Just got leo gecko and a bit worried

Discussion in 'Leopard Geckos' started by Hardrive, Sep 17, 2007.

  1. Hardrive

    Hardrive New Member

    Messages:
    54
    Hi all Im sorry this has to be my first post on here just got my new leo about 2 hours ago and put him in his vivarium and he was wandering around for about 10 min then went to the hide and fallen asleep I dont want to move the hide to check on him as thats his safe place but on the other hand kinda worried about the little guy.. Ill tell ya about his home incase ive done something wrong..His vivarium is 23 inches by 15 inches by 18 inches high it has a habistat heat mat covering one half of his home and t-rex calci sand. it also has two hides one on the warm side and a smaller on the cooler side the temp inside is approx 75 F and has a light 60w small house hold bulb screw in fitted. ive put water in with a drop of reptisafe in it. and tries giving the little guy a couple of crickets coated in nutrobal but he just turned up his nose at them... anyway help should i be worried have i done something wrong if so can i fix it..

    Mike
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

    Messages:
    5,483
     
  3. kannibalklown

    kannibalklown New Member

    Messages:
    52
    you really shouldnt have it on sand, i mean i wont use it because it cant be digested, and you shouldnt have lights on him. you should have an undertank heater. he may not eat for a few days, but he will eventually
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

    Messages:
    5,483
     
  5. Spot

    Spot ReptileBoards Addict

    Messages:
    6,048
    welcome and congrats on getting your leo.

    First off, it's perfectly normal for a brand new leo to hang out in a hide, not to mention leos are nocturnal and they sleep during the day. as for eating, some leos need a few days to adjust to the new home, so don't worry about that for now either. Just offer him crickets every day, preferably evening-night when he's more alert. Remember not to leave crickets roaming in there. If he's not going to eat it in 20-30 min, take them out - crickets tend to poop all over the tank and may even start nipping on sleeping leos. Besides if you leave them in there, the gutload (you do know about gutload?) will have been digested out.

    'glad you described your tank---a few things you can do to make it safer and better.

    --dump the t-rex sand. I know it looks pretty and all, but it's known to be ingested by leos and can cause impaction - very serious problem. You can line the cage with papertowel until you find a better substrate - or you can just stick with the papertowel. Slate tiles, reptile carpet (don't use astroturf), non-adhesive shelf liner, even old newspaper are better.

    It sounds like you're measuring air temps. The critical temps you need to know is substrate temps - so stick on thermometers are not useful here. Get yourself a tempgun or a digital thermometer with a probe that you can rest directly onto the substrate.
    The warmest part of the substrate should be 87-93 degrees.

    another thing you want to put in the tank is a humid hide ( http://www.reptilerooms.com/Sections+index...d-1-page-1.html ) as well as a small dish of calcium.
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

    Messages:
    5,483
     
  7. moonjelly

    moonjelly Member

    Messages:
    292
    I wouldn't say it was strictly true that you cannot have a light on him. Yes leos need groundheat to warm up their bodies for digestion (i.e heat from a heatmat), but providing the light isn't making his temps too hot, i'd say it was okay. (Turn it off at night though). I prefer reflector bulbs rather than standard household types. The bulb will take the edge off the air temp also, but it is the ground temps you need to measure really.

    You need a digital thermometer to get the temps correct, not approximate. You can get them with a probe on the end which measures the temps on the ground. Warm side should be 91-92f, with the cool side being cooler obviously (ideally around 10 degrees cooler but in smaller vivs this is harder to create. Give him plenty of hidey spots).

    The calci sand isn't the prefered choice on this forum. Despite claiming to be digestable or other 'pros' it is still risky. You would be better with a non-particle substrate such as paper towel. The calcium in it actually encourages the pet to eat it, and when eating their insects they often get a mouth full. It's not guaranteed, but there is a risk that over time this can cause problems in the geckos gut (impaction) when the sand builds up and does not pass through properly.


    I wouldn't worry so much about him going off to sleep (they sleep a lot in the day) and also I wouldn't worry yet about him not eating his crix, he's settling in, it may take a while. Hopefully if you bump your temps up a little he may be more inclined to eat. ( remember it's the ground heat temp you want to know rather than the air)

    Also the gecko would benefit from a moisthide. There's a tutorial on how to make one on the sticky i think or google it. It helps them shed their skin
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

    Messages:
    5,483
     
  9. moonjelly

    moonjelly Member

    Messages:
    292
    great minds think alike eh! beaten to it :p
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

    Messages:
    5,483
     
  11. Hardrive

    Hardrive New Member

    Messages:
    54
    OH GOD

    Guess the pet store saw me comming its too late in the day to get tiles and not gonna upset the little guy buy taking the sand out today will do it tomorrow when I get some tiles. Here is a pic of him hes about 2 1/2 inches from nose to tail dunno how old he is. Ive put the light off now see if that makes him feel more at home. ho if anyone has a good idea for a name im open to suggestions im thinking along the lines of zorro as he has a black band around his head lol[​IMG]
     
  12. Hardrive

    Hardrive New Member

    Messages:
    54
    RE: OH GOD

    Thanks guys I really appriciate your help I just want to do right by the little guy and give him the best I can no expence spared thats why i got the sand as the pet store recomended it. going to get them crickets out now im thinking of useing sticky tape to get the little sods lol
     
  13. moonjelly

    moonjelly Member

    Messages:
    292
    RE: OH GOD

    Don't worry I had sand for the first week because I was advised it also. TBH it's much easier on you too...sand is a pain to 'clean' and replace and the crickets etc can end up burried without you knowing. yuck!
     
