New member here! Some questions

[Schub21]

Hey, I have been considering getting a Leo for a while now. I have been reading some stuff and watching some videos on YouTube to get ideas and information. But I always find that talking to people with experience is the best way. I used to have a saltwater fish tank for a couple of years, and frankly, keeping a Leo should be quite a bit less involved, not to mention less expensive. I just say that to let you know that I am a responsible, conscientious person that always tries to do these things the right way.

Anyway, I have some questions, most of which have to do with different options for a setup.

1. SUBSTRATE. The always controversial topic. I know how some people feel about sand. Here's the thing - I feel like a tank should be visually appealing. That's just me. I don't want paper towel, newspaper, or tacky carpet. What is the best non-particulate substrate that looks very natural and good? Also, if I was to get particulate substrate, what is the safest/best kind? Some sort of calcium sand?

2. Do I need a heating pad in additional to a heat lamp on the hot side?

3. Tank size. I want a tank that could hold 2-3 Leos in case I chose to get more down the road. Plus I don't like tanks that are entirely consumed by various hides and items. Don't they like a little room to move around? I learned with marine aquariums that you always go bigger than you think. What kind of gallon size and length should I consider? I know babies can be stressed by large tanks too though.

4. Am I right in assuming that the diet of gecko can be entirely comprised of crickets (covered in vitamin powder), mealworms, calcium, and water? Or am I still missing something?

5. How many hides do I really need? I've heard people refer to cool hides, warm hides, humid hides, and dry hides. Seems like a lot.

6. Isn't there some sort of backing for your tank that resembles a rock face? I want something interesting and natural. I know they sell those background papers, but I'd still like to get something more real if possible.

I'm sure I'll think of more later. Thanks so much

 

[kthehun89]

1. Sand can be impacted especially with younger or under-nourished geckos, but is acceptable if you desire
2. Belly heat is vital to proper digestion, lights are not needed because the geckos are nocturnal
3. A 20 Long (30") should be fine for a trio
4. True about crickets, but they need to be gut loaded. by that we mean the crickets need to be fed a nutritious diet to pass on to the geckos
5. you need a minimum of a humid hide on the cool side and a regular on the warm side
6. backings are available, made of foam.

Remember more crap in the tank means more stuff to clean.

 

[Pepper]

Welcome to GF.

1.) No sand is good, no calci sand, nothing. People will tell you there gecko's have survived on sand, and more people will tell you their's have died.
Reptile capret actually looks very nice in a tank, I have a light sandy color and it looks very nice. Sand is dangerous, plain and simple, it can kill babies, juvies, and adults.

2.) You really only need a heating pad, lamp is optional, but won't do any harm if it doesn't raise the temps to much, but, heating pad is necessary. No UVB/UVA lighting needed.

3.) 10 gallon for one, but bigger is better, 20 gall. long would be great. Don't house more then one male together, females can be kept in groups, but keep extra tanks in case they don't get along.

4.) Diet can consist of just meal worms if you wanted. But variety is good, meal worms and crickets is great. You can use regular meal worms, giants, and supers for more variety,

5.) You need a hot hide and a cool hide/moist. I have 3, a hot hide, small moist hide, small cool hide.

6.) Yes they make fake backgrounds on a few reptile supply sites. They can't climb much though.

 

[supperl]

Sara I must disagree with 6.)
Okay thy are not the best climber but I never came in my reptiles room looking in the Terrarium seeing only once not a gecko on the backwall. When I introduced a groupe of 5 females from quarantine Rack in their new home all were climbing the half day on the wall having fun(thought oftent falling down^^).

 

[Pepper]

Yeah I said they can't climb much, as in, there gonna fall off eventually, I know they can climb, I've seen mine scaling it's fake plant and take a leap of faith, and..well, fail haha

 

[supperl]

ahh okay a missunderstanding from my side than Mine always climb like hell even thought they will njever be a grandis but with trempers help maybe sometime as green..^^

 

[Schub21]

Cool, thanks guys. So basically I keep a gutloading food, which you can buy, in the cricket keeper? Sounds easy enough.

OK, no sand. I've officially decided. Is there anything else besides reptile carpet? I mean, I don't have the means to cut tile, so I'm not sure I could do that.

Also, how's the smell? I used to have a green iguana and later a Burmese python. Both tended to give off a bit of smell.

