Some Questions

[NOFX8881]

Hello.

I'm new here and I guess I could have made a "Hello" thread on that other board, but I chose not to. I apologize for the extremely long post that I'm about to make.

Anyway, I'm interested in getting some leopard geckos and I have a lot of questions that have probably been answered a bunch of times (or maybe not).

I was planning on getting some geckos in the next few weeks, but I've decided against it because I just can't do it right now. I plan on getting some in May when I'm out of school for a few months. Currently, I'm in a dorm room that wouldn't be able to hold a large aquarium or terrarium and I have noisy suitemates (how sensitive to sound are geckos? would they be able to hear loud bass from music? I would guess so), so I've decided to wait until this summer to buy the equipment and the geckos (a few weeks apart). I will hopefully be living in an apartment for the next 3 years of school and I figure if I wait until the summer when I move in, the apartment will have a lot more room than my dorm and things will be a lot more quiet and less cramped so there would hopefully be a bit less stress (if any at all).

I guess I could just list some questions that I have. I had a lot last night when I registered for this site, but I didn't get approved until sometime during the day when I was at work and so now I've kind of forgotten the questions I had. I'm sure I'll be back closer to when I get them.

Questions:
How would I transport the geckos on a rather long car ride? It's 4 hours from where I live to where I go to school. I've read threads where people mentioned taping those hand warmers to the bottom of whatever you're taking them in...would that keep them warm enough for the ride? Are there any ways to make sure they're comfortable and not stressed if they're going on a trip like that?

Are there any ways to tell whether a gecko is a male or a female? I've read on other websites about spots that make the letter "V" can determine sex, but is that even true or is that just a myth? The reason I ask this is that I don't know of any breeders in my area (Raleigh, North Carolina or Asheville, North Carolina) and as a college student, I don't have the luxury of having $250 to spend on two geckos from a breeder who could assure me of their sex. I definitely have the money to care for them, but not if I'm spending almost $300 just to get them (and that's not including their habitat, decor, food, UTH, vitamins, etc). I've read the thread on PetSmart vs. Petco and how they're both horrible. But as I just said, I know of no breeders around here and I don't have the funds to get geckos from one even if there were breeders around here. My only option is one of the local Pet Smart stores. The one where I plan on buying the geckos from seems to be pretty nice. The guy that talked to me and gave me a care guide said that he owns 3 leopard geckos at home and their habitat seemed suitable in the store. They had a nice carpet, ample food, a lamp, UTH, 3 water dishes (shallow), 3 hiding places, and a moist hut. He seemed to know what he was talking about and I think he does a pretty good job of making sure the ones at the store are healthy and happy.

If I end up with a male and female and they breed...what the hell do I do? I doubt I'd be able to afford some sort of incubation system, but I couldn't just let the eggs not hatch. I'd feel obligated to figure out a way to make sure they hatch.

If I were to get a 20L aquarium with a hooded light fixture and a UTH, would one side be too hot or would the whole thing be too hot because the light would span the length of the tank? I wouldn't want to burn the geckos. If I went with a terrarium or a 20L aquarium with a screen top and bought a lamp, would I put the lamp over the side of the enclosure with the UTH or would I put it somewhere else? Wouldn't it be too hot if I put it over the UTH, but not warm enough if I put it over another part of the tank?

I'm sure I have a couple more questions that I'm just not thinking of right now. I'll definitely post them if I can think of them.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[GoGo]

Yknow, i can tell you EVERYTHING you need to know because i was in the same situation.

