Trouble with my new leopard gecko?

[ballpythoncrazy]

I got a leopard gecko 13 days ago. So far everything is mostly going good. A few problems though.
1.) he won't eat crickets, but he eats meal worms wonderfully. I tried to feed him some crickets in a separate container but he was just freaking out the whole time and Everytime a cricket touched him he would just freak out and run to the opposite side of the container. I REALLY don't want to feed him crickets in his tank because I don't want the crickets to eat his feces and get a parasite and give it to him, or nibble at him. And there's a lot of places in his tank where a cricket could go that he couldn't reach. So how do I get him comfortable in the separate container so he'll eat crickets in it?

2.) he doesn't use his humid hide (I think). He's shed twice so far since I got him. The first time he got it all off. But today I checked on him and he still had some stuck to his head and one of his toes. In the day time he stays in his favorite hide and sleeps, and I think he explores at night. But I don't think he ever just SITS in his humid hide. I started misting his tank but I only use a heat mat for him so I don't know if any humidity will accumulate. How do I get him to use his humid hide?

And 3.) I just learned the other day that Leo's need a UVB lamp if not getting enough sunlight so I'm going to buy one today. I did notice a few days ago that his colors seemed dull (not like he was going to shed). Are his colors dull because he's not getting enough UVB?


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[laurahlove]

1) he probably won't eat the crickets in the container, I tried that a million times with all of my geckos and they did the same thing yours did. What you can do is just make sure there's no poop in his tank and take out some of the big furniture (or all of it) and put a few crickets in there and see if he eats them. You should never leave any free roaming food in their tanks, unless its mealworms in a dish. See if he eats them, if he doesn't, take them out. Keep doing this.

2) you can't really MAKE a gecko use their humid hide, but it is good that he is shedding. What kind of moist hide do you have?

3) geckos do NOT need UVB. They are nocturnal, so they do not need sunlight at all. The only time a gecko might (I stress the word might) need a UVB light is if it has MBD and needs to absorb more calcium. Anyways, no UVB. It stresses them and hurts their eyes.

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[ballpythoncrazy]

For his humid hide I have a circular plastic container with a hole cut in the top. I have damp paper towels and damp moss inside the container


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[laurahlove]

Can he get in it? I had one with the hole in the top and my leo couldn't get in it. I made another with the hole in the side and they could crawl in a lot easier.

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[ballpythoncrazy]

Welllll I think it's short enough for him to climb up on and then go down in the hole. But I don't know if he'd think to do that.. But I'm assuming if he's exploring his tank he'd be climbing on stuff and see the hole in the top


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[Dinosaur!]

Yeah, no UVB. Geckos get all the clacium and vitamin D3 they need from their food (if you are gutloading and supplementing properly). Make sure that you have calcium WITH vitamin D3. D3 is what leos use to process the calcium they intake, and without it they can develop MBD and other calcium and bone deficiencies. This should be dusted on their food every other day or so.

You also need a multi-vitamin that contains vitamin A. This keeps their skin healthy for good sheds, their eyes healthy, and they use it for other bodily functions/health. This should be dusted about once a week.

If your gecko is young and growing, you should definately get calcium with NO D3. This should be left in their tanks for them to lap up when they know they need it, without the risk of a D3 overdose.

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

The vitamins is what I'm having the most trouble with! None of the calcium powders really say what's in it. I've been using "Repashy Superfoods: Calcium Plus Vitamin and calcium supplement". And in the "guaranteed analysis" it says it contains vitamin A and D.

This is what I've been putting on the meal worms and leaving in a small bowl for him to lap up.

And on the container that has the gutload that I feed the crickets (that he doesn't eat) I don't see anywhere that says it has anything other than calcium. It's not very specific at all.

If I should be using a different powder/ supplement please let me know! Links to places where I can get good supplements would be appreciated. Would really rather go to +++++ or ++++++++ to get supplements but if you know of a good supplement that I can only order off a certain website I'll surely order it.

ADVICE IN GENERAL WOULD BE APPRECIATED. if I'm doing something wrong it would be good to know now before he starts getting negatively effected by my mistakes

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[ballpythoncrazy]

I would really rather go to big chain pet stores to get the supplements but if I have to order online I will


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[JennyBeen]

Repashy is a good brand and I've seen others on here recommend it. I could be wrong, but I believe that one contains everything your geckos need (calcium and multi-vitamin). I'm a bit confused as to whether or not it has D3; it doesn't say it on the front, but it does say it contains vitamin D on the back. I don't see phosphorus listed, which is good. In any case, I purchased this same item, and the girl at the pet store said she breeds geckos and leaves this out for them in little dishes all the time. I also have a Repti-Calcium with D3 that I dust the meal worms in every other feeding.

I will be curious from others to hear if the Repashy you have pictured has D3; hopefully my gecko hasn't been getting a ton of D3 because of this :-/.

I also got some fluker's products second hand that came with my gecko, and have been using them to gutload his mealworms. They even sell some that are calcium fortified, making me feel more sure my little guy is getting the calcium he needs with his MBD. I think the "complete cricket diets" probably serve as a good gutload too, and the mealworms from my experience thus far LOVE it. That being said, a little bit of variety might be helpful. If you have an apple or orange laying around, or maybe some sweet potato or baby carrots, I'd probably use a bit of these as a gutload occasionally for variety..it does change the flavor of the worm, from what I understand, and it's another way to cover all your bases.

That being said, I don't think there's anything wrong with using the fluker's cricket diets for sake of ease, say 50%-75% of the time. I am fairly new to this though, so hopefully others share my opinion!

 

[Neon Aurora]

Calcium Plus does have D3 in it, but it's proportioned so you can use it every feeding. I've been loving it ever since I started using it. Not that it's important, but I particularly like the way it smells. I wouldn't recommend keeping in the tank with them, though. For that I have a separate supplement that's pure calcium, no D3, for geckos who need it(normally just laying females and young animals).

As for the gut load, I personally stopped using that orange stuff, mostly because it's fairly high in protein. See, I recently lost a leopard gecko to gout. If the feeder insects get too much protein in their diet, uric acid can build up in the feeders which then gets transferred to the gecko. I've just become very wary of feeding too much protein. I feed my feeders crushed cheerios mixed laying chicken feed(when I have it) with just a bit of crushed cat food(protein is good, just not too much) and I give them fresh veggies too.