 

[Pepper]

They go to the bathroom in one place, once you figure that out you can put something there, I use a piece of paper towel and just change it everyday or every other day, so easy!!

Cause reptile carpet can be a pain to clean.

I don't notice any odor, well, I'll take that back, i dont have a sense of smell, but my mom doesnt notice any odor.

You can probably get pre-cut tile if you really want to go the natural way, at a home depot time store, or have them cut it, and since its only 10-20 gallons it wont cost much.

 

[LZRDGRL]

substrate

For optically appealing substrate, you could use tiles or hydroculture. The only apparent disadvantage of hydroculture is that the crickets find more places to hide, but it looks cleaner and more natural than reptile carpet. Make sure you use the big clay balls that can't be swallowed. I always take the small ones out.

For a background, you could use an artificial rock wall such as the Habi-Scape Rock Wall which costs USD 20 for a 20g tank (you can cut it with a kitchen knife until it fits the exact size of your tank/terrarium). Some leopard geckos like to climb.

Have fun furnishing your tank

Chrissy

 

[Dom3rd]

I use Tiles in all my Viv's, as far as backgrounds go you can easily make your own just do a search for do it your self rock walls and i am use you will find alot. And as far as size goes i would say as big as you have room for you can always section off part of the tank if you have baby Leo's so that they are not lost in the viv...Good luck and Welcome to the forum

 

[acpart]

If you go to a place like Home Depot and look at all the tile sizes, you should be able to put together some combination that will fit in the tank and if it doesn't fit exactly, you can fill in with repti-carpet, large stones, some sand or other choices. If you google image "leopard gecko enclosure" you may find some beautiful natural vivs because some people have built them.

Aliza

 

[IcedC]

i just bought 4 12x12 slate tiles from home depot for 1.60 each.... a little patients and a hack saw, and they cut easily

 

[Lady_Kiya]

1. Do not use sand. Sand can be fatal to any gecko if ingested, whether it has calcium or not. If a gecko is low on calcium they will ingest the sand with the calcium in it, which makes this just as dangerous if not more dangerous than regular sand. You can also use tiling, which would be more appealing than newspaper or paper towel. I myself use paper towel and find if very easy to maintain, and not that bad visually.

2. I use a heating pad myself, it is good for the geckos to have direct belly heat. It makes digestion a much easier process. I do however also use lighting. Mainly because my room is quite dark and I like to see them. I maintain my temperatures with a rheostat so they do not get too hot.

3. As mentioned earlier a 20 gallon long should be sufficient enough space for three. However, make sure you do not house two males together.

4. You can also use Dubia roaches, superworms, some people like wax worms, butterworms and silk worms as treats, as they contain a lot of fat. I would also add a bowl of calcium into their environment as well. I usually mix some calcium with D3 and some reptivite in with the regular calcium as well. Be mindful of the amounts of them you use however.

5. I myself have three hides.. I have two on the hot side, one is moist, the other is not. Than I also have one on the cool side.

6. Exo-terra does sell backings for their particular terraniums. I am not sure who sells ones that would fit on the back of fish tanks however.

 

[Bodon]

Tile works great, i swear by it, id never use anything else now that ive gone with tile. The geckos really seem to like it as well. Its cheap, its easy to clean, it last forever, it holds heat well, it doesn't smell, there is no worry of impaction, and it looks good.

 

[e_cupcake26]

Cool, thanks guys. So basically I keep a gutloading food, which you can buy, in the cricket keeper? Sounds easy enough.

OK, no sand. I've officially decided. Is there anything else besides reptile carpet? I mean, I don't have the means to cut tile, so I'm not sure I could do that.

Also, how's the smell? I used to have a green iguana and later a Burmese python. Both tended to give off a bit of smell.

Hi Welcome to the GF! My leo doesn't admit an odor as you long as you clean his poo soon after they pass it. However, the crickets do smell bad. I went to Home Depot and they didn't have a large of a selection. So, I tried Lowes next. I don't know if there's a Lowes Hardware store near you, but I recently replaced the paper towels in my viv with tiles as the substrate and they had a wide variety of sizes and finishes to choose from. I think my leo is happier on the tiles.
Hope this helps!:main_thumbsup:

 

[thekooliest]

1. Either get paper towel, newspaper, tile, or reptile carpet. Nothing loose, as you gecko can choke and get impacted which leads to death. I like tile because it still looks nice, and its a hard surface to wipe up the droppings, but the most common is paper towels for its commonness.

