what type of geck do i have?

[rocket]

I tried to give her one tonight, about 6 hours later and she did not take it so I'm ok with what she ate. I looked in her cage to see if she threw up and if her sides look odd but all was normal. A friend is going to let me have his scale so tomorrow I will post her weight and length, if he remembers to bring it.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Maybe I missed it, but the big question here is what the temperatures are. If the temperature isn't right, you're probably not gonna have much luck getting her weight back up. Do you have any pics of the setup?

~Maggot

 

[rocket]

I don’t have my phone or camera on me right now but she is in a 15G tank a heat pad on one side with a heater close but to keep the air tem at a steady 75+ with a cold side that seems to stay at around 70 and a moist moss cut thing in case she starts shedding. Ooo and she has a cave thing that for some reason is always at about 70 so I move it to where half of it is on the heat pad so she actually has a cave where one side is 80+ and the other is 70. Like I said the heater is so that the room temp is above 75 not to heat up her tank. The humidity is about 70 in the moss thing and 40 on the other side. No bugs or anything in her cage. Bottom has newspaper and 2 watering dishes on the hot side and one on the cold side. Just in case. And two logs connected by a twig so she can climb if she needs to.

I wish they made gecko toys, you know like something close to a hamster wheel.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Good point embrace. You need to get her an under tank heater that keeps at least 25% of the tanks' floor space a bit above 90 degrees. The air temperature doesn't matter much but she needs a place to lie and warm her belly to digest her food properly.

 

[Embrace Calamity]

I don’t have my phone or camera on me right now but she is in a 15G tank a heat pad on one side with a heater close but to keep the air tem at a steady 75+ with a cold side that seems to stay at around 70 and a moist moss cut thing in case she starts shedding. Ooo and she has a cave thing that for some reason is always at about 70 so I move it to where half of it is on the heat pad so she actually has a cave where one side is 80+ and the other is 70. Like I said the heater is so that the room temp is above 75 not to heat up her tank. The humidity is about 70 in the moss thing and 40 on the other side. No bugs or anything in her cage. Bottom has newspaper and 2 watering dishes on the hot side and one on the cold side. Just in case. And two logs connected by a twig so she can climb if she needs to.

I wish they made gecko toys, you know like something close to a hamster wheel.

Okay, a few things.

1) You'll want to warm the temperatures. That's a bit too cold. The warm side should be between 85 and 95, and the cool side between 75 and 85. Leos are desert reptiles.
2) You don't need three water dishes, though there's nothing to say you can't have that I suppose.
3) You said this guy is 8 inches long? 15g is pretty small for a leo that size. You should definitely upgrade to a larger tank.
4) Newspaper is alright, but leos like to dig, so if you can get a soil/sand (NOT calcium sand) mixture that's a few inches deep (once you upgrade the tank), that'd be good for him/her.
5) I'm not sure what you consider a "moist moss cut thing," haha, but make sure it's a moist hide. The best way to make one imo is to take a plastic container and cut a hole in the side or top (needs to have the lid on it to keep the moisture in) and put the moist substrate in it.
6) What are you feeding it? Are you dusting them? The insects you feed need to be dusted several times a week with a leopard gecko calcium + vitamin D3 supplement. (Take a plastic bag, put the dust and the insects in, and just shake!)

Good point embrace. You need to get her an under tank heater that keeps at least 25% of the tanks' floor space a bit above 90 degrees. The air temperature doesn't matter much but she needs a place to lie and warm her belly to digest her food properly.

Exactly. My leo's substrate is too deep for that to work, but that's how my croc gecko is set up. The importance of a warm place for their bellies can't be understated.

~Maggot

 

[rocket]

1) Ok the heat pad is on the bottom and the temp will get up to about 90 or 95
2) I meant only 2 watering dishes one on the hot side and one on the cold side
3) The tank is not high its wide, one that I made. She has a 30x20 inch area to roam.
4) I didn’t know about the dirt most places that I read said that they will eat the sand or dirt and it’s not good for them so I just omitted that part.
5) The thing that you described is exactly what I have for her.
6) All she eats is dusted crickets.

So I guess really all I need to do is get her some dirt and warm up the cold side a few degrees, and how much dirt like a 5x5 container?

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Yes, warm up the cold side to 88-93 degrees. Not the air temperature but the floor temperature. I don't give mine dirt or sand. IMO the risk of ingestion and impaction outweigh the benefits and I'd rather not take that risk. I just give mine moss in their moist hides.

 

[rocket]

I got to go to the store for a bit, but when I get back I will post a pic of her, her tail is fatter......finally lol.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

So glad to hear it! If she is just skinny and there's no underlying illness or parasites she should bounce back quickly once she starts improving!! They're hardy little buggers. Great job so far!

