New Leo Gecko Parent Tomorrow! HELP NEEDED!

[shanew42096]

Hello everybody, my Name is Shane. I am getting two leopard geckos tomorrow. Just a few questions...

What size aquarium should I use? I have a 10 gallon at the moment, and also have one of the zoo med tall naturalistic terrariums that I could lay on its side. the dimensions for that are 18x18 and 24 inches tall. On its side would be 24 inches in length. the con to this is that the mesh top (cover, lid) would be like an air vent. I don't know if that would be a problem, like a draft or anything like that.

How much should I feed them? I think I would stabilize them on meal worms, and pretty sure they are juveniles.

I am going to use repticarpet as the substrate.

How about the lighting/heat?

Any tips I should have? Please, feel free to correct anything! Anything else I should need at the store please add as well! I will post pics asap tomorrow when I get them!

 

[STUTFL]

I'm off to bed here, but I'll just say:
Plan to keep them separately. If they're the same size and gender (preferably female), and have shown no symptoms of illness, you *can* put them together. But the geckos themselves will decide whether that's practical, as they may fight and/or get territorial. Prepare two tanks so they each have somewhere to live if this is the case. They need double the space and hiding places if you house them together -- the 10-gallon will hold one leo, but not two. A under-tank heat mat is available in most pet stores; generally the package will tell you what size tank it's appropriate for (try not to cover more than 1/3 of the tank bottom). You can also get a thermostat to regulate the temps. You can use lighting if they're housed somewhere without natural light, or if you want a red bulb to see them in the dark, but they're basically nocturnal. As long as there's a day/night cycle like you'd give any pet they don't need supplemental "basking" light.

They may not eat for a while as they get settled, but if they're growing they'll eventually want to eat a lot. Let them, just make sure it's a healthy and (if possible) varied diet. It's a bit late to be getting all this decided, but that's a start. Check out a caresheet or two (through a knowledgeable source, like this forum) to help fill in the gaps until more folks chip in. G'night, good luck.

 

[Kaley]

Leos can get their toenails caught on repticarpet. Tile is much better.

 

[grboxa]

wrangler pretty much summed it up, the only thing I'd change and this is just my opinion is the repti-carpet and red bulb. Leos can get there toenails stuck in the material, it has happened, so I would use paper-towel in the meantime. And if you want to see your Leos at night, I'd purchase a blue bulb instead of a red(infared). Blue light is less subtle, I found my leo's looking up at the red light when I had them at night to.