with sand depths to find the optimum temperature? I am certainly willing to search far and wide to find a thermostat if I need one. Right now I'm using a red IR heat lamp and the dumb heat rock that I got with them. I want that rock out of there now, but I don't want to kill them by over heating them with a UTH without a thermostat, or freezing them, so the heatrock (which they have successfully used for 2yrs without burns, but I know can malfunction at any given time), is a stopgap measure. Does anyone else here use a UTH without a thermostat?

My second question is, how do I gutload the crickets and meal worms that I bought? Do I just stick them in a container with the special food 24 hrs before using them? Do I need to feed them something else until then? How long do they last without food before being gutloaded? I really know nothing about this part, lol.

Thanks in advance

I'm new to the leopard gecko (just got ours at Christmas more or less). I am using an 18x18 tank for 1 leo. The tank came with a screen top and a hood. I put two 25w moonglow bulbs in the hood. I'm using a UTH that cover nearly 1/2 the tank. I am not using a thermostat at this time. It's winter here but with the UTH and the moonglows the temp is about 92-95 degrees (measured from the ground on warm side). The air temp on the cool side stays at a consistent 72is degrees.

For me, the UTH is pretty consistent heat. I'm considering using the moonglows all day. the temp gets about 97 during the day if I leave them on...and cools slightly to 95is at night with them on.

My leo likes both sides. I find him in his cool hide during the day and he lays next to this warm side hide at night a lot (this hide is the tall fake rocks with 3 holes in the back...he may be a little small to climb in or he's still getting used to his new home. He's a juvenile).

You're pretty much right on with the gut loading. Make sure they've been with their food and water (I use the gel water gut load) at least 24 hours. I dust them in a sandwich baggy with a tiny amount of calcium and dump the crickets in.

My leo is still so young he rattles his tail before strikes his prey...it's pretty cool. Too bad they outgrow that habit.

 

[Shera]

I would always keep a spare because even geckos that have lived together for years can turn on each other for no discernible reason. Over night they can become competitive and begin to fight. A 30 gallon would be perfect for them while they get along, but a 10 long would be best to house one for an extended period of time such as if they're fighting (about 20 dollars American at most pet supply stores). Though I would wait for someone else to chime in on that suggestion. Most people agree though, separation is a good thing, or if its a 30 you could split it into two separate enclosures.

I have a 5 gallon that I could toss one into if they start fighting, then I could go out and get a new tank the next morning. If I had to separate them permanently I'd probably want another 30gal anyway, because it seems to be a good size for fitting the 3 hides, I don't know how you could cram everything in anything much smaller. They just seem to really enjoy eachother right now, they snuggle up to sleep.

ETA: I just wanted to add that I'm pretty sure they are females. I thought females usually housed together pretty well?

 

[Angel]

as long as you have a back up for emergencies your good , it could be fighhting in the future could be one gets sick and you have to quarantine watever its always good to have a back up, i have a male female that live together and have done so since before i owned them but i still keep a back up just incase and watch them closely for any signs of aggrssion, red marks, bite marks, body language at eachother , weight loss on 1 ect . Sounds like your off to a good start though , go to the diet section and just read old posts and alot of questions are answered all over this forum if you have the time to read through some stuf here and there =)
good luck and by the way would love to see pics =)

 

[Shera]

I just asked my DH if we had any old 10gal tank at his mom's and apparently there is a 30gal in the basement. I thought we had sold it, but now I remember that was the 50Gal we had for our fish. So I guess I won't have to buy a new one if I have to separate them. I will have to buy a lid and under-tank heater though. I hope they stay nice to each other though. I watched them hunt in close proximity today, and noticed no real competitiveness, and never any aggressive body language. Neither appear to be dominant over the other, but I'm sure they must have some sort of hierarchy worked out eh?

 

[Shera]

Oh and here they are, they don't have names yet, but I have a few ideas.

This is the lighter coloured one. She's a keen hunter, and very pretty (to me anyway). She's not quite as social (with me) as her sister though, she prefers to hide, but she doesn't mind being held, but I put her down when she wriggles.

This one is more brown, and although I don't find her quite as pretty, I already feel more bonded to her, she comes out of her hide to greet me when I am looking at them, and seems to like being held more. She loves hunting, but she's not great at catching crickets (out of about 15 strikes she only caught one), so I got out the mealies (which she's never had before) and she loved them. I think I might pick up some superworms for her. She seems to like hunting the crickets though, so I'll definitely still offer the crickets first. A question though, I notice the dusting vitamins seem to adhere to the crickets much better than the meal worms, is there a way to make it stick better, or is it fine?

 

[Angel]

Just shake them in a bag with the calcium on whatever you are feeding crickts or mealies and it should be fine, you only need to dust them about 2-3 times a week, as long as you keep the pure calcium powder in a small dish available to them 24/7 you should be good =)
Very pretty girls by the way.

 

[Jama]

spray the mealies with water like rain (not too much though) and put them in a bowl with vitamins. it'll get stuck right away!!
those are really good looking geckos shera, congrats!! you r an example of kindness!!
that girl is LAUGHING!!! hahaha

 

[mushraeddur]

Just shake them in a bag with the calcium on whatever you are feeding crickts or mealies and it should be fine, you only need to dust them about 2-3 times a week, as long as you keep the pure calcium powder in a small dish available to them 24/7 you should be good =)
Very pretty girls by the way.

Can you suggest the name of the pure calcium supplement? I've talked to local pet stores and none of them suggest using any and do not sell any with out d3 in it.

 

[RoninSTi]

Sounds like you've got a good handle on things. I've been using tile with sand underneath for my leo. The temps do not fluctuate at all and there is no sand exposed for the leo to eat. The setup is a little more complicated but I love how stable everything is.

 

[Shera]

Can you suggest the name of the pure calcium supplement? I've talked to local pet stores and none of them suggest using any and do not sell any with out d3 in it.

I'm having this very same problem. I sent DH to ask, and the woman (who's supposed to be the reptile expert :main_rolleyes said that there is no reason to use straight calcium, and tried to sell him the stuff with D3. I worry that they would overdose on the D3 if they got that much (since it's a fat soluble vitamin). She suggested that if I'm dead set on the pure calcium maybe I could try a health food store. I don't want to give them the wrong stuff though. Is it just straight calcium carbonate? Is it cut with anything?

There is a good reptile store in town, but it's like 40 min away, so I won't make the trip unless I have to.

 

[RoninSTi]

I'm using zoo med repti calcium without D3. They also make a repti calcium with D3. I got this from my local pet store, 8oz for 10 bucks. I also have a multivitamin that contains D3 that I give to my guy 2x a week dusted on his mealies.

 

[Sandyballs]

I need to put a towel on the glass so that it doesn't overheat.
Also I check temps weekly to see if I need to add or remove