New to leo's and have a few Q's

[Wind Dancer]

i'm researching:main_robin: leo's and i have a few questions about them.
would it be alright to just feed them meal worms(crickets are boy-coted in our house)? should i dust them with any thing? how hard is it to keep a colony of them?
what would the best lighting be? i saw something at the pet store today that i really like called 'Glow Light. Porcelain Clamp Lamp/Glow Reflector' by Exo-terra. would that work? is there something that would work better?
is paper towel alright for bedding?
best brand of hide out(one that goes up against the glass so i can see her)?
anything else i should know? thanks for the help!

 

[Ccrashca069]

i'm researching:main_robin: leo's and i have a few questions about them.
would it be alright to just feed them meal worms(crickets are boy-coted in our house)? should i dust them with any thing? how hard is it to keep a colony of them?
what would the best lighting be? i saw something at the pet store today that i really like called 'Glow Light. Porcelain Clamp Lamp/Glow Reflector' by Exo-terra. would that work? is there something that would work better?
is paper towel alright for bedding?
best brand of hide out(one that goes up against the glass so i can see her)?
anything else i should know? thanks for the help!

Alot of people here just feed mealworms to leopard geckos. I feed mine dusted mealworms 1-2 times a week. UTH( under tank heater) is all a leopard gecko needs for heat. If you want a light to see them at night then get a red or black light. Paper towels are great for leopards. I also have used newspaper and reptile carpet. Those hides that stay on the tank with magnets are good. Buy the large one. Also provide a humidity hide. You can make your own humid hide with a cool whip conpainer for example and cut a big circle entrance. You need to provide a calcium dish at all times.

I might be forgetting a few things but you get the ideal.

 

[lucia]

Hi, welcome and check out the Housing threads for some information. http://www.geckoforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=10

According to many breeders, it is okay to feed a staple diet of only mealworms. But you have to make sure that you gutload them and also offer them in a bowl with calcium. Personally, I give my leo both mealworms and crickets. But I think the main thing to consider is to gutload your insect. Remember- what goes into your insect goes into your leo. So if you don't feed your insect properly, your leo will suffer.

Since leos are nocturnal, they do not necessarily need light. However, it is beneficial to provide a day/night cycle for your leo. I personally use a day-glow light for the daytime because my leo is in the basement where we don't have much daylight coming in through the windows. If your set-up is in, say- your living room, you may have enough natural light that you don't need a bulb.

Also- as for the porcelain/ceramic heat lamp- I do use one of those on the "cool" side because, again, my leo is in my basement and ambient air temps are pretty cool down here. The main thing you need to consider is your hot and cool temps. Get two thermometers and place them on the bottom of your tank, one on the hot and one on the cool side. Your hot side should be 88-90 degrees and your cool side should be somewhere in the 70-80 degree range (I could be slightly off here).

You need an Under-the-Tank Heater on the warm side. You can buy one at your pet store or order one online. Just Google it.

At the very minimum, provide a humid hide on the warm side an a hid on the cool side. I used a plastic butter container, cut a small circle in the bottom (which becomes the top when inverted in the tank), placed a paper towel in it. Then I put some water on the paper towel and placed the whole thing on the warm side. The small hole in the bottom (which becomes the top in the tank) will give you a convenient place to replenish the water daily as needed. The cool side also has a hide, but no paper towel/water.

Hopefully that helps. Again- check out the Housing thread- there is a lot of great info there. I read everything before getting my first leo and he's doing GREAT!

 

[david13]

I only feed my leo mealworms. Dust them with pure calcium and vitamin D3 a couple times a week. I just have mealwormsm in a dish and dust them and they last for bout 3-4 weeks. I never tried breeding mealworms because i don't have too many reptiles. that light would work but if you have a window in the room with your gecko you don't need a light. Paper towel is alright for bedding ( i use tile but im going to use paper towel for the babies). I mad my hides out of a box, cool whip dish, and tupperware container. It wouldnt be mch of a hide if its light from the glass since she's up against it but i dont know.

heres a good site- http://www.thegeckospot.com/shortleocare.html

 

[Wind Dancer]

it has a cover on the out side that you can take off to see them. very cool.
how much noise do they make at night? it'd be in my room and they have to be quiet.

 

[Ccrashca069]

My leopard geckos don't make much noise. I have a reptile rack next to my bed with 11 or 12 leopard geckos in it.

In my tanks in the living room, I have 2 of those Large magnetic reptile dens. They are pretty cool. I have a grand totol of around 25 or so. I am getting more this month hehehehe

 

[Wind Dancer]

ok, then it should be fine, i have a noise machine and sleep with it on 'rain' at a medium level. i don't like to hear everything that goes 'bump' in the night, LOL! i'm such a sissy*insert cross eyed face with tonge sticking out here*.

