The Grand Adventures of Geek the Gecko!!!

[acharpenter]

MOD's wasnt sure where to put this thread - please move as needed!!!! - please remove this whole sentance/paragraph if/when you do so....





Hi there! I’m Geek! I am a 1 year old Leopard Gecko (I think I am a boy – but don’t know for sure – but hey – there are worse uncertainties in life right? Ok maybe not? LOL!

I grew up with a couple of very nice people who really cared about me but decided they needed to find another home for me. Not a necessarily better home, but just somewhere I would maybe get a little more attention as they were not sure they could be my forever parents?

They did a great job raising me, taking care of me and loving me….but in the end – they decided to look for a new home for me as they knew it would be better for me.






October 31st 2010 – They started looking for a home for me



They waited and waited until they knew they had found the right home for me since they wanted to make sure I would be well taken care of.

It took almost 3 months – but in the end - they found me a perfect home! It turned out to be with a friend who had kept Boa’s and Python’s at one time and really missed having a cute lil reptile around!

So begins my awesome adventure!!! Thank you for joining and following along!

 

[acharpenter]

January 25th 2011

January 25th 2011

Today is a bit of a sad day for me and my current Dad and Mom. Dad packed me up in a cooler for safe keeping then made sure to check the list for all my things coming with me to my new home:




10 gallon aquarium
Screen top
8”x6”UTH
Wet hide
Acrylic Molded Dry Rock hide hide rocks assembly
Food dish
Water dish
Mealworms
Rep-Cal calcium with VIT.D3,
Rep-Cal Hertivite
Sphagnum moss
Flukers High Calcium Cricket Diet (gut load)
Flukers Cricket Quencher
5.5” Dome fixture with red heat bulb
8.5” Fixture
Digital temp probe
Outlet timer



On the way to my new home – we even stopped by a pet store to get me some new mealworms so I would be sure to have plenty on arrival!

Once we got to my new home – my new Mom had my tank set up in no time and I was finally out of that cooler! Whew! My first Mom and Dad took a little bit to let her know what I liked and didn’t like and what I was used to. Then they said goodbye. <Tear>

I was plenty sad but also excited about what was to come!!!!!

Here is what my home was when I arrived to my forever home:

Stay tuned for the next part of my adventure!!!

 

[acharpenter]

February 7th 2011

February 7th 2011 – Been a couple weeks now

My Mom had talked with some friends before I arrived who had a Leopard Gecko like me and asked them for initial thoughts, tips and suggestions. Her friends have a Leo that is about 12 years old so she listened very carefully (even took notes!!!).

They said that the majority of Leopard Gecko’s should not be in Cal Sand (what I arrived in) as it can cause impaction problem’s. They said they have kept their Gecko in Crushed Walnut sand and feed him Crickets for the most part.

Mom also did some research of Gecko care online and decided I needed a new dry hide since my current one was pretty open (faux acrylic rocks). Then she decided that I seemed a little bit big for a 10 gallon aquarium and started hunting for a bigger home for me.

She found a 20 gallon long aquarium with wrought iron stand on Craigslist for $40 and snapped it up. On the way back with my new home she stopped by a pet store and picked up crushed walnut substrate, a new dry hide, crickets, and a new hinged screen top for my new home.

She was a little worried I would not be able to catch the Crickets since my last parents never fed me any. They were worried that while trying to catch any, I might eat the sand so they just kept me on mealworms. In the end – she decided that I needed to at least try as they are so good for me!

Mom cleaned the heck out of my 20 gallon with a vinegar water mix, she added enough crushed walnut for a 1” substrate bed, moved all my old things along with my new things into my home. She even found a Saltwater Reef background laying around to put on it (not the most appropriate, but it does the trick for now).

She put my new dry hide over the UTH on the front right side of my new tank – moved my wet hide to the back middle wall of my new tank (added some new moss and spritzed it up for me) and put my food/water dishes in.

Then she put the big dome light on the left side and put a daylight bulb in it. She put it on a timer to run 8 hours per day. On the right side of the tank she put my little dome light with the red heat bulb in to run opposite the daylight bulb.

Mom keeps a reef tank so she always has plenty of gadgets around – she found another digital temp probe so she added that to the opposite side of the tank from the one I came with.

Lastly she pulled my 6”x8” UTH off my 10 gallon tank and put it in the front right corner of my new tank and TA-DA!!! I have a much bigger home:

I really like my new dry hide – it’s right over my UTH so I am nice and cozy:

Last thing mom did was put my Crickets in a pail with Cricket food to sit for 24 hours. She added them to my tank shortly after - I been chasing them around since.