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Yes, warm up the cold side to 88-93 degrees. Not the air temperature but the floor temperature. I don't give mine dirt or sand. IMO the risk of ingestion and impaction outweigh the benefits and I'd rather not take that risk. I just give mine moss in their moist hides.

I've never heard of a leo becoming impacted with soil - and non-calcium sand usually passes harmlessly (in my understanding) because it doesn't clump like calcium sand does. If they're being fed properly and aren't accidentally ingesting substrate when catching their food (which needs to be watched, of course), I can't imagine why they'd be ingesting it.

I got to go to the store for a bit, but when I get back I will post a pic of her, her tail is fatter......finally lol.

That's good. Can't wait to see her.

~Maggot

 

[rocket]

Latest update in Jasmine the Leopard Gecko, let me know if you think I am doing anything wrong and if I'm doing the correct things please tell me. Like I said her tail does look fatter, and in this video I did showed her home. It’s actually a 26g tank about 18x30x15 (I think on the height) so I was way off on the gallons, lol. But I modded her sweat bowl and also I got the exact temp of the heat pad its 110, so it has no controller so yeah. Should it be placed on the side instead of being on the bottom? And the bulb that I did have for her was at 120 degrees so got rid of it and put in one that is cooler like about 80. Also how do I heat up the cold side without another heat pad, I heard of heat tape but I don’t know what that is exactly so I didn’t want to go and get something without fully know about it.

OOOO BTW the heat pad is to the left of the cave thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KMqSbl1-6A

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Latest update in Jasmine the Leopard Gecko, let me know if you think I am doing anything wrong and if I'm doing the correct things please tell me. Like I said her tail does look fatter, and in this video I did showed her home. It’s actually a 26g tank about 18x30x15 (I think on the height) so I was way off on the gallons, lol. But I modded her sweat bowl and also I got the exact temp of the heat pad its 110, so it has no controller so yeah. Should it be placed on the side instead of being on the bottom? And the bulb that I did have for her was at 120 degrees so got rid of it and put in one that is cooler like about 80. Also how do I heat up the cold side without another heat pad, I heard of heat tape but I don’t know what that is exactly so I didn’t want to go and get something without fully know about it.

1) Video is unavailable.
2) That's a good size tank. Is the 30" the height?
3) You'll definitely want to remove the UTH if it's that hot. You might burn her. You still have paper towels, right? Move the UTH to the side of the tank.
4) The warm side should be between 85 and 95 with a basking temp of about 100. 80 is too low for the warm side.
5) Are the UTH and the light on the same side? If they are, then you could just use the light without the UTH and the temperature should be about right. For example, in my croc gecko tank, I have a light on one side with a UTH under the same side. During the day I have the light on and the UTH unplugged, and then I turn the light off and plug the UTH in at night. To get proper temperatures, you'll just need to play around with different heating methods until you get it right.
5) If you get the warm side to the right temperature, the cool side should be fine. It won't get too cold and if the tank is long enough, it won't get too hot. You don't have to worry about being quite as precise on that side since there's a gradient through the tank for her to regulate her body temp.

~Maggot

 

[rocket]

1) Video is unavailable.
2) That's a good size tank. Is the 30" the height?
3) You'll definitely want to remove the UTH if it's that hot. You might burn her. You still have paper towels, right? Move the UTH to the side of the tank.
4) The warm side should be between 85 and 95 with a basking temp of about 100. 80 is too low for the warm side.
5) Are the UTH and the light on the same side? If they are, then you could just use the light without the UTH and the temperature should be about right. For example, in my croc gecko tank, I have a light on one side with a UTH under the same side. During the day I have the light on and the UTH unplugged, and then I turn the light off and plug the UTH in at night. To get proper temperatures, you'll just need to play around with different heating methods until you get it right.
5) If you get the warm side to the right temperature, the cool side should be fine. It won't get too cold and if the tank is long enough, it won't get too hot. You don't have to worry about being quite as precise on that side since there's a gradient through the tank for her to regulate her body temp.

~Maggot

1) The video plays for me can you try it again.
2) Width 18 Length 30 Height 15
3) I’ll do that
4) The warm side has a heat pad that is at about 110 it’s a 3x5 pad that is stuck to the bottom.
5) I just have one lamp so I keep the cooler bulb in, but im going to put the hot one in and stick in on the cricket egg cage on its side so the crickets can hatch and the heat might help too.

