Personal Preferences

[CalypsoTheLG]

I'm getting a Leopard Gecko this weekend. I have the tank all setup and ready to go, but I'm wondering what some of your guys' PERSONAL preferences are. I like to research things before I get them, so I do know the norm for LG cages. I've read some people feed crickets all the time and some feed mealworms all the time. Also, I know that 10G is the bare minimum for a single LG, so at that how do I keep a cool side and a warm side? But any ways, what do you do for your LG?

 

[roger]

I'm getting a Leopard Gecko this weekend. I have the tank all setup and ready to go, but I'm wondering what some of your guys' PERSONAL preferences are. I like to research things before I get them, so I do know the norm for LG cages. I've read some people feed crickets all the time and some feed mealworms all the time. Also, I know that 10G is the bare minimum for a single LG, so at that how do I keep a cool side and a warm side? But any ways, what do you do for your LG?

i keep a basic setup of one humid hide with damp vermiculite on the cool end with a warm hide on the other end.Warm end is at 90-95 deg.u achieve the warm end by putting a under tank heater on the outside ,right underneath the tank.Your new leo might only accept one prey but try to mix it up for complete diet.10 gallons is fine for one adult.Stay away from sand it causes impaction.

 

[prettyinpink]

Since you said you like to research here's some caresheets I like to show to people. They have lots of good info on them

http://geckoforums.net/articles.php?c=115

 

[Reborn]

My personal perference is:
-a 10 is far to small for a adult, mine are all about 10 inchs so they dont fit into small hides so 20 longs are the only way to go. For juvies/quaranteen tanks a 10 is fine but i personally dont like 10s, period. (you can never get a good cool or hot side and by the time you give them a warm hide and a moist hide half the tanks full)
- Lights are crap in my oppion. Leos get belly heat and lights are only good for viewing.
-Sand is the worst possible thing.
and
- Zoo med makes the best UTH! haha, ive had the cheap ones, Zillas, a t-rex, and of them all the cheap ones stop working, one of the zillas started making weird noises so i threw it out, and the t-rex never worked from the start. Of the zoo meds i have yet to have any go out(i have over 15 going)

Again this is MY personal prefrence! I dont care for housing my guys in tubs, i like viewing them in natrual set ups.

 

[Fencer04]

I agree with most everything else that has been said. Lights just stress them out and sand is a definite no no. A good quality UTH is the way to go, I don't have a recommendation because I use heat tape and keep my geckos in a rack.

 

[Euphoric]

Yeah, zoo med makes the best heat pads.

I use tile in my tanks...it cost $8 to tile a 20 gallon (2 12x12, 1 6x6) and lasts forever, looks great, and zero impaction.

I feed pretty much all worms. My enigma has a real hard time catching crickets so I jsut feed mealies. Once a month roaches. Crickets every few weeks.

 

[Reborn]

Yeah i use tile too in all mine minus one whos a rescue and has MBD she doesnt like tile(she rubs her knees on it) and perfers paper towel. Not the nicest looking but she's happy so im happy. Also will say that mine all LOVE hammacks! i just cut off fabric from old sheets or such and make corner hammacks. the ones sold they didnt care for, the fabric was odd i guess, but they like sheet fabric. And a final word. Of my 20 leos i HIGHLY recommened the exo-terra hides. There heavy and wont move around, trap heat very well, and look nice. But thats my prefernce;D

 

[acpart]

Personal preferences: 20 gallon long tank for 1-2 geckos. Same tank with 12"x12" heated upper level for 3-4 geckos. Warm hides for number of geckos +1 where possible and humid hide that doubles as a lay box. Water dish, cage decorations if there's room, bathroom tile for cleaning off without having to scrub at the cage floor, ceramic tile on the bottom, zoo-med heat pad or heat cable with Alife or ESU thermostat. I feed the adults what they want to eat which is superworms for most of them and crickets for some.

Aliza

 

[CalypsoTheLG]

Re:

If I feed mine just mealworms, what should I keep in the dish/container with them, and should I still dust them?

 

[Euphoric]

I used rolled oats, and I dust them every other week.

 

[GothicGurrrl]

I thought i'd answer lol i'm quite new to owning leo's.
Mine's in a wooden vivarium and I don't really know the size.. but the floor space looks just a little bigger than a 10 gallon. I also have a 20 gallon that I need to set up.. I think that the bigger the enclosure the better.. if it's too small (10 gallon).. there's only enough room for the moist hide and the general hides... and then all of your floor space is taken up.

Okay.. soo I have 2 exo terra hides.. one small and one medium. I have a piece of cork bark that hides the entrance to the warm hide. I have a humid hide at the back of the cool side of my viv. It's basically a plastic container filled with damp sphagnum moss. oh, and a log hide thing . I have an exo terra water bowl and a small tray with sand in (that's her toilet). Oh, and It's always nice to decorate the tank with fake, or real, plants and other interesting ornaments that are available.

My substrate is tile. My warm side temps are 30-33C. It gets warmer in summer to around 30-35C.

and as for feeding.. I feed my leo a main diet of crickets.. She loves them and doesn't really eat anything else. I give her a few waxworms a week also. I dust the crickets with calcium/vitamin d3 twice a week.. and I leave a bottle cap filled with pure calcium in her tank.

a pic of my set-up:

 

[Dog Shrink]

You need to expand UPWARDS gothic... I bet there's a lot of vertical space in that tank. I see an awesome multi level project in the works there. :main_evilgrin: It could be like a gecko habitrail also glad to see your leo took to the litterbox. Aren't they amazing? Eros uses his every time :main_yes: makes clean up sooooo easy.

 

[Merriweather]

For your UTHs... do you guys have a whats it called.. adapter or surge protector or power controller thing so you monitor the temps?

 

[Dog Shrink]

A surge protector will only protect the UTH in the case of an electricity spike or a malfunction on the part of the UTH. The surge protector will pop it's internal circuit breaker and disable the UTH insted of it burning up is how they're suppose to work. You need a rheostat, a thermostat or a light dimmer to control uth temps and a probe thermometer to register the temps your uth is putting out.

 

[Daedric1]

Some good advice in this thread.

If you're buying one this weekend, then take advantage of a great sale Petco has going on right now (if there is one near you). It's $1/gallon for all tanks there at the moment, so go ahead and get a 15 or 20 gallon long tank. The larger tank will give more room for tank furniture/hides and creating a good heat gradient.

I know some people opt for smaller tanks because the larger ones cost a lot more, but this is really a deal you can't miss out on if you want to upsize.

I'm really considering buying a tank for my future gargoyle gecko...haha.

 

[GothicGurrrl]

You need to expand UPWARDS gothic... I bet there's a lot of vertical space in that tank. I see an awesome multi level project in the works there. :main_evilgrin: It could be like a gecko habitrail also glad to see your leo took to the litterbox. Aren't they amazing? Eros uses his every time :main_yes: makes clean up sooooo easy.

haha, I know.. I do plan to give the viv a makeover, eventually. But in summer, I'm getting other leo soo i'll be busy enough.. but one day, it will have little cliffs and things. yeah, they make it really easy to clean