[leobobster]

I am completely new to the hobby and am planning to start with a leopard gecko

iv got setup in mind but i would like to hear some opinions first. I'm going to hav a viv about 24" by 12" possibly bigger, im gonna use a heat strip (and thermostat) at one end, use a themometer for both ends, have hides, (moist, warm, cool ect), use playsand as a substrate (Iv heard that if the gecko is over 5/6" long its safe), possibly have a red light, have a water dish and feed mostly meal worms and sometimes crickets (obviously dusted), specific amounts of how much to feed would be very helpfull.

any advice would be very much appreciated. thnx

 

[BADGERS MUM]

im fairly new to this but your set up sounds good,id maybe rethink the playsand or sand of any type,only as its better to be safe than sorry,check out leo on loose substrate thread,not nice,my viv is pretty much as uv planned only ive got a 11x11 heat mat rather than strip,but sounds like youve got it pretty much spot on so good luck with ur new leo,they are good fun

 

[BADGERS MUM]

meant to say mealies all the time arent considered that nutritional,crickets best and hoppers are good too,i feed mine 3rd hoppers they are a nice size,wax worms as a treat,mine loves them and a dish of calcium powder in viv for him to seek if need be,i use grated cuttle fish which is same thing really.

 

[gemthegem]

gecko.s are good first time reptiles

i have a gecko and think they make great pets.

 

[Venomous Poison]

ive got 2 geckos an i wuddnt be without them

 

[Emz118]

Setup sounds excellent.... nice to see someone mention a stat!!!

24x12 will be ok for one gecko, but 18" deep would be better.

I would recommend you have the setup ready for a week or so before yiu get your leo, and get temps etc right. The dials in stats are not very accurate. mine was set at 31, but when i bought a digi thermometer, the temp at the probe in the substrate was 51!!!

And as above, crickets are nutritionally better than mealworms.

 

[K.J.Geckos]

play sand is about as bad as calci sand for a leo.basicly people think because its safe for kids it going to be safe for leos.but it isnt.if your going to put a leo(not a beardie)on playsand, you might as well start giving it calci sand as it may have the same problems if it does start to eat it.Reptile sand is safe for leos as its not calcium based so they shouldnt eat it if they have a lack of calcuim in there diet.Playsand contain more silica making it safe to kids if they eat it.Sand isnt really the most ideal substrate for geckos really anyway.yes it looks nice in a viv but its not very hygenic for the animal.I used reptile sand for my leos at first before i got more into them.then i put them onto kitchen roll.i really notice a difference with it.so much easyier to clean and a lot better conditions for the leo.If you didnt want to use kitchen roll there are other things that are quite nice.slate,tile,lino,sticky floor tiles,marble if you have the money or even newspaper.

With regards to the meal worms.they are not really that good for leos like the others have said.I always leave a small dish in the vivs in case they get peckish but other then that crickets and hoppers are good for nutritional value.

 

[Kerry1]

Heat mat is better than heat strip. Also, as others have said, leave mealies out of the equation all together. Crix are the best staple diet, providing they are gut-loaded correctly. Remember, what you put into the crix, the leo gets out of them! Read loads of books. The Leopard Gecko manual by Philip de Vosjoli is fab, and cheap on Amazon, and look at care sheets on websites, particularly www.thegeckospot.com.

 

[DeanThorpe]

play sand is about as bad as calci sand for a leo.basicly people think because its safe for kids it going to be safe for leos.but it isnt.if your going to put a leo(not a beardie)on playsand, you might as well start giving it calci sand as it may have the same problems if it does start to eat it.Reptile sand is safe for leos as its not calcium based so they shouldnt eat it if they have a lack of calcuim in there diet.Playsand contain more silica making it safe to kids if they eat it.Sand isnt really the most ideal substrate for geckos really anyway.yes it looks nice in a viv but its not very hygenic for the animal.I used reptile sand for my leos at first before i got more into them.then i put them onto kitchen roll.i really notice a difference with it.so much easyier to clean and a lot better conditions for the leo.If you didnt want to use kitchen roll there are other things that are quite nice.slate,tile,lino,sticky floor tiles,marble if you have the money or even newspaper.

So whats wrong with playsand? like you said..any sand is bad if they eat it, so as calci sand is the only one they are likely to eat due to being calcium based whast wrong with playsand? and how is the other sand u mentioned any better? playsand is the cheapest of all the sands u might use for reps so if no other has a benefit over it...

With regards to the meal worms.they are not really that good for leos like the others have said.I always leave a small dish in the vivs in case they get peckish but other then that crickets and hoppers are good for nutritional value.

what would you do if they ate the hole lot? would u replace the dish?