  14. Hardrive

    Hardrive New Member

    Messages:
    54
    RE: OH GOD

    An update for you all Ide turned the light off an hour ago anyway the little guy is out and exploring the whole viv and comming at the glass looking out I was so tempted to open it but thought better lol best to let him settle in before I even attempt human contact the poor guy has had kids and adults nocking on the glass viv at the pet store the poor guy prob hates humans by now lol... But he seems happy exploring its so cute hes moving so slowly as if something is going to jump out of the sand lol and for some reason he licks things dunno why hes doing that but hes happy doing it lol
     
  15. moonjelly

    moonjelly Member

    Messages:
    292
    RE: OH GOD

    good glad he is out and about! Mine lick things, I guess it's just exploring. My youngest one does it more than my others too. I'm sure he'll do fine
     
  16. Hardrive

    Hardrive New Member

    Messages:
    54
    Here is my little guy first time exploring his new home... If anyone has any info about him pls tell me the pet store said hes a leopard gecko but just double checking with you guys lol

    [​IMG][/img]
     
  17. moonjelly

    moonjelly Member

    Messages:
    292
    haha yeah he's a leopard gecko. He's cute too. Exploring etc in my opinion is a good thing...it means he's active etc and probably not sick or anything so you've picked a good one. I'd just search around online a bit today to find out more about caring for them etc, although once the sand is rid of and the temps tuned a bit more it should be fine.

    These are my lot

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
  18. Hardrive

    Hardrive New Member

    Messages:
    54
    they are adorable how old are they? and is that lino they are on I never thought of that hmm my brain is working overtime now lol...Whats in the soda cap the white stuff?
     
  19. craziiikris10

    craziiikris10 Member

    Messages:
    862
  20. Hardrive

    Hardrive New Member

    Messages:
    54
    I bought some Nutrobal for sprinkling on crickets. reading the stuff in it...contents = 200mg calcium & 150IU,D3 plus vitamins A E K B1 B2 B6 B12 C, folic, nicotinic & pantothenic acids, biotin choline niacin & minerals Na Fe Co I Mn Zn Se Cu...

    god I hope I got the right stuff....
     
  21. Fiche

    Fiche GOTM Winner

    Messages:
    4,640
    As others have said, welcome to the forums. You have a cute little guy or girl.

    Have you managed to get him a different substrate instead of that sand? Also do you have an undertank heater or the digital thermometer yet? I only ask because once you get his home set up properly you will see him be even more active and he should take a much larger interest in eating food. (Both of which are good things. :p)

    The vitamins can be confusing at first, so it may take some time to find a schedule that works well for your leo. The Nutrobal that you have is what I would call a "multi-vitamin". That should only be sprinkled on the food 1 or 2 times a week since your kiddo is still young. You will also want to pick up a pure calcium powder that has NO D3 and NO phosphorus (it will say that on the packaging). The pure calcium powder should be sprinkled on his food 5 times a week while he is still young. I'd also suggest that you put some of the pure calcium in a little soda cap in his cage so he can eat it whenever he wants.
     
  22. Hardrive

    Hardrive New Member

    Messages:
    54
    I have a habistat heat mat with out thermo just pluged into mains it covers half of the viv...pet store thinks hes a little guy but hard to tell as he is so tiny......do i wet the calcium in the soda cap or just leave it dry...
     
  23. kannibalklown

    kannibalklown New Member

    Messages:
    52
    leave it dry
     
  24. malt_geckos

    malt_geckos New Member

    Messages:
    81
    Plain calcium is what we use, but you can use what you have I think. I would recommend getting some regular calcium. They have it at Petco and places like that. I have Repti- Cal and my boyfriend uses something else...Glad you got the little guy out of that pet store. :D He's a cutie! I'm sure the other vitamins in what you are using couldn't hurt your leo and I think some people use vitamin enriched calcium. Did you get him/her off the sand yet? Glad to hear everythings going great! Zorro is a great name! We have Pheona and Unk (which is turning out to be a female so we have to rethink the name :p lol). Good Luck!

    Moonjelly- Those guys look like quite the goofs! They are so cute! Love the pic where the one's in the water dish with its tongue out! :D So cute!!
     
  25. LittleLouie

    LittleLouie Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    2,468
    Like Fiche said, you need to use both the multivitamin (what you have) AND the PURE calcium.

    As far as substrate goes, tile is great! I would not recommend getting linoleum because of the fumes that will be stuck in your tank with your little leo. I doubt that you will find tile at the pet store. Instead, look in a home improvement store such as Lowes or Home Depot. There is a huge selection, and if you ask, you can usually get them cut to the size of your tank. When you go shopping, be sure to bring along the exact measurements of the inside of your tank. You will probably want to get them cut a tad smaller so that you can lift them out and put them back into your tank. Also, get tile with some texture to it as opposed to the glassy smooth stuff.
     

Share This Page