Since I am not so good at catching Crickets yet (need practice), mom still feeds me mealworms. Usually 3-5 every day to every other day.

That way I can still stay strong and healthy while learning how to catch them Crickets!

Stay tuned for the next part of my TOTALLY AWESOME ADVENTURE!!!!!

 

[acharpenter]

February 26th 2011

February 26th 2011 – I get some upgrades!!!

Mom has been doing some more research and decided she needed to get me a different wet hide. She looked around on the internet and figured out how to make one out of a Tupperware container. The lasted about 3 days before she decided she really didn’t like how it looked in my house (she likes my home to look natural, so do I – hee hee).

She went to a bunch of different stores and came home with this:

WAY COOL!!!! I love it! I moved right into it!

Then she found this great fixture on sale. It comes with a spot for 2 bulbs a fluorescent bulb and there is an integrated timer. SWEET – no more need for that pesky 8” dome with daylight bulb!

She also found a huge (10”x10”x1.25”) slate rock for me.

Here is how cool my home looks now:

After a day or so Mom realized that the new fixture didn’t keep my tank warm enough. Ambient temp on the left got down to 75! So she put the little dome fixture with red heat lamp back on the tank in the back to supplement the fixture.

My home on the right that sits on the UTH sits at about 78-85 so I have been cool with hanging out there during the day.

I really like to hang out on top of the faux rock structure at night. Since its under the red heat bulb that runs 24/7, it gets about 95 up there. When it gets too hot for me – I just cruise down the steps and hang out on the big A$$ piece of slate:

Mom also heard from her friends that I look a little skinny. They recommended getting me some Wax worms to fatten me up. I LOVE THESE THINGS!!! Mom has been giving me 4-5 every other day or so and I am totally getting fat!

Stay tuned – Mom is constantly reading and researching so I am sure things will change soon!

 

[acharpenter]

March 13, 2011

March 13, 2011 – Today was a good and really bad day for Mom

Mom found this amazing site called GeckoForums.net!!!

She was so happy as it had many personal experiences, opinions, comments, build threads, product reviews and so much more! She has a Reef tank and is part of a reef club so she knows the value of finding other Mom’s like her for the best reviews/advice etc.

She spent 8 hours reading that site today. It was great to see all the different build idea’s and she started looking into a 46 gallon wood/melamine enclosure for me – woo hoo bigger house!!!!

While looking for another stand for said new enclosure – she found a 29 gallon Critter Tank with stand for $20!!!! She quick set up a pick up time for that for later in that day….meanwhile…..

Mom found after a bit of research, that my crushed walnut substrate is not looked at as something I should have. She found the majority do not recommend any sort of loose substrate. Not good – Mom felt horrible!

She also found that there should be a Hot side and a cool side. Mom has my red heat bulb on the left side – it heats up my rocks and I like to hang out on them at night. She has my UTH on the right side under my wet hide to try to keep me warm when I sleep there during the day. Not good

Found that my wet hide should be in the middle and my UTH should be on the hot side under my dry hide!!!

Well, Mom got off work – went and picked up the 29 gallon tank and stand then headed home. Once there, she cleaned out the 29g (Vinegar/water – razor off any “crusties” then go over all with Isopropyl Alcohol) then she left for the pet store.

Mom should have gotten pics of it before she cleaned it……DUH! She was more interested in getting me out of the Crushed Walnut so she wasn’t thinking…..


Mom came home with a 30-40 gallon UTH, a reptile carpet and a temperature controller.

Is this a good one? – its all they had….she would be happy to replace it if need be (Mom only has my health and happiness at heart) -:

While I was chilling out in my wet hide – she installed all the new goodies in the 29g – plugged in the new UTH on it and let it sit to warm up for me.

Since Mom is going to build me a really cool rock wall this Spring – she decided not to get a background for the time being. Then she realized a portrait she has would work great as a background behind the tank for the time being. It’s a little chuckey but I don’t mind. Its only temporary until she gets my rock wall done

After about an hour, Mom pulled all my stuff out of the 20g and moved it to the 29g. I was in my wet hide so she moved me last:

Its been about 2 hours since she moved me, I am still hanging out in my wet hide – still not sure what the heck just happened so I am just chilling here in my wet hide yet.

The temp probe on the left is in my dry hide (which is now above my UTH) – its sitting at 93.3. The temp probe on the right side – on my big slate rock (now a true cool side) is sitting at 72.2

Mom is pretty sure all the changes she made tonight (thanks to everything she read on GeckoForums.net) are for the better – but now she is wondering what else she needs to change for me.