 

[DeanThorpe]

Heat mat is better than heat strip. Also, as others have said, leave mealies out of the equation all together. Crix are the best staple diet, providing they are gut-loaded correctly. Remember, what you put into the crix, the leo gets out of them! Read loads of books. The Leopard Gecko manual by Philip de Vosjoli is fab, and cheap on Amazon, and look at care sheets on websites, particularly www.thegeckospot.com.

surely the size of the viv and its depth would be the decideing factor on whether a heat mat or strip would be better though?
basically 2/3 of the floor surface should be heated... by mat, strip, tape, blanket etc

 

[leobobster]

ok, so playsand is out, i was going to put a bowl of meal worms in at all times and feed crickets, so thats still good, iv researched and with even the smallest heat mats iv found, they cover way more than 1/3 of the viv. The one im looking at is about 6" by 12" though Ill keep looking for mats. Iv got one of these thermometers with an external probe so it measures 2 temps, is that ok? if so, where should i put the 2 ends?

I was looking at meal worms and I have been looking at livefood.co.uk (I have heard that they're good) and was wondering how many to expect my leo to eat cause i dont want to get too many

I'm also thinking of how to store my crix and it would help to know how high they jump, how much noise they make and whether to get house or field crix.
sorry for all the dumb questions but this is such a great source of all that info that you normally only get from experience.

thnx again.

 

[geckoplus18]

It's good that you start to collect information even you started off adopting a Leopard Gecko.

Asking around on the forum from expert and experienced ppl is good. Maybe you may try to search on for what you're looking for. There are lots of useful information out there.

My advice is plan properly before you get a LC.

Cheers~

 

[Venomous Poison]

i feed my 2 leopard geckos 12 crix every other day,but they can be quite noise,they do jump and run very fast,u can get silent crix but ive had those make noise to.i leave a dish of 15 mealies in viv at all times and jus top up if they need them.but i tend to just go to pet shops to get my live food because u can see how big the food is and that its right. i also give them 2 wax worms each every other day.but these are mainly a treat,i had probs with my geckos eating while they were settling in...if this happens dont try and tempt them into eating with wax worms cuz they are to geckos like chocolate to us and u may find they get a sweet tooth.....hope that helps

 

[bjherp]

basically 2/3 of the floor surface should be heated... by mat, strip, tape, blanket etc

Sorry to say but this is incorrect, 1/3 of the base of the vivarium should be covered by a heat mat to maximum of 1/2.

This is to ensure you can provide the correct thermal gradient for the animal. Heating 2/3's of the viv will not allow for a cooler area within it. Which will not allow the animal to thermoregulate correctly.

Further more regards the Calci Sand parts, we have kept many a species on it for years from bearides leopard geckos.

I have never in my experience had problems using calci sand, but i would say never use play sand.

 

[emski]

hey there,

i am pretty new to keeping leos, i have 3 babies all of which i keep on kitchen paper. I dont especially trust sand but that is my personal oppinion, i find kitchen paper so easy and its cheap. I tend to change the toliet area once a day and the rest of the enclosure 1-2 times a week. I do have a heat lamp in one of my leos tanks, but i do not use it anymore, i just keep the heat mat on and they are happy with this. I tend to put my thermastate just above the floor, others may do this different, but i like to keep it as close to the heat matt as possible so they dont get burned by it etc.. i also have thermonitors in both ends of the tank. I also have wet hides these are the exo terra hides with damp moss in and also cool and hot hides. My geckos wont eat meal worms for some reason, i dont know if this is because i was scared of feeding them to them for a while. I heared all sorts of storys about mealworms being able to eat out of leos if they were not eaten properly,wether this has happened i really dont know :? but i have been trying to feed them mealies for a while but they wont have any of it!! The smaller 2 eat about 5-8 small crickets a day, the older one about 10 a day. I also give them 1 wax worm a day as a treat after they have eaten there crickets. If you are planning on using mealworms i would put them in a small plastic dish that the geckos can see into, but the mealies cant get out, But as everyone has said crickets seem to be good source of food, i keep my crickets in a cricket keeper can find them from most reptile stores, and buy around 2 packs a week (bear in mind i have 3) i mix black and brown crickets for a bit of variety. I dont tend to find them nosiey, just make sure that they dont get damp, from no ventilation in the cricket keeper, as they will die. this has happened to me a few times, waste of money and a pain! I gut load mine with things like weetabix,oats certain cereal that contains no sugar, also feed veg and fruit. I tend to put a slice of orange in as it is a good source of vitamin c and it allows the crickets to take a drink without drowning. I really think its all common sense, feed the crickets good food as this allows your gecko to get all the vitamins and goodness it needs. When it comes to calcium dust i use calypso and dust my crickets or wax worms before i feed and i always leave a dish of it in the viv , i always use a vitamin suppliment once a week (cant think of the name right now sorry) but there is many out there to choose from. Hope this has helped, when i get the chance i will take a pic of my set up and post it.

Byeeeee:razz:

 

[emski]

One more thing i forgot :lol2: I left my leos for a week after i got them. This is a very hard thing to do i know:| The reason i did this is because they dont like change,so they need to get used to their new enviroment , I only disturbed them to change there water and put some food in.. I dident feed my leos either for the first 2 days as i did not want to stress them out with crickets flying around there head.. They may seem jumpy and a bit scared at first but if you leave them, they will come round.:wink: