Starting Over, Please Help!

[purepeach]

Hey, everyone. I hope you're all doing well.

I have an issue. When I was about 10, I received a leopard gecko as a gift from my parents. They purchased him from the local pet store, which recommended that we house him in a 20 gallon fish tank (wire mesh top) and use crushed almond shells as a substrate. The set up included a water dish, a hide on the cooler side of the enclosure, and a UTH. No humid hide. My parents must have believed that the people working there knew what they were talking about, and assured me that my gecko had the best possible home.

I'm now 18, and over the past year I've been learning more and more about the ideal enclosure. I see now that the people working at pet shops only know the basics and I'm heartbroken just thinking about these past 8 years for my gecko. He's a curious, friendly, and generally happy fellow. I imagine this terrarium is far better than the cramped sandbox he was born in, but I want to really make him happy.

So here's where I'm stuck. My parents told me not to touch my gecko when I was younger, therefore he only associates my hands with food. I can't imagine them descending from above is much fun for him, either. I've NEVER held him. This worries me because I want to redo his enclosure as soon as possible, but I don't want to stress him out too much/terrify him when I place him in a temporary home and then into a completely redone cage! How do you suggest I go about this?

Also, I've decided to replace his horrible excuse for a substrate with slate titles. I was thinking of putting a layer of the crushed almond shells underneath, however, to control how much heat comes through and to make sure the ground is even in case the tile doesn't fit perfectly. Thoughts?

I'm going shopping/preparing this week and here's my list:
-artificial plant
-wax worms (to coax him to his temporary home when I clean until he warms up to me fully)
-supplies for moist hide (tupperware filled with Eco Earth)
-a dish for supplement powders
-unglazed slate tiles
-paper towels
-hot hide (storebought)
-new carrier box for crickets
-temporary home for lizard

In your opinion, which of this stuff is better off storebought or is even not needed? Am I forgetting anything?

I'm sorry for going on and on, but I can't stand the idea of not giving my dear pet the best life. I want to make him super happy! Thanks so much!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Slate tiles are a great substrate. The crushed almond shells are an insulator. They will prevent most if not all heat from reaching the tile. If you want to prevent too much heat I would suggest a thermostat or dimmer. A conductor like sand under the tiles can make heat transfer more efficient. it is safe as long as your gecko cannot snarf down mouthfulls.

As long as he's healthy and you don't feed him for 48 hour prior to moving him your gecko should be fine in a room temperature container for a few days while you set up his new home. I'd invest in better equipment for his enclosure and just keep him in a $1 sterilite box with a home made hide or something similar in the meantime. If you're worried you can put the box into the tank before it's complete with 50% over the UTH to give him a bit more heat while he waits He will also not really need treats to become accustomed to his new home and may feel safer and more comfortable if the new home is more appropriate! It is not unsafe or unusual for healthy adult geckos to stop eating for a week or two (or six). As long as they don't lose a ton of weight it's usually normal.

I had a big male I was a bit scared of and didn't hold often before I started breeding geckos. Like you, I learned a lot more about their care and wanted to upgrade his enclosure and bought him a couple of girlfriends while I was at it! I was nervous about getting him out so I used to use a solo cup and piece of cardboard to get him out of his container in the beginning. Once he was out and in my hand he was a lot less scary! I've been taking him out once every other week or so for the last year and he's a calm happy boy now.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Sounds like you're on the right track.

Since you've never handled him, I would say just coax him into a container so you can redo his enclosure. Although, if you've had him for 8 years, then there's a decent chance that he'll be calm enough for you to just pick him up. Older and larger animals tend to be much more relaxed, so you could try to pick him up and see what happens. With really skittish animals(like my giant day gecko), I just get a plastic container large enough to hold them and place it in front of them. Then I take my other hand and put it behind them, maybe gently touch the tail to get them moving forward and into the container. It shouldn't be nearly as difficult as with my day gecko, because my day gecko climbs walls and is really fast. This way you can reduce the amount of stress be experiences and if you wanted to start handling him, you can start the process once his enclosure is finished.

It might be hard to get enough heat through a layer of crushed almost shells and a slate tile. Personally, I'd just go for the tile. I had one tank I wanted to use tile in, but I couldn't fit them properly, so I decided to go with linoleum because I could cut it into the right size using a razor blade. So that's an option.

All of those supplies are good. The only thing you don't actually need is the artificial plant. But those are still nice for decoration. You should also add a thermometer and thermostat to the list. Those are important.

You can buy all that stuff at the store, or you can get creative and make the hides yourself. Some people make some really cool stuff with styrofoam and paint and stuff. Hides are also really easy to make out of just stuff you have lying around, if you don't care how it looks.

What type of supplements are you planning to use?

 

[JennyBeen]

I second adding another container (like a cup, or a small cricket keeper), tossing in some mealworms or wax worms, and waiting for him to enter. Then just scoop him up in it and cover it somehow, giving you enough time to clean and rearrange his set-up.

Once you get it clean, you can work on hand-training: lay your hand flat on the bottom of his tank for several minutes at a time each day, waiting for him to investigate, and go from there. I try to make coming out of the tank as voluntary as possible, and I'd probably give your guy a week or so to adjust to his new surroundings before trying.

Others may be right though; my guy is probably around a year old, but an 8 year old will likely tame quite quickly. Good luck!

 

[purepeach]

Thank you all so much for replying quickly!

Neon Aurora, from what I've read, I figured a little dish of calcium without D3 to put in his cage would be good. Then I'll use D3 once or twice a month to dust his feeders.

I can't wait to revamp everything. I will let y'all know how it goes!

 

[Dinosaur!]

That's wonderful that you are completely rvamping your geckos home! I'm sure he will appreciate it very much! Since the other members have given you great advice for your boys setup, I will help out with his supplementing schedule.

The bowl of calcium is okay for his tank, but over-calcification seems to be an issure nowadays. I Personally keep calcium only in tanks with hatchlings, juveniles, breeding females, and geckos with MBD or who were under suppplemented their whole lives. But if you havent been supplementing up until this point, a bowl of calcium probably wont hurt him much.

For the calcium with D3, you need to be dusting with that more often. D3 is the vitamin that allows our geckos to process and use the calcium that they intake. Without enough of it, they can develop major health issues over time. It is reccomended to dust with it about every other feeding in order to get enough in their systems.

You will also need a multi-vitamin with vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential to your geckos skin, eye, and over all health. Without it, bad sheds are more likely to happen, and they become more prone to eye infections. This should be dusted once a week, or three times a month to prevent an overdose.

If you want to cut back on over all costs for supplements, and have less things to fuss over, you can try and all-in-one supplement (members who use those, can you please reccomend some brands? ) This can simply be dusted on their food every day (i believe... correct me if I'm wrong!) And there is no need for any other supplement besides the pure calcium for his tank


I hope this helps you out a little! Proper supplementing is nearly as vital to your geckos health as a good setup! and please post pictures of your setup and the gecko when you get a chance. I would love to see how it comes out

 

[laurahlove]

I don't think anyone has said this yet, but you should also get a hygrometer (I think there's another name for this but I seriously can not remember it) to make sure it doesn't get too humid in there!

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[Neon Aurora]

Rapashy Calcium Plus is the brand that most people seem to use, myself included, for an all-in-one supplement. I quite like it, it smells really nice. As for a hygrometer, that's really only necessary if you live somewhere humid. I live in New Mexico and I never use them because the air here is so dry.

 

[laurahlove]

True, I live in Florida so its rather humid

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