For 1 - Even if a petstore guy says he own's the animal's. 99% of the time they are pulling it out o their ***
2 - From personal experience petco>petsmart in their care of...well...EVERYTHING.
3 - Long car rides are usually a nono with gecko's because it can stress them the hell out, but you could use things like heat pads(the ones you like nuke in the microwave, not too hot though, or put hot water in) to keep the transportation container warmed i guess.
4 - If your planning on using, UTH, you MUST MUST MUST, buy a temperature control type of thing, this is what i use http://www.aworldofpets.com/animals-product-details.asp?sec=5&grp=1194&cat=1246&sub=1247&prd=3002 and besides that you would need at least 3 temperature/humidity indicator's int he tank to know the heat of your hot side, cool side and mid.
5 - Both UTH and Lighting would be in the same place, i sujest infared or moonlight bulb so you can see the gecko's but your not using the lighting as the MAIN heat and not burning out your little gecko's eye's.
6 - Two hemi-penal bulges and a v of hormonal thingies IS how to tell sex and can be easily determined after about 4-6 months of age i think.
7 - It is possible to hatch egg's without an incubator though the chance of hatching is much lower. I cant go into specific's with this seeing as i use a hovabator.
8 - Just because you have a male and female, DOESNT BLOODY MEAN THEY WILL MATE. I have a male and 2 females and i always housed them togeather and they NEVER even TRIED to mate untill i set the correct conditions to stimulate the yearly temperature.

I think i have everything, if not say again and ill add.

 

[NOFX8881]

Yknow, i can tell you EVERYTHING you need to know because i was in the same situation.

For 1 - Even if a petstore guy says he own's the animal's. 99% of the time they are pulling it out o their ***
2 - From personal experience petco>petsmart in their care of...well...EVERYTHING.
3 - Long car rides are usually a nono with gecko's because it can stress them the hell out, but you could use things like heat pads(the ones you like nuke in the microwave, not too hot though, or put hot water in) to keep the transportation container warmed i guess.
4 - If your planning on using, UTH, you MUST MUST MUST, buy a temperature control type of thing, this is what i use http://www.aworldofpets.com/animals-product-details.asp?sec=5&grp=1194&cat=1246&sub=1247&prd=3002 and besides that you would need at least 3 temperature/humidity indicator's int he tank to know the heat of your hot side, cool side and mid.
5 - Both UTH and Lighting would be in the same place, i sujest infared or moonlight bulb so you can see the gecko's but your not using the lighting as the MAIN heat and not burning out your little gecko's eye's.
6 - Two hemi-penal bulges and a v of hormonal thingies IS how to tell sex and can be easily determined after about 4-6 months of age i think.
7 - It is possible to hatch egg's without an incubator though the chance of hatching is much lower. I cant go into specific's with this seeing as i use a hovabator.
8 - Just because you have a male and female, DOESNT BLOODY MEAN THEY WILL MATE. I have a male and 2 females and i always housed them togeather and they NEVER even TRIED to mate untill i set the correct conditions to stimulate the yearly temperature.

I think i have everything, if not say again and ill add.

Well thank you for the response.

1. Probably true, but I let him know I wasn't interested in buying right now so the fact that he talked to me for 15 minutes and showed me the geckos and told me about what they eat, how often they eat, the right temperatures, the set up he uses, etc made me believe he probably did own them. But who knows.
2. There are a couple of Petco stores where I live, but they're all sort of far away. The PetSmart stores around here are really, really great. They're all brand new and I (and my family) have worked with them in some of their programs and they seem to truly care. Either way, I don't have much of a choice in this case.
3. Yeah. That's what I was worried about. There's really no way around it, though. I could wait and buy them when I'm at school, but I don't know how nice a store they have over there or how well they care for the animals. I'd hate to risk it and go there and their geckos are all sick and malnourished or something and them I'm spending money to buy a gecko I won't be able to keep alive. I could always check the store out though in the next few weeks.
4. Yeah, I definitely knew that. But thank you for posting that link...is that product good?
5. Infrared is what was suggested at PetSmart, but I wasn't sure that I wanted to go with a lamp instead of the hood. With the infrared, would I still do the 12 hours on and 12 hours off or would I only leave it on at night or what? I know the UTH is always left on.

 

[BalloonzForU]

I've transported leos on a 15 hour drive, with no issues. These guys usually do very well when placed in a deli cup with holes and paper towel. I usually place them in a cooler with a small UTH or a heat pack, depending on the length of the trip.

Pictures to help sexing. http://leopardgeckobreeder.com/Care/sexing.html

Leos do best when housed alone, as even females may not get a long, and/or stress each other out. So if you have no plans on breeding I would start off with just one.

Lights are not needed and in some cases can cause more stress. Temps on the hot side should be about 90-92 and about 80 on the cool side. These temps should be measured on the ground not the air.