new to leopard geckos.

[nessa]

Ok my tank has All natural reptile calcium substrate for bedding. I have a hiding rock and a rock waterbowl, a rock reptile heater and a reptile lamp with a 60 watt bulb in it.. I also used a tupperware container cut a hole in the end of it put warm wet paper towels in it put the lid on it. Then I put some sand on top of the heat rock and then set the tupperware container on that and then put sand on top of the tupperware container. That way when i turned on the heatlamp it wouldnt be in the geckos eyes.
I heard this is bad for them but the pet store didnt tell me that. So when I get payed in a couple days im getting a red bulb. Anything I need to add or take away? I am going to add some rocks and plants but gotta wait til my next check.

 

[LeoMerlin]

Well I wouldn't recommend using sand as a substrate. And I heard "heat rocks" burn the geckos. I use reptile carpet in my tank, tiles also seem to work from what I've read, or paper towels. A blue bulb should be good for the day time and the red bulb is great for night time. Make sure to have an under tank heating pad as well, because they get heat from their bellies. Hope this helps, oh and a calcium dish provided at all times

 

[SDCowboy]

Ditch the sand. Nothing good comes from it. It doesn't look as good as slate, isn't accurate to their native habitat and can cause serious health problems.

 

[nessa]

Im working with a 10 gallon aquarium. Also how do you all keep the moister in the tank? I read up before I got my two leopard geckos but its like one place tells you one thing the other place says something totally different. The stuff I got looks like sand but it isn't. Heres what the package says. No artificial dyes or chemicals. Contains strontium and magnesium. Free of silica and phosphates.

Reptilite is 100% edible and readily digestible. It is made of aragonite, the most soluble form of calcium carbonate available, allowing reptiles to easily ingest necessary calcium for proper bone development...

If I got the reptile anyone know of a good online store to order it from? Pet supplies plus were I go to get supplies dont carry it.

 

[SDCowboy]

Im working with a 10 gallon aquarium. Also how do you all keep the moister in the tank? I read up before I got my two leopard geckos but its like one place tells you one thing the other place says something totally different. The stuff I got looks like sand but it isn't. Heres what the package says. No artificial dyes or chemicals. Contains strontium and magnesium. Free of silica and phosphates.

Reptilite is 100% edible and readily digestible. It is made of aragonite, the most soluble form of calcium carbonate available, allowing reptiles to easily ingest necessary calcium for proper bone development...

If I got the reptile anyone know of a good online store to order it from? Pet supplies plus were I go to get supplies dont carry it.

You don't want the tank to be "moist". They are desert animals. They should have a humid hide though. And it doesn't matter what you read. The sand is not good for them.

 

[LeoMerlin]

See the moisture thing is something that's bugged me too because I've read a ton of different solutions online, and asked people at PetCo, etc. Get some gages that show what the temp is and the humidity level. They are desert animals. Also a digital thermometer is needed so you can tell what the temp is on the heated side, 88-92 I believe is right for day time, and I have read that it should be in the 70s at night or something close to that.

For the moisture, if you have the moist hide, just spray inside that on the paper towel, and change the paper towel out every so often. That should help the moisture levels for shedding purposes.

Make sure to have fresh water daily, and look on the forums for more information or Youtube videos, just type in "Leopard Gecko Tank Set Up".

For the UTH make sure it's the right size for your tank. If you say you have a 10 gallon tank, get a 10 gallon UTH pad. That will help with the heat too

 

[nessa]

Ok what good online stores sell the reptile carpet? I do watch the videos of leopard gecko tank setups. Ive seem some people on there using sand, papertowels, reptile carpet, rocks etc... I heard sand is bad too I told the pet store lady and the pet store lady was like its not actual sand it wont hurt her. I think im going to go with reptile carpet. Then I need a moisture box. Some plants, a rock water dish and a rock hideout and a night time heat bulb, and a under the tank heater and I should be good right?

Also my female gecko has a little shedded skin stuck to some toes. I heard you have to let them sit in a moisture hideout for about 30 minutes and then try to carefully remove the dead skin. I did this and when i try to get the skin off she squirms like crazy. She had the dead skin on her toes when I got her. I read up were if you dont get it off as the gecko grows were the dead skin is on the toe it will cut off blood supply and eventually the toe will fall off.

 

[andrew5859]

Get rid of the sand. It doesnt matter if its calcium sand or not. Its bad for them. Reptisand (I believe thats what you said you had) will actually make them want to eat it because of the "calcium" in it so they are more likely to get impacted.
I use slate tile it works like a charm, easy to clean and looks natural.

Get rid of the heat rock they can burn themselves to death on it.

Personal opinion I would get a 50w night red bulb and keep it on all the time until you get an uth. I dont suggest the day bulb because it can hurt their eyes especially if its an albino.
Uth should cover 1/3 the tank so it creates a hot side.

Good Luck!

