new at leopard geckos

[Reptileperson]

Hi, I've done lots of reasearch on leopard geckos and i still have some questons about there care. First do i leave the heat pad on all the time or do i just turn it off at night? how often and how many crickets and mealworms do i feed? I'm probably going to get a juvinile at first. What type of calcium do i put in the dish in the enclosure? That's all the questons i can think of now, thankyou for your help.

 

[acpart]

The heat pad stays on all the time but may need a thermostat or a rheostat to keep it from getting too hot (a thermostat is like what you have in your house where if the temperature gets too high or low the thermostat turns on or off to keep it at the temperature you set. Do a google search for "reptile thermostat" and find one in the $30 range. A rheostat is like a dimmer where you control how much power the heater puts out. If you want to use a rheostat, get a lamp dimmer from Home Depot for about $12)

You can keep mealworms in a dish all the time. If the gecko finishes all the mealworms and seems to want more you know you need to add some. Start with about 4 crickets and see how much the gecko eats. Adjust up or down depending on its behavior.

Calcium: your best bet is to have a small dish of calcium without D3 in the enclosure and to dust your feeders with calcium with D3 and vitamins (you can alternate if you want).

Keep asking questions and we'll answer. It seems as if you're doing good research and your questions are specific.

Aliza

 

[Reptileperson]

Thankyou so much! dont worry i'll ask more questons for sure haha. I'll get the stuff soon.