New to leos, "new" cage critique requested.

[natalialaloca]

Hello all. I was thinking about getting a leopard gecko for a while, and then recently had the opportunity to get a female with her entire setup on Craigslist for next to nothing. I know this is risky, but she looked good and the setup was close to what I understand to be appropriate for leos, although it had coconut fiber substrate, which I understand to be a no-no. Right away I cleaned out the tank and put in reptile carpet. So here is what I've got:

-Reptile carpet.
-20L tank with screen lid.
-Dry hide: resin fake rock cave.
-Humid hide: another fake rock cave with plastic lid underneath, sphagnum moss inside.
-Water: Fake rock water dish. Our tap water is decent, so that's what I use.
-Heat: Lamp with red 40W reptile bulb.
-Decorations: Flat stones, fake desert plants, reindeer antler.

I get conflicting recommendations on whether to use radiant heat or UTH. The previous owners used the red lamp. I know leos are nocturnal, need belly heat and don't "bask," and the care sheets I've seen recommend UTH, but my LRS advises I use the lamp instead. I have a reptile heating pad that I can use if necessary. Right now the hot side of the cage is 95-98, and the cool side is 88-90.

As for her, she is active at night and eating approximately one large gutloaded/dusted cricket per day, supplemented by occasional dubia roaches (we're starting a breeding population of the latter and hope to feed her mainly on dubias with crickets, mealworms etc as treats). The bugs disappear and she poops daily, so I know she's eating. The previous owners said they had had her for two years. She is inquisitive about me--when I put my hand in the tank, she walks onto my hand and licks it--but she doesn't seem ready for me to pick her up just yet. I've had her about a month but haven't seen her shed yet.

Anyway, any recommendations from experienced keepers would be appreciated. Once I'm confident that I can keep her healthy and happy, I'd like to get another female. I'll try to get a good photo tonight.

 

[RampantReptiles]

tank is a little on the warm side, I would say max 95. Aim for 92-95.

Cool side should be 80 or less. The problem with lamps is that they spread the heat out too much. You are not going to be able to have a proper heat gradient with a lamp in an enclosure that size. I would switch over to the UTH for that reason as well as leopard geckos do better with belly heat.

I would also recommend feeding her more if she will take it. 1 cricket a day seems awfully low. I have adult leos eating anywhere from 2 large super worms to 6 every other day, which is a lot more food than what you are giving her. I know you said you are supplementing with dubias occasionally, just not sure how often that is. Adult leos dont need to be fed everyday. Does she have meal worms in her cage? You could stick a dish of meal worms in there instead of upping the cricket count or just feed more dubias or whatever. Variety helps keep your leo healthy.

If she is coming up onto your hand and stuff I bet she wouldnt mind you slowly raising your hand up and out of the cage. I think at this point its pretty safe to try and handle her. She trusts you enough to come to your hand. She might get confused at first because its something new but I am sure she will get used to you handling her as well.

I am glad you found a leo and hope she lives a long and healthy life!

 

[natalialaloca]

Thanks for the advice! I was a little concerned about the heat. The room she is in (upstairs reptile/tarantula room, we've got a colombian boa in there too) is pretty warm anyway--in fact, it may be hard to keep the cool side at 80 or less ATM. I'll switch to the UTH.

I'll put in more food--I was concerned about uneaten crickets irritating her. I've been providing 2-3 dubias a week. Will give the dish of mealworms a try--should there be a few in there all the time, or just put some in every other day? Also, someone at the LRS warned that mealworms might chew up her insides...is there any truth to that? They advised crushing the mealworms' heads before feeding out.

 

[T-ReXx]

The mealworm eating their way out of the gecko thing is a myth. It's 100% untrue. There is no need to crush heads. And if you're local RS is telling you that, I'd take anything else they tell you with a grain of salt. With my adults I offer mealworms 24/7, changing them out every other day for freshly gutloaded ones. Temps are def too high, lower them(UTH will help with this). Other than that, setup sounds good.

 

[natalialaloca]

Grain of salt taken--that advice seemed suspicious the moment I heard it. I'm glad mealworms are good because I used to breed them when I was little and would love to again...and I'm getting sick of crickets. What do you use to gutload your mealworms?

 

[T-ReXx]

I use Progeckos gutload, which can be found here: www.progeckos.com

I love it, it's well balanced and easily sifted. I gutload all my feeders with it as well as use it as bedding in my meal and super worm colonies.