 

[LeoMerlin]

Go to Amazon, they have pretty good deals. Or PetCo or PetSmart may have reptile carpet. I know PetCo (or the one in my area) has great reptile carpet. The only thing to watch out for when feeding your geckos is to make sure they don't get stuck, this is why I use the tongs to feed mine his crickets. But reptile carpet is safer and has a nicer appearance than some other substrates. It's not too expensive, and I would go ahead and buy two (they can be cut to size for your tank).

Get two so that when one is dirty and needs to be cleaned, you can swap it out for the new one and just keep changing it each time it needs to be cleaned, etc. Or you could just buy one then use paper towels when it's time to clean the reptile carpet

 

[andrew5859]

Ok what good online stores sell the reptile carpet? I do watch the videos of leopard gecko tank setups. Ive seem some people on there using sand, papertowels, reptile carpet, rocks etc... I heard sand is bad too I told the pet store lady and the pet store lady was like its not actual sand it wont hurt her. I think im going to go with reptile carpet. Then I need a moisture box. Some plants, a rock water dish and a rock hideout and a night time heat bulb, and a under the tank heater and I should be good right?

Also my female gecko has a little shedded skin stuck to some toes. I heard you have to let them sit in a moisture hideout for about 30 minutes and then try to carefully remove the dead skin. I did this and when i try to get the skin off she squirms like crazy. She had the dead skin on her toes when I got her. I read up were if you dont get it off as the gecko grows were the dead skin is on the toe it will cut off blood supply and eventually the toe will fall off.

I would still go with tile but repticarpet would be ok just watch because they can get their claws and teeth stuck.

The people at the pet store told me the same thing about sand when I started too.....its a shame.

Yes get rid of the shed on her toes....it should be better once you get a moist box but for now just help her out a little

I would also get a thermometer with a probe to measure floor temps and something to control the uth so it doesnt get too hot....like a light dimmer at lowes should be fine in your case since you only have one tank.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Step #1 is to stop listening to the employees at the pet stores. I can tell they've already told you many wrong things about leopard geckos. Don't feel bad because when I first started, I too was sold a lot of items I didn't need. You will want to start reading the posts on this forum, there are many useful posts on this forum that you can learn from. Do some research, and ask questions. There are tons of knowledgeable folks here.

People above have given you great suggestions and advice already so I won't rehash anything. But I do highly recommend slate tiles if you can find some that fit your tank. You can get them at homedepot/lowes, and they are cheaper than repti carpet. They are also much cleaner, easier to clean, and they will make your tank look very natural and very cool.

Good luck!

 

[nessa]

I took the rock heater out of the cage. I have a purple reptile bulb will that work for now?

 

[LeoMerlin]

It is always hard to determine if it's good to listen to Pet store places for advice. Not everyone there will know all about the different care methods of every animal they sell. But sometimes you do find people there that do know what they're talking about from experience of owning the same animal or having had plenty of research before hand so as to become an employee there. That is what I would think anyways. The pet store I've gone to have had at least a few people that have owned reptiles and seem to know the better "Dos" and Don'ts".

And the purple bulb, I don't know. I have a blue bulb in there now, and a red one for night.

 

[andrew5859]

I took the rock heater out of the cage. I have a purple reptile bulb will that work for now?

The purple bulb is fine its just a type of night bulb. A red bulb will make them easier to see for you than a purple bulb but they can't see red light so it just looks dark to them. But you're fine with the purple bulb if you like it.

 

[andrew5859]

It is always hard to determine if it's good to listen to Pet store places for advice. Not everyone there will know all about the different care methods of every animal they sell. But sometimes you do find people there that do know what they're talking about from experience of owning the same animal or having had plenty of research before hand so as to become an employee there. That is what I would think anyways. The pet store I've gone to have had at least a few people that have owned reptiles and seem to know the better "Dos" and Don'ts".

And the purple bulb, I don't know. I have a blue bulb in there now, and a red one for night.

When I first started with leos the pet store employees told me to use sand and get a day bulb and that they need misted daily :main_rolleyes:
Heck I went to an expo recently and the one guy I met that was selling leos told me they didnt need a moist hide! Did I mention he was also selling leos!!:main_lipsrsealed:

 

[Gecko977]

Pet store workers do give very good advice and but some of it is a lie. I was told to get repti carpet with a blue heat bulb and to use it at night only. I ended up getting a uth and reptile carpet. My gecko's claws and teeth got stuck on it. Go with paper towels or slate. Everything else sounds pretty good.

 

[stager]

Thanks you vets answered one of my questions. I've always been a big fan of paper towels with my snakes.

 

[nessa]

I guess I'll just go with paper towels as bedding. Another thing is im afraid to leave the heat lamp on all night. I dont mind leaving the under the tank heater running at night though. I am going to dumb the sand out of the cage. My husband dont think thats very nice of the pet store to sell me stuff I didn't need. Also would it be okay to use rocks I find outside for the geckos cage as long as I sterilize them before I put the rock in the cage?

 

[Gecko977]

I leave my UTH on 24/7 with no type of special lighting. The window light is enough for mine. They need light to tell their day/night cycles.

 

[nessa]

What is a UTH?