Oh and before I go for tonight – she learned that I should not be EATING SO MANY WAX WORMS! Darn it – I kinda wish she didn’t find that out while surfing GeckoForums.net. She picked up some medium super worms at the pet store tonight as well. I suppose it was only a matter of time before I got busted.

Guess I will have to start really hunting the Crickets n my cage, enjoy my super worms and mealworms every other day and look forward to my Wax worms once a week or so……

If any of ya’ll have any suggestions/opinions/constructive criticism for her – PLEASE DO TELL!!!! She is still upset that I was left in loose substrate and had my hot/cold sides commingled like she did.

Here is one she needs help on already – Mom decided to add my old wet hide back to my house as a “new” dry hide on my “cool” side. Sweet – now I have 2 dry hides!

She had to move the slate to accommodate it and is unsure

Do you like it better in pic 1 (against the back glass)?????????????

Or pic 2 (against the side glass)???????????????

Suppose a 3rd option should be – take it back out!!!!

Until next time……au revoir!

Geek

 

[acharpenter]

Update

As you can see - Geek and I have been keeping a journal. I hope that it helps any newcomers in any small way.

Geek is totally cashed in and getting a hefty snooze right now. He spent about 2 hours cruising around his new home tonight.

So - here is my journal post (its hard to get a word in with Geek - hee hee):





Hi!!!

Another 2 hours later or so – Geek is still chilling on the faux rock structure – just like before….I am going to have to put a probe up on that structure now….

Meanwhile the temp probe sitting inside his dry hide below it (which is directly on top of the UTH), is still sitting at 91.5

Not sure if he just hasn’t figured out its warm in it, or maybe has not figured out how to get in it – or maybe he just loves his faux rock perch hang out.

Meanwhile the temp probe on the right (cool side) is down to 71.5 – thoughts anyone? Is this bad/good/normal – etc???
We keep the house at 62 at night and when we are at work if that helps…? When home and awake – we set it at 70-72

At this point I figure almost 92 on one side and around 70 on the other – he can regulate temp right???

Psst – some video’s of Geek checking out the new digs – apologies for the TOTAL lack of video quality…a professional videographer. I am NOT!

Just so ya know he fell asleep not 2 minutes after each video - he has been so busy! You can tell by his yawn in the 2nd video!






As I am finishing this post - he is getting re-aqaiunted with his "old wet hide" that is now his "new" 2nd dry hide.

 

[acharpenter]

Well - I got Mom to cave tonight.

She left me Superworms in my food dish and I have plenty of Crickets in my cage for the last couple of days but...

Mom finally hand fed me 3 Wax worms tonight SCORE!!!!

 

[Niners72]

Looks very nice, good job on all your hard work. He seems happy.

 

[chad vossen]

I don't often see a leopard gecko so well cared for! Geek is very lucky!

 

[LZRDGRL]

Wow, what a progression :main_laugh: Somebody really learned a lot on gecko keeping :main_yes: That is one happy leo!

Now all he really really wants (besides waxworms) is a pretty girlfriend :main_evilgrin: At least on the poster in the background...

Chrissy

 

[acharpenter]

Update - many changes to Geek's habitat - I put some walls in the 29 for him - he LOVED them and climbed all over on them

After much research - I decided rather than a custom biuld - to pick up one of these as it has everything I would like in a build

This was what Geek had until last night (you can also see the 20 long below that he had before that):

Install UTH:

Geek is moving on up!

 

[acharpenter]

Geeks new mansion - he seems to like it :main_yes:

I love the double door access in the front. Now he has a ton of room and many different hides but as you can see - he definetly prefers his magnet rock ledge.

I added a couple tiles to go with the reptile carpet. I will be doing something different with the floor sometime soon (maybe a tile mosiac floor) but for now - this works

 

[acharpenter]

So - I bought 3 large and one small of these very expensive hides when I first got into the hobby:

You can see them in some of the past photo's

After 4 months they started cracking and completely disintegrating and after a little over a year - I finally had to toss them.

This shows the damage on one after just 4 months in the tank:

This is what I replaced them with and man, do I wish I had just gone with these from the start (so does Geek : ))

and some random updated pics - yup, I done got more Gecko's : )

 

[LeoparddGeckoss]

Great set-ups. You have some spoiled geckos!

 

[acharpenter]

Great set-ups. You have some spoiled geckos!

Thanks - and yes, they are TOTALLY spoiled

If there is a next life - I want to come back as a pampered Gecko