Temperature problems

[LNK89]

Hi,

I just bought my first leopard geckos last night. I have been trying to get the temps right for the last week and I think im close but I dont know what to trust for measuring my temps. I have a temp gun and a digital thermometer with a probe. The thermometer is a coralife digital thermometer, and the temp gun im using is a uei INF200 Infrared Thermometer. Currently my digital probe reads 85.7F and the temp gun reads 93-94F. Which should I trust ?

Also both leo's are still in the warm side hide.(they are both female, or should be I was told they were incubated to be female.) Seeing as they are nocturnal is it normal not to see them out all during the day ?

One of the leo's is a little fatter than the other what is a good way to make sure that they both get enought to eat ?

 

[acpart]

Temp gun vs. thermometer: Make sure they're measuring the temperature in the same place. Sometimes the heat mat, which I assume you're using has a hot spot so the temp can vary. You can also put the probe in a few places, let it stabilize and see if you get a temp range, and then use the gun in a few places.

Hot side and hiding: it's getting cold out unless you're in a tropical place so it's not unusual for the geckos to stay on the hot side. Since they're nocturnal it's natural for them to be sleeping in the hides all day. If they're really young, they may stay in the hides almost all the time, day and night, because they have an instinct to protect themselves when they're small.

The geckos may end up slightly different sizes due to individual differences. Watch them both to make sure one isn't preventing the other from eating and if possible, weigh them periodically to make sure they're both gaining weight.

Aliza

 

[gitrdone0420]

+1
On top of that, make sure to try to sex them yourself. Temp sexing isnt always accurate. There is a thread on here floating around somewhere on how to sex leos. Good luck.
Obviously you would want to do this as to not house two males together by accident. Or to be aware of any kind of breeding that could be going on.

 

[LNK89]

I have noticed I get diffrent temps on the hot side with the temp gun its about 91-94F and on the cool side its around 77-75F. But my digital thermometer reads 85F. I looked up the digital thermometer and found out that they are usually around 3-6 degrees off and in some cases up to 10. It seemed to vary alot, so I think I will go more with the temp gun.

I did see the skinnier one today! I came in my room and he went running back to the hot side hide. The other one I havent seen today but I did see him walking around last night. I know one of them has gone threw the calcium because its all over the place. They are 5 months old I was told.

I have seen the topics on sexing, I think I will have to wait awhile to try that because they arent used to being held.

Im going out this afternoon to get some mealworms. Does anybody have any suggestion on the best way to feed them ? Should I just leave them in their food dish ?

 

[Tony C]

Temp guns are generally the most accurate, but try Aliza's suggestion to measure the temp in several places to make sure your heat pad doesn't have a hot spot.

I leave a dish of mealworms available at all times, and that seems to be what most people here do for young geckos. Once they are fully grown you can reduce the feeding to several times weekly so they don't become obese, but while they are actively growing they should be able to eat as much as they want.

Sexing is pretty easy, but keep in mind that young males can appear female, so at that age if it looks male it definitely is, but if it looks female you can't be 100% sure until they are older.

 

[ReptarNDukeNukem]

For feeding always have a thing of mealworms their if they get a little hungry but watch them ad make sure one is dominating the meal worm bowl.If you see that you either have to hand feed them or separate them.

 

[LNK89]

I measure the temperature with the temp gun and tried to get it as close to the probe as I could. I even measured it on the probe, both said 94F. But the digital thermometer still says 85.8F.

The leo's have been coming out a bit, One more than the other. They seem to walk around a bit then run back to the hot side hide.

I went out and bought some mealworms but they are really small ones. How big do the leo's have to be before I can feed them kingworms ? I put the mealworms in a tupperware container with some pieces of carrots I got from the garden. I will try feeding them later tonight and let you know how it goes.

 

[acpart]

I have successfully fed superworms (I think that's the same as kingworms) to geckos as small as 10 grams. They love them.

Aliza

 

[LNK89]

They ate! So I fed them and they ate, they ate alot. The skinnier one (Veronica) ate 39 and the fatter one (Betty) ate 42. I think they ate so many because the mealworms were really small.

I noticed when they were eating that Betty is alot quicker when she eats and will run around all over the place. Veronica just stays in her hide and just pokes her head out grabs the mealworm and goes back in the hide. She doesnt seem to venture out that often. Veronica did beat out Betty a few times for the mealworm though. I found it really interesting to watch them eat and stalk the mealworms.

Some of the bran that I am keeping the mealworms in got in the cage. What is the best way to get it out ? Should I just pick it out by hand ? Will the leo's eat it ? Do I have to worry if they do eat it ?

 

[acpart]

No problem if they eat some of the bran. To get stuff off the floor of my cages, I use some paper towel to sweep it into a pile and then use a playing card as a dustpan.

ALiza