Soon To be Leopard Gecko owner with questions.

[dmlloyd01]

Hi all. I am in the process of getting my first Leopard Gecko and I just had a few questions and a checklist that maybe someone could look over to make sure I have everything. First off I haven't decided whether I want to use my old 10 gallon or if I want to buy a 20 gallon, gotta price 'em, to use for there housing. I'm hoping the 20 gallon are in my price range cuz I wanna get two geckos. I wanna know what I should use to clean out my aquarium? I've heard the 10% bleach answer but I was wondering if there was anything like a specific product that could be used, I guess i'm a lil paranoid with the bleach and don't want the gecko to get sick...I know i know just rinse it good...like i said paranoid. Next I want the tank to have a natural look which is why I wanted to go with sand I heard playground sand is the best to use and to stay away from calcium sand. Has anyone had experience with it?I know about impaction from my internet searches but I was thinking if I just feed it mealworms while its small in a feeder bowl maybe that will keep it from accidently eating the sand. I also heard that impaction usually happens with the calci-sand because I guess it smells like food or whatever and there more inclined to eat it. Okay now the checklist. I haven't bought anything yet but this is my list of items i wanna get:

1) Play-sand
2) Under tank heater
3) (2) cave shelters
4) Tank Lid
5) Water bowl, Food bowl, & Calcium bowl.

Anything else I need? All other help is appreciated thanx. :main_thumbsup:

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

1) No sand -- Use Paper towels or for a more natural look use ceramic tiles NOT SAND
2) yes UTH WITH THERMOSTAT
3) Caves - 1 Humid and 1 Cool minimum - I use 1 Hot Humid, 1 Hot Dry, 1 Cool Humid (not really humid -- same as humid hide but on cool side) then a Cool Dry
4) Tank lid, not really needed at all
5) Yes Water bowl, Food Bowl, Cali Bowl

 

[Val]

If you plan to get two, I'd be prepared to seperate them into completely seperate enclosures. Males should never be housed with other males, and they shouldn't be housed with females unless you have the intent to breed. Even housing two females together has proven unsuccessful for us. There's always going to be a dominant female and then you have to worry about bullying. It's really much better to keep them seperate since they're solitary creatures and do a lot better when given their own space.

I agree with 'no sand' for more reasons then one. Play sand is better than calcium sand, but there's always a risk with particle substrates. They also don't come from overly sandy areas, it's more like hard clay. If you're looking for natural, ceramic or slate tiles are as close as you're going to get. It's more sanitary, never has to be replaced, and really cheap. Home Depot or Lowe's will usually cut the tiles down to size for you at no cost, just measure your tank first.

If you have other pets or want to use a blue bulb for night time viewing then you most definitely want a lid. You'll also want to get the a container of calcium, calcium with d3 and a multivitamin to dust his/hers feeders with.