 

[rocket]

Good news when I went to change the bulb she was on the heat pad just chillin. So I think that how I have it is pretty good. But your say is important. Her butt was on the pad and her head was lying off of it. The pad is under the tank which has newspaper on top of it also.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

- If you're using a human heat pad you might want to go get one made for reptiles from the pet store. They don't usually get quite as hot. You could also buy a dimmer at Lowe's or Home Depot to use with the heat pad so it doesn't get that hot. 110+ could possibly start to melt your bin and burn your gecko. Anything under 100 should be safe but closer to 90 is better.
- You don't really need the overhead light if the UTH is at or above 90 degrees. Again - air temperature doesn't really matter. Red lights are better than white since geckos are most active at night and light can make them feel insecure.
-The cool side can be at room temperature - 70-75 degrees. If its too cold the gecko will stay on the warm side or in the middle.

- She's looking SO much better than she did at first. She's still thin but not so scary thin that her survival should be an issue. Great Job!

 

[Embrace Calamity]

- You don't really need the overhead light if the UTH is at or above 90 degrees. Again - air temperature doesn't really matter. Red lights are better than white since geckos are most active at night and light can make them feel insecure.

This is the only one I can't totally agree with. I'm not completely convinced geckos can't see those red lights. I have one for my leo, and he reacts when I turn it on, and he's much less active when it's on than when it's off. I just bought him a CHE and he's already more active tonight than he's been the past several nights that I've had to use the red light. That's just personal opinion based on what I've observed, though.

But yeah, the video worked for me that time, and she's definitely very gorgeous and looking good.

EDIT: Oh! I forgot to mention that you should get digital thermometers, not the analog ones that you have. They're known to be very off, which can be dangerous if it's significant.

~Maggot

 

[NinjaDuo]

This is the only one I can't totally agree with. I'm not completely convinced geckos can't see those red lights. I have one for my leo, and he reacts when I turn it on, and he's much less active when it's on than when it's off. I just bought him a CHE and he's already more active tonight than he's been the past several nights that I've had to use the red light. That's just personal opinion based on what I've observed, though.

But yeah, the video worked for me that time, and she's definitely very gorgeous and looking good.

EDIT: Oh! I forgot to mention that you should get digital thermometers, not the analog ones that you have. They're known to be very off, which can be dangerous if it's significant.

~Maggot

They do not have the same cones in their eyes as we do.

 

[NinjaDuo]

Okay, a few things.

1) You'll want to warm the temperatures. That's a bit too cold. The warm side should be between 85 and 95, and the cool side between 75 and 85. Leos are desert reptiles.
2) You don't need three water dishes, though there's nothing to say you can't have that I suppose.
3) You said this guy is 8 inches long? 15g is pretty small for a leo that size. You should definitely upgrade to a larger tank.
4) Newspaper is alright, but leos like to dig, so if you can get a soil/sand (NOT calcium sand) mixture that's a few inches deep (once you upgrade the tank), that'd be good for him/her.
5) I'm not sure what you consider a "moist moss cut thing," haha, but make sure it's a moist hide. The best way to make one imo is to take a plastic container and cut a hole in the side or top (needs to have the lid on it to keep the moisture in) and put the moist substrate in it.
6) What are you feeding it? Are you dusting them? The insects you feed need to be dusted several times a week with a leopard gecko calcium + vitamin D3 supplement. (Take a plastic bag, put the dust and the insects in, and just shake!)Exactly. My leo's substrate is too deep for that to work, but that's how my croc gecko is set up. The importance of a warm place for their bellies can't be understated.

~Maggot

Also 10 gallons is big enough per gecko. While a 20 is ideal... And sand/dirt is not natural for a Leo at all. They live in rock crevasses in Afghanistan. Which is pretty dry and desert like most of the year

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Also 10 gallons is big enough per gecko. While a 20 is ideal... And sand/dirt is not natural for a Leo at all. They live in rock crevasses in Afghanistan. Which is pretty dry and desert like most of the year

For an 8 inch gecko? I wouldn't say so. That's my personal opinion, of course, but a gecko that big wouldn't have a lot of room in a 10 gallon.
I know they come from primarily rocky habitats, but that doesn't mean they don't still have some form of substrate. It's not 100% rock. And they're known to dig some. Soil/sand mixture is easier to acquire and set up than slate.

They do not have the same cones in their eyes as we do.

I never said they do.

~Maggot

 

[rocket]

It’s all cool guys, I came in today after work and she was lying on the cold side I gave her a cricket (she wouldn’t eat 2 just one) and 2 hours later she is still on the cold side, so all in all Jasmine is doing well. I wasn’t able to get a scale just yet only ones I found were like 30 bucks (I live in DC so everything is stupid expensive for no reason) so im going to look at like target. And the heat pad is a zoo med from Petco I looked at it again to see if it had a regulator and I didn’t see one. Her light is red and I keep it on all the time but on the cold side at night during the day it’s over the crickets which are like 5 feet away, so when she goes to sleep she will crawl in her cave and its super dark in it.