new to geckos and now a bit intimidated

[ferretlov]

I have gotten our first gecko from a fellow on craigslist and was told he is 3 years old and they had him from a baby.I have been reading a bit on here and now starting to feel a little paniced as I see some problems already,like his tank is full of sand and always has been and They never used anything to heat anything in his tank.Also they never gave him any "dust"(dont know what that is yet) on his food,and his tank is dry water is in a dish.hes is very pretty Although hed like anything in the world to keep me from touching him,I feel like im a little out of my leuge now and Ive never felt that way about a pet.I managed a kennel and rescue ferrets(I have 9) but from what Ive been reading they didnt do anything right with him? I dont know what to do at this point? does anyone have any advise? I really want to care for him properly but I dont want to shock him.

 

[JBGecko]

Im right there with you. My sons and I got our first Juvenile Albino about a month ago from a store and it is doing good. We read first and we set everything up properly. Then one day I was on craigslist and saw a whole setup with everything for $100, talked down to $85. We were told she was approx. 5 years old. The setup did have a heat pad but it wasn't regulated and was approx. 105+ on the hot side, it had a water dish but no moist hide. Looking at the Leo she is healthy but the years without a moist hide have taken its toll and she is missing the tips of some of her toes and she had part of her last shed still stuck on her toes when I picked her up. I have been soaking her off on on for days now trying to get it off and its now finally almost off. The the kicker, when I left the old owner told me "If you need any help call, I know almost everything there is to know about those things". Well obviously that is not the fact. But in both our cases it sounds like both our Geckos are in better care now.

 

[LadyGecko]

Hi Christy and Clovis and welcome to GF's!


Christy-
-The easiest thing to do is to pick one of the forums here-you might want to start with this one and if you have specific questions-use the search feature
If that does not answer your question and you need help-by all means don't hesitate to ask and one of us will be only to glad to try and help answer your questions

It is difficult with any new pet especially when you end up with one that has had incorrect care as yours did by the previous owner

To start with-you need to dump the sand(if you already haven''t done so)and
start out with paper towels as a substrate
You can see what his poop looks like-whether there is any sand in it and if it is firm and has white urates or if it is runny and smelly-which can equal internal parasites

Give him a moist hide as well as a couple of dry ones and a constant supply of fresh water
There are 3 types of "dust" that we use is pure calcium and also calcium with vitamin D3 and a vitamin/mineral supplement
These are all finely powdered to stick to the insects

Most people keep a bottle cap full of pure calcium(you can use plain cuttle bones-just scrape 2 together) in the tank all of the time and dust with the combo(if you use Rep-Cal and herptivite) once per week
The rest of the feedings I dust the insects with the plain calcium

You will need an under the tank heater and a dimmer/rheostat to control the temperature on it to start out with
You will also need a digital thermometer with a probe on the end to measure the floor temps of the tank


You do not need to use any overhead lights-especially bright white ones on the top of your Leos tank as they are nocturnal
You can use a low wattage red light bulb for night viewing if you like

As an adult - he may take a little while to settle into his new home and I would suggest not to handle him much unless you have to for at least the first week

He should start eating for you within a week -some are stubborn and take longer-some eat right away

What is his general health like?
Does he have a nice fat tail and a decent body size?

Are his limbs nice and straight and not bowed?
Does his upper and lower jaw meet or does one protrude over the other?

Either of the last two of symptoms could be MBD and will need to be addressed/treated with extra calcium intake

Try and offer him some insects-meal worms/super worms/crickets and see if he will eat for you
Only put a few crickets in to start with to see if he goes after them and eats them as they can be annoying to the gecko if left in the tank for extended periods of time

You will need to gut load the insects that you feed him before he eats them to give them some nutrients to transfer to your gecko
You can buy commercial gut load or make your own

Let us know how he looks or even better-post some pics of him and we can go from there

Hope this helps get you started

Sandy

 

[DLS Reptile]

Any questions at all feel free to e mail me anytime...

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Craigslist for geckos is like throwing a dart with a blindfold on.... scary ride most of the time! I've got a Leopard Gecko FAQ that folks like and is always a work in progress based on what folks are asking me:

http://www.geckoranch.com/faq.html

That should get you going on the right track!

 

[Ccrashca069]

I would have to agree that Craigslist is not always the best place to look for leopard geckos. Alot of times they are not housed properly or something. I did find someone on Craigslist looking to buy one so I contacted them and they bought a male from me a few months back.

 

[andypg3]

Well, you can take comfort in the fact that the animal is alive; therefore, anything you improve will only help the gecko and improve its quality of life.

This forum is a great resource.

Start with the basics; appropriate substrate, regulated belly heat, moist hide, quality gut-loaded and dusted food.

Good luck

 

[Bling_my_leo]

Do you have any pics?

 

[ferretlov]

I do he is very pretty even If I may be a bit bias- very sweet too.:main_thumbsup:

thanks for all the kind words of encouragement!

 

[Bling_my_leo]

Cool.