New to geckos - need crash course!

[Autonerd]

Hi all --

I'm brand new to geckos, as in a few hours. Found out today that we are rescuing a gecko. Relative of a friend is in the hospital with terminal cancer and left her animals uncared for, and we got the leopard gecko.

I'm rushing to read up on gecko care; I have to get to the pet store today to get what I need. He came with a tank, looks like around 20 gals, although wife said it was pretty disgusting, full of crickets both alive and dead, and it smelled horrific. There was a heat lamp, but it wasn't working. She emptied out the tank, but I don't know if I can clean it and re-use it or if I should get another one (any advice would be appreciated).

I'm going to attach a picture, if you guys could give him a look-see and let me know if you see anything that I should worry about, please tell me! He looks pretty good, he lifts his head when I open his (temporary) enclosure, and he's been lying down and moving a bit. Best estimate is that he's 10-15 years old.

We've done this before with a tarantula (who is now thriving), plus kid's carnival goldfish ($0.23 worth of fish + $10 in carnival tickets + $400 in equipment = happy 4-year-old fish!). But I've never had to move this fast!

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

Aaron

 

[Srt14292]

Your gecko looks like its lost a few toe tips due to bad sheds, but they seem to have healed over, the tail is reasonably thick so you are not in imminent danger,
Go to your pet store, if the 20 gal you have isn't too bad then re-use it, just clean it out and disinfect it.

Use paper towels as your substrate, get a heatmat that will cover 1/3 of the viv, a temp gauge, place it in the warm end, if you have enough cash hook it up to a pulse proportional thermostat, if not, it shouldn't be too bad just keep an eye it doesn't get too hot or malfunction, allways leave airspace for the air to move around the mat.

3 hides, 1 cool, 1 warm, 1 humid (fill this full with sphagnum moss or cocofibre)

A food dish, and get yourself some mealworms, calcium without d3, calcium with d3, (dust with calc without all the time, calc with d3 twice a week, leave a bottlecap of calc without d3 in the viv), and some crickets/locusts, or dubia.

leave your new gecko to set in for about a week, and just keep an eye on behaviour, anything you notice that worries you, post on here and we will try to settle your worries and guide you on what you have to do.

P.s try and make the hides dark and not unfittable but a nice fit for the gecko they like to feel secure.

After that good luck with raising the leo.

 

[Tony C]

He looks to be reasonably healthy, though I can see he lost his toes, I'm guessing he probably never had a humid hide. You can clean the tank and reuse it, scrub it thoroughly with hot water, and if there are any deposits on the glass you can clean it with a razor blade. After the initial cleaning, it should be fine, but if you wish you can sanitize it with a 10% bleach solution, then rinse until it no longer smells like chlorine.

Take a look at Gregg M's care sheet for care info, and feel free to post any specific questions after that.

Welcome to GF, and best of luck with him!

 

[Srt14292]

Damn I forgot about Greggs care sheet, Good thinking Tony.

 

[Autonerd]

Thank you for the feedback and advice so far -- please keep it coming!

His existing tank is very tall, and from what I'm reading, they're not climbers, so I'll probably go for a new tank, I'm thinking long and low, is this a good idea?

I thought something might be up with his feet. Very sad that he has no toes! Although I suppose he could have bigger problems.

Aaron

 

[Autonerd]

One other question -- should I start feeding him right away, or give him a few days to settle in? (Srt, you said to leave him for a week,didn't know if that meant without feeding.)

Gregg's care sheet is fantastic. Again, I appreciate all of the help, and please keep it coming.

Aaron

 

[rawson5084]

Welcome to GF and I would try to feed him now... he may eat he may not....

 

[Tony C]

Agreed. If he eats, great, if not then remove the bugs and try again later.

 

[Tony C]

His existing tank is very tall, and from what I'm reading, they're not climbers, so I'll probably go for a new tank, I'm thinking long and low, is this a good idea?

A standard 20 gallon aquarium provides plenty of space for a single gecko, but if you want to get a bigger tank it certainly won't hurt anything.

 

[Autonerd]

So the as-yet-unnamed Gecko is in his new digs. Space restrictions dictated a 10 gallon aquarium, and I've got him set up with a heating pad, paper towel, water dish, and a plate with some mealworms and some calcium powder. I bought a couple of half-log hides from the pet store, but they're too bulky. Cut a couple of plastic plant pots in half, which I have in there now, but they are a little small -- he has to curl up to be covered. Also bot a pair of thermometers, but I have to find a better way to attach the probes as the readings are all over the place.

Tomorrow I'm going to get him some better substrate (I love the idea of slate, where do you get it?) and try to find something better for hides -- maybe some larger pots turned upside-down with an opening. I think he'll be warm enough tonight. I'm sure it's better than at his old house!

Thanks again for your help, and please keep the advice coming.

Aaron

 

[Tony C]

You can use slate tiles from a home improvement store, or get pieces of slate from a garden center or pet store. This thread shows a cool way to make tile look more natural.

 

[Autonerd]

Pics of the temporary digs. Haven't even taken the labels off. Not bad for a starter apartment, especially considering that 8 hours ago I knew *nothing* about geckos except that they appeared in insurance commercials. Clay pot tray is holding down temp probe on the hot side -- bought it as a water dish, forgetting that they need to be painted or else the water soaks in and leaks through. DOH!

 

[Tony C]

Looking good. Don't forget that he will need a humid hide as well.

 

[Autonerd]

That tile is very cool! I am going to a home improvement store tomorrow to look for pots and other potential "furniture". Will check out some tile.

Humid hide: Check! Got the moss this evening, I just have to buy a piece of Tupperware that's the right size. That'll come tomorrow. Hoping to be able to finish the digs tomorrow so I can leave the poor guy (gal?) alone and let him (her?) settle in.

BTW, the word we got from the crazy cat lady from whom we rescued him is that "his toes were eaten off by ants." Is that possible???

Aaron

 

[Tony C]

It is much more likely that he lost his toes from retained shed building up.

 

[Srt14292]

Im with My original hypothosis, I reckon the shed would have done it, if ants were getting into the enclosure would really show recklessness on the previous owners part.