Newbie here, looking for as many tips as you can give :)

[Mikey17]

Hey guys, I'm new on the site and am also new to geckos. I've been thinking about getting one for a while now and am now really getting into it. I've been talking with a good guy in the town i live in about them and he got me set on them! I'm going to do a lot of my own research but I was wanting to know if there is anything i should watch out for? Any information that could be false about leos? Also any tips and pointers would greatly help I look forward to getting to know you guys and your geckos!

 

[corsair8080]

Welcome! does this guy own a pet store? and your planning to buy from him? or a guy that owns/has owned them?

They are great pets, not hard to care for and its very rewarding to own them, I know I LOVE mine!

 

[GeckoCrossing]

Avoid loose substrates like sand, wood chips... anything like that. They don't need overhead heat lights, they aren't baskers and need belly heat. Avoid heat rocks, they've been known to short out and cause some serious burns. Superworms/mealworms can't eat out of the geckos belly... no idea how many times I've heard this myth >< lol.

That's all the big things to avoid that I can think of off the top of my head. I'll post more if I think of any. Welcome to the forums!

 

[LeoTyreal]

Calcium with D3.....get the fine texture calcium dust for crickets with out D3 since they can't use it being they are nocturnal and dont convert it. just ends up building up in their body. only really dust crickets once a week ( dusting- add a small amount of calcium powder to the bag of crickets and shake n bake) also a small dish of the powder in the tank doesn't hurt so they can get extra when they feel they need it. don't feed more crickets then they can eat in a short time span. stragglers tend to eat the droppings and can recycle parasites back in to the geckos tract.
big climbing platforms are a good thing if you intend to have tall objects. they are clumbsy climbers from what i've seen with some of mine and it will keep them from falling off and getting hurt. also make sure to have a temperature gradient from one side of the tank to the other being a reptile they get body heat from the surrounding area and need to be able to warm up and cool down. so having a warm side and a cooler side will help with that.
one more so i dont over load you is a moist hide to help with shedding. specially around the toes. if they can't shed it all off properly eventually the dead skin will pinch off the blood flow and will cause the toes, foot, leg probably in extreme cases to die and fall off.

 

[Mikey17]

Thanks everyone for the helpfullness so far! The guy comes to the pet store i work at all the time, he used to bring in his babies for us to sell. I myself am just going to buy one from him directly. Ive never heard the superworm myth before, thats prety far out xD and ill be sure to keep low climbing things in there, i dont want any accidents! Keep the good facts coming if you thank of any, thanks!

 

[Russellm0704]

Calcium with D3.....get the fine texture calcium dust for crickets with out D3 since they can't use it being they are nocturnal and dont convert it. just ends up building up in their body. only really dust crickets once a week ( dusting- add a small amount of calcium powder to the bag of crickets and shake n bake) also a small dish of the powder in the tank doesn't hurt so they can get extra when they feel they need it. don't feed more crickets then they can eat in a short time span. stragglers tend to eat the droppings and can recycle parasites back in to the geckos tract.
big climbing platforms are a good thing if you intend to have tall objects. they are clumbsy climbers from what i've seen with some of mine and it will keep them from falling off and getting hurt. also make sure to have a temperature gradient from one side of the tank to the other being a reptile they get body heat from the surrounding area and need to be able to warm up and cool down. so having a warm side and a cooler side will help with that.
one more so i dont over load you is a moist hide to help with shedding. specially around the toes. if they can't shed it all off properly eventually the dead skin will pinch off the blood flow and will cause the toes, foot, leg probably in extreme cases to die and fall off.

leopard geckos NEED calcium with D3. Repashy is the most recommended calcium because it uses a safe amount of it.

 

[LeoTyreal]

really? i've heard a lot about the opposite with D3 since they are nocturnal and D3 is metabolized thru the use of sun light. that since they metabolize calcium differently since they dont use sun light and it being needed for D3 processing, a D3 calcium would cause an over abundance and poison them more or less but doing a bit more your right on the D3 it helps them process the calcium since the are nocturnal.
now after some digging my self i found out you need both types. non d3 to sit in the tank in a small dish and d3 enriched to supplement the non d3 by dusting the crickets or meal worms or what ever the food may be. the calcium with d3 contains a phosphorous which acts like a carbohydrate that enables the calcium to be processed with out the use of sun light. so thats where i heard about the D3 being bad. its good but to much can be a bad thing, being if you feed them the d3 calcium to much the phosphorous will build up in the liver and kidneys (where it gives the energy to help with the calcium absorption) and can poison them

 

[Mikey17]

So i keep the Non D3 in a dish in the tank then?

 

[LeopardShade]

Welcome to Geckoforums! So glad you intend to do lots of research before you buy!

I agree with the basic precautions and myths Jonathan and LeoTyreal posted. Definitely get a solid substrate such as paper towels or slate tiles and stay away from all loose substrate!

So i keep the Non D3 in a dish in the tank then?

I keep a dish of Rep-Cal Calcium w/o Vit d3 & Phosphorus in the enclosure at all times for them to pick at as they please. They know how much they need and will lick it up accordingly. You don't want to leave d3 in the enclosure because, while it's rare, the vitamin can affect their health in the long run if given too much. Nonetheless, however, they do need d3 to facilitate calcium absorption. I dust with Calcium w/ d3 once a week and dust with multivitamins every other week.

 

[RampantReptiles]

Nocturnal animals NEED D3 in their supplements. They do not absorb vitamin D through UVB exposure like diurnal species, that is why it is vital that their supplements contain D3.
D3 overdose is not very common but if your geckos are eating their dusted feeders then it would be fine to leave calcium without D3 in their enclosure. They should get enough D3 from gutloaded, dusted feeders.

 

[LeoTyreal]

agreed with leopardshade and rampantreptiles. they put it a lot more simply than my rant, i just put more the technical info and like he said, D3 overdose isn't common it can happen so yes non d3 calcium in a dish in the tank and dust with D3 calcium once or twice a week. and make sure they are phosphate free like said, crickets contain phosphorous already and they wont need more from the calcium because too much is bad lol...i've always only done once a week and it seems to work out fine