2. You should have a UTH as a priority...this will cover 1/3-1/2 of the tank, and should heat up the warm side to about 92 degrees. If it gets too hot, you should unplug it, or buy a rheostat which you can get for about $15. If its too cold, then buy a low watt heat lamp to bring the temperatures to about 90-94 degrees. You should have a thermometer with a probe, as to measure ground temperatures no air temperatures. And you should have one for each side.

3. For 2 leos you should get about a 20g L, but bigger is always fine. And only females can be housed together, as male and females will breed and males will fight.

4. That is correct. They can eat any one or more of the following. Crickets, mealworms, dubia roaches, superworms, silkworms, and more (listed in most common order). They should be dusted with a calcium supplement every about 3 times a week, and a vitamin supplement about 2 times a week. Adults (1+ years) should be fed every other day, while babies will need food every day. The water dish should be cleaned out daily.

5. 1 on each side, the warm and the cool. If you have multiple leos, they might want separate sleeping spaces...There should be a moist hut (aka humid hut) in every tank. This can be a Tupperware with a hole cut into it...bedding like moss or paper towels which should be moist every day. This helps accompany the process of shedding.

6. Ya, you should be able to find a rock background that goes inside of the tank and is 3D...you could probably find them at a pet store, and you can also make them out of Styrofoam.

Please check out my Leopard Gecko Care Sheet, and ask with any questions.

 

[filardimarg2]

I have a rock-look-alike, i got it from "lovefoods" it's lovely but i didn't glue it or fix it to the back of the viv & one day i lost my baby Leo, couldn't find her anywhere, so emptied the viv & found her down the back of the background, she had climbed up & slipped down the back, she was very cold so don't know how long she had been down there, must of frightened her, she hasn't done it since.
I have it wedged up close to the back of the viv with rocks now.
Marg

 

[filardimarg2]

Oh, didn't see that........it should read........rock-look-alike background & i got it from "livefoods"
Marg.

 

[malt_geckos]

Hey, I have been considering getting a Leo for a while now. I have been reading some stuff and watching some videos on YouTube to get ideas and information. But I always find that talking to people with experience is the best way. I used to have a saltwater fish tank for a couple of years, and frankly, keeping a Leo should be quite a bit less involved, not to mention less expensive. I just say that to let you know that I am a responsible, conscientious person that always tries to do these things the right way.

Anyway, I have some questions, most of which have to do with different options for a setup.

1. SUBSTRATE. The always controversial topic. I know how some people feel about sand. Here's the thing - I feel like a tank should be visually appealing. That's just me. I don't want paper towel, newspaper, or tacky carpet. What is the best non-particulate substrate that looks very natural and good? Also, if I was to get particulate substrate, what is the safest/best kind? Some sort of calcium sand?

2. Do I need a heating pad in additional to a heat lamp on the hot side?

3. Tank size. I want a tank that could hold 2-3 Leos in case I chose to get more down the road. Plus I don't like tanks that are entirely consumed by various hides and items. Don't they like a little room to move around? I learned with marine aquariums that you always go bigger than you think. What kind of gallon size and length should I consider? I know babies can be stressed by large tanks too though.

4. Am I right in assuming that the diet of gecko can be entirely comprised of crickets (covered in vitamin powder), mealworms, calcium, and water? Or am I still missing something?

5. How many hides do I really need? I've heard people refer to cool hides, warm hides, humid hides, and dry hides. Seems like a lot.

6. Isn't there some sort of backing for your tank that resembles a rock face? I want something interesting and natural. I know they sell those background papers, but I'd still like to get something more real if possible.

I'm sure I'll think of more later. Thanks so much

1) I would try some type of natural looking tile

2) An appropriately sized under tank heater is needed but no heat lamp.

3) If you want a trio, I would shoot for 20 gallons per gecko. They do well seperately in 20 gallon long tanks. If you do house them together, only house females together and make sure they are all around the same size.

4) correct on the diet but you can also supplement in super worms, waxworms, and other buggies. You will also need calcium with d3 and without d3 and multi-vitamin.

5) it's best to have three hides per gecko. One humid, one warm, and one cool (in middle).

6) you can buy a background or you can cover it in cork bark...looks nice.

Hope that helps!