Noob here, made a huge mistake!

[Cosmo]

Now I wanna make sure I don't do another one!

Please don't kill me! But while at the pet store getting some corals for my tank, my friend/owner put a leopard gecko in my 7 year olds hands! Long story short, you know it was coming home, and I was excited too! Kinda wish it was a snake, maybe next time! I know how to raise them properly! So I asked what we needed and he set me up, and we went home to set up the cage and read a bit! Well he sent me home with sand! The site I was on said sand was ok for bigger geckos but not smaller! When we went back the bigger one had been sold and we got a smaller one! He said it would be fine on sand, that it was old enough! well you know what happened! Impacted! So i did the soaking/mineral oil over the weekend, but he faded fast and by the time I got it to the vet on Monday it was too late!

So my boy was heart broken and me really ticked off! My son had been doing great! So I did more reading and figured out sand was a horrible idea! So I dumped the sand and put in 1/4" thick slate, another hiding rock(2 total)! I have 10 gallon/mesh top/and UTH under about a 1/3 of the slate keeping the slate between 86-89 degrees! A hide rock over the heater and one on the other side! A water dish with a compartment for calcium! I'm feeing crickets after gutloading them and have a small daylight bulb!

Any ideas so we don't have a repeat!
I ripped my friend a new one over this, pretty sure sand wont be going out with any leopards in the future!
Thanks!

 

[Cosmo]

Thought I'd add a pic! Btw the kid that raises them order him was there and was really upset and scolded him worse than me! We got a boy and a girl this time!

 

[Dimidiata]

You just made another one -_-. You got 2 for a 10gal + their opposite sex, prepare to either set up a second tank, upgrade to a larger tank or return a gecko. Honestly it can go many ways, they can get along and still need a bigger setup, they can not get along and do some damage to eachother, the sexing can be wrong(and honestly, unless they were temp sexed they appear to young to sex) and that coulod lead to issues. Now if they do grow up in a larger tank the female may be harrased by the male constantly for mating, unwanted eggs can put stress on the female and so on. What im basicly saying is that a rehome or seperation is needed here. The setup sounds good(do you have a humid hide?, also vitamin suppliments) but the 2 shouldnt be in there togather for long.

 

[BrightReptiles]

Also, try to up your hot side temp by a few degrees. Floor temp should be 88-95f. I keep mine towards the higher on the scale, sometimes even going over by a few degrees.

 

[Cosmo]

You just made another one -_-. You got 2 for a 10gal + their opposite sex, prepare to either set up a second tank, upgrade to a larger tank or return a gecko. Honestly it can go many ways, they can get along and still need a bigger setup, they can not get along and do some damage to eachother, the sexing can be wrong(and honestly, unless they were temp sexed they appear to young to sex) and that coulod lead to issues. Now if they do grow up in a larger tank the female may be harrased by the male constantly for mating, unwanted eggs can put stress on the female and so on. What im basicly saying is that a rehome or seperation is needed here. The setup sounds good(do you have a humid hide?, also vitamin suppliments) but the 2 shouldnt be in there togather for long.

I should've mentioned this as i knew the 10 gallon would be too small pretty soon! The breeder that was there made sure of this before he let me get both! He sounded pretty sure they were male and female!
i have a 20 gallon ready to go or a large tupperware tub about the triple the footprint of a 10 gallon! i'm gonna go get the slate tomorrow and another UTH!
i also left with the breeders phone number so if there is a problem, he said he'd take one back! He actually kinda wants the white one back! But pretty sure we'll just end up having 2 setups! i;ve been wanting an excuse to get another tank for my reef! so I'll prob keep 1 in the 10 gallon and 1 in the 20! If they get along, I'll try both in the 20 or tupperware bin!

For the humid hide I was gonna cut up a tupperware bin with a small drip bax and use some moss???? or papertowels????

Thx for the imput, i'll make sure to get the other tank ready tomorrow just in case, or maybe just move them over to it now and keep the 10 gallon for just in case!

 

[Cosmo]

ok moved the UTH from under the aquarium to under the slate in the aquarium, i'll watch to see what the temp does!

 

[Cosmo]

ok temp seems set at 89! guess i'll buy another bigger UTH!

 

[animeavatar]

Buy an UTH that matches the tank(eg. for your 10 gal buy one that is made for 10 gallons). It only needs to cover 1/3 of the floor space.

 

[kathstew]

Honestly, I would just separate them now. Males mature sexually faster than females. If kept together, the male may try to breed with the female too early for the female, which can result in the female getting seriously injured. Its not a good idea.

Leos aren't social creatures. They don't LIKE being together, they just tolerate it- and even then its a risk. As they can one day suddenly snap.

 

[Dimidiata]

Instead of buying a new UTH(you mentioned your was 1/3 the tank size) go to a hardware store and get a thermostat or dimmer switch. That way you can regulate how much heat it puts out using a dial.

 

[Cosmo]

ok

gonna head to Lowes and get a piece of plexiglass/acrylic to divide this big tote in half and get some more slate! is their harm if they can see eachother, or should i get black plexiglass? Each side will be a little bigger than a 10 gllon, so that should be ok???

also, i went to Lowes the other day to buy a thermostat to control this UTH and 3 workers later, no one had any idea how to do it! Does anyone have a name or picture to help me out?

Thanks for the input peeps! appreciated! There's def some conflicting info out there!:main_angry:

 

[Cosmo]

Ok nother question? i have the zoo med small and its not getting the slate above 86-89ish! is there a better brand/bigger/ it was suggested to me to try to get it around 95! Whats the best brand so i can get it while i'm out!

 

[Landen]

a dimmer switch as stated above will not increase the temp. If you've got the heat pad plugged directly into the wall it's already running @ 100%. The Slate will absorb some of the temps so replace the slate with paper towel and that should bump your hot spot up a few degrees. Also ditch the light as this is only used for your enjoyment and can/will stress your gecko. They're nocturnal anyways. You can get a thermostat online or from Petco/Petsmart locally. (check out Zilla Temperature Controller 1000W which is one of the more common ones sold in stores)

The clear plexi should be fine, but when breeding time comes next year, your male will certainly go into breeding mode and may stop eating seeing as he's only thinking about breeding which ultimately could end very badly for your male. Your dual set up will work until then but ultimately two seperate tubs would work best.

Good news is your asking guestions and taking corrective critism!

There are many people on here that have great knowledge from experience and others on here that are new and THINK they are giving the correct info... Either way your on the right track by asking questions. Good luck!

P.S. don't support pet stores as they'll tell you anything to make the sell(ie. Sand), breeders direct are usually always a better idea.

 

[Cosmo]

Thx for the response! I help with foster problem dogs so I hate that I trusted my friend and that I didn't read up more myself! This is what I built! What do you think! Also if I black out the plexiglass will the male still be able to "smell" or sense the female! Gonna keep the supplies for the 10 gallon just in case I have to move one out! In that case I guess 1 will have a huge home!

 

[Landen]

I've noticed that when I have a male next to an ovulating female on a rack that does not have a divider between, the male will be rattling his tail while the female is ovulating which means he can sense/smell her even in seperate tubs. I'm not sure if others have experienced this but I now house all my males in a seperate rack that has dividers between each tub (side to side). With your set up I'd assume he'd smell her and see her, but for now it'll be fine (and you did a great job on the divider by the way), just watch him and when you see signs of him wanting to breed, i'd seperate them into seperate containers at that point.

 

[Cosmo]

cool thx! please check my other thread i started to make sure im getting all i need!

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=83630