New leo

[Ramla]

Adopted this little girl today. Can anybody identify her for me, new to leos.

 

[Dinosaur!]

she looks to be a cute (and very young!) normal to me! She may develop a carrot tail as she ages, and she may be a high yellow with varying degrees of hypo. Time will tell! She will change drastically over the next year or so! Be sure to keep us updated with pictures of her please!


Welcom to the forum, and feel free to ask if there is anything you are unsure about

 

[Ramla]

She is young but I'm not sure how young. Rescued from a big box store where she was getting no food because she was in with two larger Leos. Currently have her on small crickets and she ate about 7 as soon as I put her in her new home.

 

[laurahlove]

Make sure she is getting plenty of calcium! Put a calcium dish in her tank and make sure to 'shake n bake' those crickets every other day or so with calcium and vitamins

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[Ramla]

 

[laurahlove]

She looks to be a female, but is still really young. In a few weeks, the little boy parts could emerge. Happened to me, haha

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[Ramla]

Well for now I'm going to stick with she. Hoping it doesn't change. I put a dish of calcium in her tank and bought a red heat bulb... Nat Geo night heat infrared 50w. She seems to be happy so far.

 

[laurahlove]

Yay!

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[SEwicked]

She is adorable but You should really get an UTH (under tank heater) Leo's need the belly warmth

 

[Dinosaur!]

I agree with Steven on the heat lamp. Leopard geckos are nocturnal (as stated before) and heat lamps can actually stress them, overheat their tank, and they dry out the air which can cause shedding problems and infections. Not to mention the fact that your gecko will want to hide more to avoid the light! Heat lamps should only be used if your ambient (air) temps drop below 60 degrees fahrenheit, and even then they should be the red or purple night lamps to avoid stressing your little girl.


The air temps are not very important to your geckos health (unless they are too high or too low), but the floor temps are vital. This is because leopard geckos absorb heat through their bellies in order to digest food, and if the temps are not right, it can cause them to become sick because they cannot digest their food properly. The floor temps should be around 89-95 degrees fahrenheit on the warm side. The cool side can just be room temperature. This is why it is so important to have a UTH. Without one, it can even shorten the life span of your little gecko


Also, when you get your UTH (Which i sincerely hope you do for your little gecko), you need to have a thermostat to prevent your UTH (under tank heater) from overheating, burning your gecko, and possibly cracking the bottom of your tank and causing a fire hazard. You can buy a decent thermostat online or at large chain pet stores that end in "co" or "smart" (the sensor on this site blocks the whole name of the companies ) for not too much. just hang it in the tank, put the temp probe on top of the heating pad, set it to 90 degrees, and moniter the temps regularly.

Heating is one of the most important parts of your geckos lives, and thats why I am so adament about teaching people the importance of proper heat. I hope you take this advice kindly, and please keep us posted! I love watching how much normal (high yellows, etc) transorm as they age!

 

[Ramla]

Ok so a lot to take in and I think I forgot to put my tank set up on this forum. So here goes.

I put together this tank and I'm hoping I did it right. 10gal tank, Eco Carpet, corresponding UTH, Nat Geo Night Heat Infrared Bulb 50w, calcium dish, two shallow water dishes, hiding on cool side and moist box on warm side. Plus a little plant she likes to hide in. Did I miss anything? Or should I change anything?

I do not have a thermostat because I bought a UTH that doesn't seem to go above 75°. I bought the infrared heat bulb because from what I've read this color doesn't upset them. I have kept an eye on her and the temps, and so far she seems to actually enjoy the way it is. She lounges like a little sun bather.

Currently her digestion seems ok. The ambient temp seems to stay at about 86 during the day and 74 at night on the warm side. Her cool side stays at 72.

 

[Ramla]

P

 

[Ramla]

 

[laurahlove]

The moist hide should be on the cool side, and there should be a regular hide on both the cool side and warm side of the tank, to be technical everything looks good though!

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[Ramla]

I started with hiding on both sides but she doesn't use them I've noticed. So for space I left the one on the cool side but took out the other. And her moist box she avoids. I'm debating using something different for substrate. Right now it's moss.

 

[Dinosaur!]

Okay, I wasn't aware that you had a UTH! Oops! Your setup sounds fine to me, just keep an eye out for bad sheds

and the the moist hide can be on any side of the tank, or wherever your gecko seems to prefer it. Most of my geckos prefer it on the warm side, but I have a few that won't use it unless I put it on the cool side. Just play around with it, and you should be able to find your geckos favorite spot for it.