New Leopard Gecko, New member

[ADKHendo]

Hey everyone. I just rescued a leopard gecko from a family where the kids became bored with it. I was actually looking for an additional terrarium for brown anole hatchlings (I rescued a brown anole from a moving truck that ended up laying fertilized eggs that I didn't notice until they started hatching) when I stumbled upon this leo and his setup on craigslist. The setup was entirely wrong for a leo. Exo terra 12x12x18 11 gallon tall terrarium. No room for the leo to move around and it only had one hide, with no humid hide. The people told me they usually just put a bunch of crickets in and left them in there. I'm surprised it in as good of shape as it is. It's missing the tip of a couple of toes from bad sheds but other than that it seems really healthy.

I've done a ton of research on setting things up properly, but the 10 gallon I have him/her in (haven't handled it enough to determine sex yet, trying to minimize stress at the moment) seems to be a little small after the hot side hide, water dish, calcium dish and humid hide are in. I'm going to be getting a 20 gallon long in the next couple of days to let it move around a little more and give me more room to set up a third hide.

I've read mixed things with sand and have decided to use it in moderation. I have my brown anole viv's both set up as natural as possible and I wanted to try to take the same route with this setup while still minimizing the risks. The floor is mostly tile with play sand to fill the gaps. I have sphagnum moss in the temporary humid hide (a little small, will be replaced) and UTH in the hot side hide. The UTH that came with the deal is a little small and it has a hard time keeping the temps up, so I have a 50 watt infrared bulb on the hot side keeping the temps in the low 90s. With a new UTH, bigger tank, bigger moist hide, and a third hide I think it'll be a decent setup. I haven't decided if I am going to go with real rock hides like the current hot side hide or if I'm going to attempt to work with foam and grout.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the current setup. Sorry there aren't any pics of the leo. It's currently in shed and tucked away in the hot side hide. I didn't want to disturb it just to take its picture, so those will have to wait a couple days when its settled in a little and no longer shedding. The black stuff on the rocks is because they are from our fire pit. I scrubbed everything down and sterilized it with rubbing alcohol and rinsed it very well before putting it into the viv. It's just blackened from fire and a cosmetic, and apparently shows up 10x more with camera flash. Its not nearly that dark under normal lighting. This is a temporary setup until I get the 20g long tank and can revamp everything.





And a couple pics of my anole vivs, just because some might be interested.

 

[cornsnakegirl]

Welcome to the forum!

Along with a new heat pad and whatnot, you'll also need a thermostat which you can get at Amazon, a great one on the cheaper side is Hydrofarm. It will make sure you always have the right temperature, only wavering a degree or two. Basically you set it and forget it.

You don't need the lamp, as it may just irritate your gecko and he may not come out as much. I really do not recommend any sand, they don't even have it in their natural environment anyway and it's just such a risk. I find just tile looks nice Especially if you use slate tile.

Do you have calcium with D3 to dust the food 3-4 times a week and a reptile multivitamin to dust food with once a week? You didn't mention it so I wasn't sure if you knew about it yet My bad if you do!

If you notice he isn't going into his humid hide to shed, you can help him along by misting the tank lightly a couple times a day.

Honestly, other than that you have a great grasp on things which is refreshing to see

 

[ADKHendo]

Thanks.

I have calcium with d3 for feeders, calcium without d3 for the tank dish, and a multivitamin as well. The only thing I didn't already have was the plain calcium. The sand is temporary. I wasn't sure if I was going to keep the 10g as its enclosure and used things that I already had around. I'm going to get more tiles for the 20 gallon and cut them to fit tightly together so the sand wont be necessary to fill the half inch gaps between tiles.

I'm going to need to get this 10 gallon cleared out and a 20 gallon set up tomorrow. I had to move the first hatched anole because he has started displaying his dewlap recently and head bobbing at the other hatchlings, which started only a couple of days ago. He is quite a bit larger than his siblings because he hatched solo about a week and a half to two weeks before the rest. I found a small what appears to be a male belly up at the bottom of the enclosure this morning, pretty sad. I'm confident that its a result of the oldest male hatchling. He's been moved to a 5 gallon that normally incubates pinheads for the tiime being. He's got his name on this 10 gallon.

Its actually been cycling back and forth between the humid hide and hot side hide and seems to be shedding successfully. Its toes are all clear of old skin already and there is just a little bit left around its face, but its eyes are cleared of old skin. It seems to like the infrared light, it was basking under it when I got up this morning. I figured it was faiirly safe because infrared is invisible to them and its not a 60 watt incandescent blinding it and stressing it out. I'm going to get a bigger UTH along with the thermostat and I'll measure the surface temp on the hot side again with the new setup and remove the light. Right now I don't think this UTH is performing at its peak and the light is supplemental.

Thanks for the compliments and advice.

 

[ADKHendo]

Here's a few pics. Still haven't checked to see if its a male or female. It was fine with being handled but I didn't want to flip it over to check yet. Once its more settled in and comfortable I'll check it. I don't plan on breeding or adding another to my collection so it's not super important other than for referencing. Its interesting being able to handle it, I'm used to my adult female anole that wont let you anywhere near her. The hatchlings will sit on your hand but they're really jumpy and move very quickly so I can't take them out of the enclosure.

 

[cornsnakegirl]

Aw, he looks similar to my gecko Glad you got it all figured out! When you get the new setup with proper heating, if you really want you can keep the infrared light as long as you think it's not bothering him and it doesn't up the floor temp more than it should be You know him best.

I'm going to shoot a guess it's a he because of the wide head, but it's not a surefire way to tell until he gets comfortable with you. Something I did with my girl was put her in as clear of a tupperware I could find, and hold a flashlight through it to see her underside without the handling.

 

[ADKHendo]

So, its a she. Forgot to update this in the past few days