Various Questions (please help)

[xoalexis]

Alright, I'm new here only because my first gecko just passed away last week. It was absolutely heartbreaking because he got sick, then got better, then got sick again, and ultimately passed on.

I was curious to see if I had done anything wrong, and I unfortunately had done a lot of things wrong. So on top of sadness, I feel really guilty.


I plan on getting another gecko, but this time I want to make sure I have all my facts straight about their up-keeping. Rather than posting each topic in each sub-forum, I figured I would make my list here so they could all be answered/discussed.

• Gecko kept on paper towels.
• Two 'huts' (hiding places). One on warm side. The other on the cold side with moist paper towels poked inside.
• No lamp for heat. Heating pad underneath.
• Red bulb if desired. (or do they need this?)
• Water, obviously.
• Misting tank? How do I go about this, and when?
• Gutload crickets. I have a small container I put them in once I but them from the petstore that has tubes I can pull from it to shake them into the cage. I understand I should feed them before I feed them to my gecko. What all does this include? Before I just put dog food in the cage.
• Besides crickets, I should feed him meal worms, correct? Anything other than that?
• Vitamin dusting. Do I dust the crickets food, or the crickets before fed to the gecko?
• Do mealworms need to be gutloaded? When do I dust them with vitamins? What should I keep them in before feeding?

I know a lot of these are discussed, and I have read various threads. I'm not looking for an easy road out of not reading threads, I just really want my information straight.

 

[acpart]

Hi,
Please don't beat yourself up too much. Sometimes you go with the data you have and don't even realize that it's the wrong information. Many of us have been through this as well. Here is some information based on your questions:

Misting: the prevailing wisdom is that you don't have to do that because they are desert creatures, need low humidity and can get respiratory infections if kept too humid. On the other hand, some people have reported that their geckos love being misted and do well with more humidity. There is a possiblity that this isn't too far off because they do seek out more humid crevices in the wild. The best compromise, in my opinion, is to mist the humid hide.

Crickets and mealworms: A varied diet is good, so both crickets and mealworms are ideal, but many geckos are picky and many of us maintain our geckos well on just one feeder. See what your gecko prefers.

Gutloading: both crickets and mealworms need to be gutloaded, or at least fed well before being fed to the geckos. The easiest way to do this is to use the same gutload for both and to use it on the bottom of their enclosures. Here are some choices:
--buy a commercial gutload (many of us like the gutload at progeckos.com)
--buy chicken feed
--get a bunch of grains and pulverize them in the blender (so it's easier to sift out the mealworms)

Vitamins: dust the feeders not their food. I have a small plastic container with calcium and vitamins I put crickets in and then shake it up to coat them. THe same could be done for mealworms, but it's easier for me to sprinkle the stuff on them in the bowl.

Feel free to ask if you have any more questions. Consider getting a gecko at a show or from a local breeder rather than from a pet store (if you post where you're from, there may be a breeder on here near you).

Aliza

 

[THE WHISPERER]

I agree with everything above I just wanted to add: I keep my moist hide on the warm side of the tub, calcium should be available at all times, and no they don't need the red bulb.the uth should be fine depending on your room temps. keep an eye on the temps in your set up and adjust accordingly. hope that helps

 

[EchoPet]

I agree with Aliza - don't beat yourself up too much. It's good that you're here and wanting to learn so you don't make the same mistakes again.

Just to add a few things to the excellent advise already given:

• Gecko kept on paper towels.

If you get a hatchling/juvenile, paper towel would be the best substrate to keep it on. As it gets older, you could also use repti-carpet, tile, shelf liner, etc or just stick with the paper towel. Just be sure to stay away from loose substrates, especially calci-sand.

• Two 'huts' (hiding places). One on warm side. The other on the cold side with moist paper towels poked inside.

Make that three huts. There should be a warm dry hide on the warm side of the tank, and a cool dry hide on the cool side. Then you should also have a moist hide. Young geckos will do fine with paper towels in the moist hide. Others sometimes use other substrates (Eco Earth, sphagnum moss, etc) in the moist hides for adults. Either way, just mist down the moist hide as needed. Opinions vary on which side of the tank the moist hide should be. Personally, I keep mine in the middle.

• No lamp for heat. Heating pad underneath.
• Red bulb if desired. (or do they need this?)

An under-tank-heater (UTH) should be fine, just make sure you're monitoring your temperatures. The easiest way to monitor your temps is with a digital thermometer with a probe so that you can get a reading on the ground temperature which is more important than air temperature. There are different opinions on how hot your warm side should be, but I keep mine at around 95°F. A thermostat or rheostat (just a dimmer, basically) might be needed to help get your temperatures in the right range.

• Gutloading

If you don't want to buy a commercial gutload, you can also make your own. I keep my mealworms in a mix of wheat bran and baby oatmeal. Then I give them some high quality high protein dog kibble, tropical fish flakes, and fresh fruits and vegetables (usually orange, apple, potato, carrots, dark leafy greens, and a little bit of whatever else is handy). I usually add some calcium and vitamins as well, just for good measure. For crickets, I do the same except instead of keeping them on the wheatbran and oatmeal, I put that in a dish with the calcium, vitamins, and fish flakes.

I think everything else has already been covered. Good luck!

 

[bubblez825]

* Gecko kept on paper towels. Correct
* Two 'huts' (hiding places). One on warm side. The other on the cold side with moist paper towels poked inside. Correct
* No lamp for heat. Heating pad underneath. Do you have a thermostat or rheostat?
* Red bulb if desired. (or do they need this?) its for veiwing
* Water, obviously. :main_thumbsup:
* Misting tank? How do I go about this, and when? No need to mist, the humid hide takes care of that
* Gutload crickets. I have a small container I put them in once I but them from the petstore that has tubes I can pull from it to shake them into the cage. I understand I should feed them before I feed them to my gecko. What all does this include? Before I just put dog food in the cage. Put Flukers gel(gutload) and that should be ok although you can take the flukers gutload(powder) and put in in there too in a separate dish
* Besides crickets, I should feed him meal worms, correct? Anything other than that? Not if you don't want to, crickets and mealworms are a good staple diet
* Vitamin dusting. Do I dust the crickets food, or the crickets before fed to the gecko? dust the crickets and mealworms every few feedings
* Do mealworms need to be gutloaded? When do I dust them with vitamins? What should I keep them in before feeding? I keep mine in a 16qt tub(well I have over 2,000 :main_laugh: ) I keep mine on oatmeal and flukers gutload powder mixed together with potatoes for water.

 

[xoalexis]

Thanks a lot you guys, I think I have all my facts together now. I will definitely be using this thread as a reference for my new geckos up-keeping. Tomorrow I am going to go looking through pet stores (I live in Orlando, we have looked up breeders but have found none around us) after a doctor's appt.

Thanks again.