 

[Bodon]

I have never heard any of mine make any noise, they are pretty quiet geckos. My cresties make noise but its just them jumping from one thing to another and its a very faint sound.

 

[Wind Dancer]

i still have the sound of hamsters(nasty, evil things they are*insert shudder here*)in my head. thank goodness they're gone now!!
ok, so my room has a window(thank goodness, LOL!), so i'll skip on the light idea for now. about how much to the under-tank heaters run(for a ten gallon)? can you use the stick on thermometers(that go on the outside)like you'd get in the aquarium dept.?

 

[Ccrashca069]

Those stick on you get at the aquarium store don't read the ground temp. For about $7-15 you can buy a dig therometer with a probe. The uth for a 10 gallon will run you about $15.00. A 20 long tank is alot better to house a leopard in. A uth for those will be around $20-25.

 

[Wind Dancer]

i've got limited space and funds, so a ten gallon is about all i can mange if i get a leo.

 

[Bodon]

Keep in mind they grow fast and in several months they will NEED more room than a ten gallon has.

 

[Wind Dancer]

i read that you can keep an adult in a ten gallon on Palmetto Gecko, Geckos Ect. and Lizards.com. i'm not trying to pick a fight or anything, but i've read that a lot of places. and i tend to have more than one opinion(no offence).
thanks for caring enough to post, thought!

 

[Wind Dancer]

i wasn't trying to offend any body
i'm just naturally cautious about taking one persons advice when it's contrary to everything else i've heard/read. not trying to be a bratty new girl

 

[Ccrashca069]

Well you asked we gave our advice. It up to you to use it or not.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't force it to drink.

 

[The Sunset Gang]

I house my geckos in ten gallons. And they have plenty of room and they are almost full grown. Unless you get a giant you should be fine with a ten gallon. If you are trying to save pennies, try going to a reptile show to get supplies because the stuff there usually runs cheaper. Good Luck!

 

[Wind Dancer]

thanks Greg! just wondering if anybody happens to know of any shows in florida around the orlando area(or a bit north of orlando)? i was looking at the under tank heaters and i was wondering, if it says ten gallon, is that for the whole tank bottom, or the half that they're supposed to have? would it be better to get two ceramic dishes(meal worms/water)or a dish for the mealies and a milk carton lid for the water. i've decided that i'll use paper towels for the cage bottom(if mom says yes:main_yes: :main_no: ), it seems like the safest and cheapest route to go. the sand looks nice but i don't want her to get hurt:main_thumbsup: !

 

[lucia]

This is the Under-the-Tank Heater that I got (only I got the larger one for my larger tank) http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=489

The 10 gallon size will fit on a portion of the 10 gallon tank, so that is the one you would need. The prices on that site are really low compared to pet stores, but the shipping is high. Still, I ordered everything for my tank including the screen top and it was still cheaper than the pet store (and I got some items that my local pet stores don't even sell).

I think a 10 gallon is going to be fine for your leo, just don't get a giant. Also, if you can get a female, it will be slightly smaller than a male when fully grown. Just please don't try to put more than one leo in a 10 gallon.

If you don't want to use paper towels for the substrate, you can use repti-carpet, which is much safer than sand. Also, for a 10 gallon tank, you might want to just hand feed your leo every day instead of leaving a dish in the tank. This would free up some space on the tank floor. But if you do that, please make sure that you spend time every day feeding your little guy. I would use either a shallow dish for water, or a small butter dish lid or something like that. Not only will this provide water, but it will help keep the air in the cage from becoming too dry.

Looks like there is a show in Orlando in May http://www.repticon.com/

 

[rubym]

Walmart has a digital therm for 11.88 with the probe. They work good. Mealies are super easy to breed. They don't smell horrible like crickets. I have 3 of those stackable plastic drawer things ( got at walmart) that I use to keep my mealies/bugs in. I keep mine in a bran beeding that I mix up or you can buy it online . I feed mine( mealis and bugs) potatoes, carrots, collard greens.
As for noise at night, I sometimes hear mine. It is usualy them scooting the dishes around or my males vibrating their tails. I don't pay too much attention to it but I seem to have always had a creature of some sort that scurries at night. Yes I had quite a few of the dreadful little hamsters, LOL.

 

[Wind Dancer]

big? i'd run! i deff. want a reguler sized girl(can you blame me? all my other pet are boys, even the rabbit was mis-sexed at the pet store and joined my two boy cat's, LOL!). nope, no more than one, gotta start small if mom's nice enough to have a lizard in her house!
what about maybe feeding her and then when she's done just taking the dish out? how many mealies does a adult girl average a day?