Leopard geckos (general questions)

[riderr]

Hey guys,

I hope we have some experienced keepers here since the info on the internet differs greatly.
I'm thinking about getting a little gecko since my reptile guy just hatched some.
I came across people advocating heat lamps while others advocated heat mats. How do you guys do it? I figure it's hard to heat the tank up to 85 or 90 degrees (30-35 celsius) with just a heat mat? Also tank size recommendations are different all over the internet. How do you keep yours? How often do you feed or do you always have sth, eg meal worms available for them?

Thanks in advance

Lukas

 

[pyro fiend]

well for one a 10gal could be okay but i like to use a 20gal long for 1-2 of them.. room temp is fine mine flourish and breed at 80 ambient and heat tape running along a bit of one corner. if your not the tank type i use a 28q for 1 adult with a 6qt moist hide 36 qt for 2 and then custom enclosures from there.. pls only house babies solo tho

food:i leave a dish full of mealworms available at all times. usualy they finish it off by the end of the night. but i offer roaches 3-4 times a week till they stop eating them [hatchlings may eat 5 or 6 newborn roach nymphs or more depending on how aggressive of a feeder, adults eat 3-6 male dubias(these are for our non giants btw) ]

 

[Najakeeper]

A couple pointers:

-You need to dust your feeder insects with calcium and multivitamins. Calcium is especially important.
-They nocturnal creatures so no UVB necessary.
-They do well with a humid hide, especially if the humidity is low. They can easily lose digits to bad sheds.

 

[basin79]

A couple pointers:

-You need to dust your feeder insects with calcium and multivitamins. Calcium is especially important.
-They nocturnal creatures so no UVB necessary.
-They do well with a humid hide, especially if the humidity is low. They can easily lose digits to bad sheds.

If there's no UV it'll have to be a calcium and vit D3. I provide my Tokay with UV. It's their if he wants it.

 

[Najakeeper]

If there's no UV it'll have to be a calcium and vit D3. I provide my Tokay with UV. It's their if he wants it.

Even with UV, calcium is important mate. One does not substitute for the other. But if your feeders are very well gut loaded with calcium rich food, then you should be fine.

 

[basin79]

Even with UV, calcium is important mate. One does not substitute for the other. But if your feeders are very well gut loaded with calcium rich food, then you should be fine.

Yes of course. I'm just typing if there's no UV the calcium will need vit D3 in order to be absorbed.

 

[Bugmom]

I have mine in my snake rack, so two leos in a 30-something quart tub. They have heat via the heat tape. I don't dust food - leopard geckos do best when you put a bowl of vitamin powder in the enclosure and let them lick that as needed (that's coming from Ron Tremper - the leo breeder - himself). They'll know when they need to lick it. Dusting feeders honestly does almost nothing.

Mine have a water dish, a humid hide (tupperware bowl with hole cut in lid, and moss inside, which I only need to spray with water about once a week, and change the moss out as needed) and a regular hide. I keep them on newspaper for easy clean up. Twice a week they get to eat all the red runners they want. I do feed them in a separate container, one at a time, because they are either very dumb or have very bad eyesight and will mistake each other's tail or toes for food. Sometimes I give them mealworms or dubia instead. Leos can get fat easily and that can make them sick, so be careful not to overfeed. Waxworms in particular should only be fed as a treat.

 

[SDahmer]

I don't keep them anymore but they're pretty simple. 1-2 will be ok in a 10 gallon but I prefer to give them 20. Females can be housed together, males will fight. As far as I know the preferred heating method is still an appropriately sized heat pad/mat and or black/red light. The reason being that they are nocturnal and won't expose themselves to enough light to benefit from UVB bulbs. Keep a water dish at all times. As far as food goes, opinions vary a lot. In the past people thought mealworms were too chitonous but now it seems to be the norm to feed them as a staple. Personally, I fed a variety with crickets, mealworms, waxworms and occasional pinkies. Now that they're readily available, dubias would work great I'm sure. Important: use only paper towels or newspaper for babies, nothing they can ingest. Also, 2-3 hides, you need a moist one with vermiculite, sphagnum or paper towels. Once they settle in you can handle them easily, are hardy and make great pets.

Edit: Keep a bottle cap with calcium in the enclosure, they will lick at it.