Questions-

[GeckoMandi]

Ok I'm pretty up to par on my incubation so I want to get some tips for taking care of the babies when they arrive. I'm going to tell yall my plan and see if it's going to work well..

I'm going to prepare for 2-3 eggs.

Here is what I am buying or going to make myself for their homes

3-4 Plastic Shoe Box Containers, I'm going to place them on my wooden book shelf in my room, I'm not sure of the size but it's pretty big and wide enough.

I'm going to just buy some UTH pads on ebay, or at a petstore I know it's more expensive maybe than the heat tape, but I didn't want to invest that much and if I plan to keep the babies I will transfer them into glass tanks later. Also can I use the UTH under the plastic boxes? I know I have to elevate them with the little sticky things, I just don't want the plastic to melt. lol

I'm going to make 3-4 small hides, do babies require a cold hide also?

Also going to make my own water/feeding bowls, how shallow do they need to be without the babies drowning?

And..Should I feed the babies mealworms at first? The small ones and also small crickets?

Ok I think that's all the Q's I have for now, I know I will have more later I just want to be fully prepared for anything!

I forgot to mention I have hovabator (my boyfriends) I'm going to use for the eggs, is this a good one to use?

Ok I done..lol

 

[PaulSage]

Ok I'm pretty up to par on my incubation so I want to get some tips for taking care of the babies when they arrive. I'm going to tell yall my plan and see if it's going to work well..

I'm going to prepare for 2-3 eggs.

Here is what I am buying or going to make myself for their homes

3-4 Plastic Shoe Box Containers, I'm going to place them on my wooden book shelf in my room, I'm not sure of the size but it's pretty big and wide enough.

I'm going to just buy some UTH pads on ebay, or at a petstore I know it's more expensive maybe than the heat tape, but I didn't want to invest that much and if I plan to keep the babies I will transfer them into glass tanks later. Also can I use the UTH under the plastic boxes? I know I have to elevate them with the little sticky things, I just don't want the plastic to melt. lol

If you're going to put all the shoeboxes on the same shelf, I would still suggest getting a pre-wired strip of heat tape. I doubt that it would cost much more than a couple of heat pads. Regardless of which you choose, I would still use a thermostat of some sort to control/regulate the temperature.

I'm going to make 3-4 small hides, do babies require a cold hide also?

I don't give my babies a cool hide, but I know other leo keepers do. My babies will sometimes hide underneath the paper toweling on the cool end of their shoeboxes, but they tend to stay in or behind their warm/humid hide.

Also going to make my own water/feeding bowls, how shallow do they need to be without the babies drowning?

I've never given a gecko a water dish, I just keep their humid hide damp enough for condensation to form on the sides/top. However, I think that bottle caps from plastic pop bottles would work for hatchlings' water dishes.

And..Should I feed the babies mealworms at first? The small ones and also small crickets?

I give my hatchlings small mealworms as soon as I set them up in a shoebox. I know usually don't eat until after their first shed, but some will. I don't feed crickets to my hatchlings unless they refuse mealworms.

Ok I think that's all the Q's I have for now, I know I will have more later I just want to be fully prepared for anything!

I forgot to mention I have hovabator (my boyfriends) I'm going to use for the eggs, is this a good one to use?

I've never used a Hovabator for reptile eggs, although many breeders do. I believe that most suggest to use an additional thermostat on them though.

 

[Sarah H]

If you are breeding the female I woud also prepare for more babies then just three. Some first time breeders produce alot more then that. One of my first timers last year gave me 12 hatchlings.

 

[GeckoMandi]

I must have misunderstood she can have to up 12 Hatchlings per year and more? or 12 eggs at one time??

I have separate tanks for the babies so I can move them to it I get to many babies, I just wanted to use the plastic boxes to house them for the first 2-3 weeks.

 

[Sarah H]

After you breed the female she will start laying clutches of 2 eggs at a time. They lay each clutch about 2 weeks apart, sometimes a little longer without being bred again. How many clutches they lay depends on the female. most of mine average around 5 or 6, but I have heard of others females laying somewhere over 10. So basicly Your female could lay anywere from 1-10 clutches. Most first time breeders are twords the low end but you can never be sure.

 

[GeckoMandi]

Well I thought I had something backwards, I am fully prepared for the 2 week period for more eggs to come. I'm going to be rich in baby leo's I hope hehe..Hopefully I don't bite my lip and get 10 lol.

Any good links on where I can get pre-wired heat tape?

 

[eyelids]

www.mgreptiles.com can pre-wire heat tape for you. All I can say is THERMOSTAT...

 

[GeckoMandi]

www.mgreptiles.com can pre-wire heat tape for you. All I can say is THERMOSTAT...

Yeah I heard it can get really hot, I'm kinda scared to use it.

My eggs aren't due for another 2-5 weeks and I'm going to a reptile show on sept. 2nd I wonder if they sell discounted supplys at these things? I've never been to one before.

 

[acpart]

My recommendation for best supply-buying success at reptile show: take a notebook and go through the whole show, writing down the prices of all the stuff you want. Then you can figure out who has the best price. Sometimes if there's a lot of stuff at one place for the best price and you can show them that another booth has a better price on one of their items they'll give you the same price. I have done well at shows, but better on Ebay.

Aliza

 

[GeckoMandi]

My recommendation for best supply-buying success at reptile show: take a notebook and go through the whole show, writing down the prices of all the stuff you want. Then you can figure out who has the best price. Sometimes if there's a lot of stuff at one place for the best price and you can show them that another booth has a better price on one of their items they'll give you the same price. I have done well at shows, but better on Ebay.

Aliza

Awesome tip thanks so much!

 

[Kimjorg]

another great mealworm and water dish that is really really cheap is the little souffle cups that you can get almost anywhere (they are like the little plastic containers that restuarants give you for to go sauces those seem to work the best and they are hard to knock over when filled with water.

 

[brandy101010]

another great mealworm and water dish that is really really cheap is the little souffle cups that you can get almost anywhere (they are like the little plastic containers that restuarants give you for to go sauces those seem to work the best and they are hard to knock over when filled with water.

I never thought of that. I always save soda caps for food and water and milk caps for calcium.

 

[GeckoMandi]

another great mealworm and water dish that is really really cheap is the little souffle cups that you can get almost anywhere (they are like the little plastic containers that restuarants give you for to go sauces those seem to work the best and they are hard to knock over when filled with water.

Really good idea!!