New Owner - Quick questions

[Ersatzi]

Hi there!

For the past few months I've been researching leopard geckos and I ended up loving what I read, so today I went out and got myself a baby. So far, everything seems to be okay. Very tired, lots of yawns and curling up on the warm side of the tank. Whenever I see that it's moving about, as soon as it notices I've walked over, it goes back over to the corner of the tank on the warm side and goes to sleep.

Other than that, I was just wondering how long it normally is before they are comfortable enough to eat. I placed a mealworm with a little bit of calcium in the food dish. So far I've seen it go and get a drink. but it has shown no interest in eating. Should I be concerned at all?

 

[Dinosaur!]

it can take up to a week or more for a new gecko to eat, especially young ones. make sure not to bother him for a while so that he can acclimate to his new home. Could you please describe how you have him set up?

or just copy this and fill it out?

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size
- Type (ex. glass tank)
- Type of substrate
- Hides, how many, what kind
B) Heating
- Heat source
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side)
- Method of regulating heat source
- What are you using to measure your temps
- Do you have any lights (describe)

and welcome to the community! dont be afraid to ask questions, and we will be happy to help you and your new gecko

 

[Ersatzi]

Thank you so much for responding! Glad I'm just being an anxious new owner. After only a few hours and a couple naps so far it seems to be exploring around.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size - I have a ten gallon. 20L x 10W x 12H (I think those are the right measurements)
- Type (ex. glass tank) - Yes it is a glass tank. Brand new.
- Type of substrate - I currently have one of those repti-liners in there. So far I haven't noticed any issues with snagging and it seems to be getting around just fine. However I did get a couple paper towel rolls just in case.
- Hides, how many, what kind - 2 so far. A cave on the cool side and a plastic container with some slightly damp paper towels on the warm side.


B) Heating
- Heat source - I'm currently using a UTH, takes up about 1/3 of the bottom of the tank. It is an 8 watt.
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side) - Hot side is roughly 80-83, cool side is mid 70s.
- Method of regulating heat source - Currently I'm just monitoring the temperature myself with a meter,
- What are you using to measure your temps - As stated, one of the stick-on temperature/humidity gauges.
- Do you have any lights (describe) - I'm currently not using a light on the tank. I do have a couple of them just in case however since my room is dark, and I'm okay with not having to see it at night I decided to not use them as of right now.

Again, thank you for responding! It's nice to have my nervousness calmed. I'll make sure to certainly chat here often!

 

[Dinosaur!]

it sounds like youre doing everything right to me! just avoid the overhead lights, (they dont do leopard geckos any good) and keep doing what youre doing im glad i could help

 

[Ersatzi]

Hardly ever use my actual room light because I personally find it too bright for myself! xD haha. And as for the tank I'm going to do my best to not use lights over it. But anyways, I'm glad I'm doing everything right so far! Now just to wait and see!

 

[Dinosaur!]

Good luck! and have fun with your new baby!

 

[Ersatzi]

Good luck! and have fun with your new baby!

Thank you so much! I certainly will! :main_thumbsup::nice:

 

[Ersatzi]

So a little update on Smaug.
It seems that he/she likes to pretend to be sleepy. I know, sounds weird. But I've noticed that when there is no one around, Smaug has been crawling around, and drinking some water out of his dish. He even climbed into and through the water dish today. But as soon as my Mother or her boyfriend come to take a look, Smaug runs over to the warm side of the tank and flops down with great big yawns before "sleeping". But only a couple minutes after they leave, I see Smaug poke his head around to make sure no one else is at the tank before moving around again. The yawns, I have to say are pretty adorable.

Last night, Smaug also decided to go and curl up into the moist hide on the warm side so I'm pretty excited about that. I was nervous because it seemed like he/she wasn't going to go in them, but at least it has checked out one of them!

As for eating, today when I cleaned the water bowl and checked for any bms (none so far), I checked and Smaug hasn't eaten yet. However, I think he/she has at least climbed up and possibly in there because there are little specks of calcium dust all over the bottom of the repti-liner.

I think so far things are going very well!

One more question though. Is he actually a mack snow? That's what I was told when getting him. But he's not really white, and doesn't have any yellow at all. He's that off-white beige while his marks are that very light tan. Just wanted to double check and make sure!

 

[indyana]

Yes, he looks like an albino snow to me. Snows often color up as they mature and only have pure white bands when they first hatch.

 

[Ersatzi]

Thank you for helping. I ended up reaching out to SaSobek on facebook and was told my little one may be a mack snow tremper. I can't wait till this lil baby gets bigger and he colors up!