new LIZARDS!

[da_illest]

ok, i just got a leopard gecko and a long tailed grass lizard today.. first off, anyone know anything about the longtailed? can they be kept communal and how to sex them? their sc name is Takydromus sexlineatus and the net doesn't have much info on them..

now, as the the gecko.. can i use repti-bark in the humidity box? and i have it in a 5 gallon tank and the gecko's a baby so i assume that's ok right? anyways could anyone post pics of their setups and stuff and give me tips and such? i know the basics.. i'll post pics of them later!

 

[skinheaddave]

Alex,

Didn't you not have room for things just a little while ago?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Silver.x]

He didn't have room for the Chameleon, which is in a 2'x2'x4' enclosure.

Aidan

 

[da_illest]

He didn't have room for the Chameleon, which is in a 2'x2'x4' enclosure.

Aidan

right on the money! the chameleon enclosure is HUUUUUUGGEEEE!!! the lepard gecko and the other lizard are in small tanks which are stackable with a wooden rack type thingy.. the cham's enclosure takes up the space of the rack thing which could hold maaaaaaaaany tanks and KK's and stuff.. like i said when i bought the cham the guy who sold it to me told me a bunch of lies and my girl wanted it sooo bad we had to get it.. on the other hand t's, my snake, frog, and lizards require such little space, especially t's... my snake won't outgrow a 10 gallon tank and that's the biggest tank i have in use..

so anybody have any tips? especially on how often to handle the leo?

 

[da_illest]

OLDHAAAAAAAAAAGG!!!! (i really need to know your name, heh ;p) HEEEEEEELP!!! lol you have leo's right?

 

[OldHag]

OLDHAAAAAAAAAAGG!!!! (i really need to know your name, heh ;p) HEEEEEEELP!!! lol you have leo's right?

Yup I got leos, and my name is Michelle BTW. I answer to hag just as fast.
Leopard geckos like the hot side about 88-90 and the cool side 82ish. I use papertowel as the substrate. Dont use bark! If you have to use some other substrate Ive heard that that calcisand is good....but I still worry. Paper towel cleans up fast even if its not pretty. AND you dont have to worry about impactions. Keep a hide with moist Peatmoss in it for them to get somewhere humid. Fresh water dish is a MUST. The types of hides mine seem to like are those BIG butter tubs with a hole cut in the side. OR wet wipe containers with a hole cut in the top.
Ill post a picture if you want one....Im too lazy to get up and do it right now
Michelle

 

[da_illest]

Yup I got leos, and my name is Michelle BTW. I answer to hag just as fast.
Leopard geckos like the hot side about 88-90 and the cool side 82ish. I use papertowel as the substrate. Dont use bark! If you have to use some other substrate Ive heard that that calcisand is good....but I still worry. Paper towel cleans up fast even if its not pretty. AND you dont have to worry about impactions. Keep a hide with moist Peatmoss in it for them to get somewhere humid. Fresh water dish is a MUST. The types of hides mine seem to like are those BIG butter tubs with a hole cut in the side. OR wet wipe containers with a hole cut in the top.
Ill post a picture if you want one....Im too lazy to get up and do it right now
Michelle

thanks, i have a heat lamp on one side of the tank and that side is at 87-93 at all times except night when lights go out.. do you use a heat pad or something? anyways i wanna get his brother or sister who is about an inch smaller (they where both there together) and keep them communal like they where.. mine is around 5 inches and the other 4" and considerably smaller overall.. what i wanna know is if they are both male will they eventually fight? even if they are siblings and grew up together? if they are not same sex will they breed? is that bad if sibling gecko's breed? thanks a lot in advance michelle, your always a big help...

 

[OldHag]

Males will kill each other or try to if kept together. Some females will not tolerate other females either. I have two personally that have to be kept alone or they will go to any length to kill the intruding leo. They even beat the tar out of the male...as soon as he's done his job I have to take him out FAST or he get a good bite for his efforts.
AND you need to have a semi constant temp...fluctuating temps can only cause problems. Your running into problems with your sandboa ,I think, because of the NO heat at night and the leos MAY fall into a similar situation if you fluctuate the temp big time like that. I know in the wild the temps vary but why tempt fate? Their digestion is better at a constant temp...the stress is less....they can thermoregulate if they want to be on the cooler side or the hotter side. Let them decide whats good. I do use an under the tank heater that is regulated with a themostat or a rheostat to keep the temp at 90 so they dont get burned. You can put a heat pad under and prop the tank up above it and test the temp until its at 90...raising and lowering the tank until you find that happy medium.
I wouldnt breed a brother to a sister...who knows how many times that was done before you bought them. Its better to breed unrelated individuals. You need to be careful not to breed them til they are at LEAST 10 months old and over 50g...I know breeders will breed them at lesser weights but they can also run into problems. They lay pretty big eggs for their size and a small female will just have problems if she isnt big enough.
Michelle

 

[da_illest]

Males will kill each other or try to if kept together. Some females will not tolerate other females either. I have two personally that have to be kept alone or they will go to any length to kill the intruding leo. They even beat the tar out of the male...as soon as he's done his job I have to take him out FAST or he get a good bite for his efforts.
AND you need to have a semi constant temp...fluctuating temps can only cause problems. Your running into problems with your sandboa ,I think, because of the NO heat at night and the leos MAY fall into a similar situation if you fluctuate the temp big time like that. I know in the wild the temps vary but why tempt fate? Their digestion is better at a constant temp...the stress is less....they can thermoregulate if they want to be on the cooler side or the hotter side. Let them decide whats good. I do use an under the tank heater that is regulated with a themostat or a rheostat to keep the temp at 90 so they dont get burned. You can put a heat pad under and prop the tank up above it and test the temp until its at 90...raising and lowering the tank until you find that happy medium.
I wouldnt breed a brother to a sister...who knows how many times that was done before you bought them. Its better to breed unrelated individuals. You need to be careful not to breed them til they are at LEAST 10 months old and over 50g...I know breeders will breed them at lesser weights but they can also run into problems. They lay pretty big eggs for their size and a small female will just have problems if she isnt big enough.
Michelle

males kill each other even if they are siblings? how did you manage to get pics of all your leo's together? just curious... and michelle, i do the 12 hours on 12 hours off because all the caresheets say that's good for them so they know when's day time and when's night time plus it says that i should provide a night time temp. drop or something.. if you say you keep all your leo's at a constant temp all the time and they're doing good i'm going to do the same though cause i just bought a ZOOMED heat pad today...

so if i get his sibling who he was living with i shouldn't keep them together?

thanks..

 

[OldHag]

When males reach maturity 6-8 months or even before they will start fighting even if they are brothers. Males just CAN NOT be kept together. Even if you do manage to keep them together it will be EXTREAMLY stressful for one of them. The weaker one will be constantly bullied and in terrible stress. NO males together ever! Females can be kept together in small groups but you have to provide more hides than there are leos. They are just a solitary creature and like to be alone. I know pet stores have them massed together but if youll notice there are some that are skinny and lethargic and just not doing well at all....
2 adult females to a 20gallon tank is ok. I keep my males separate from the females at all times unless I want them to breed. The males, like a good man, will follow and pester the females to NO end! I only put my males in with the females in January through March. Then let the females rest the rest of the year.
As to the caresheets....well...as everyone here keeps saying those are just guidelines...not always the best for the critter. I think the leos know day from night just by the lights being on or off. Mine have done fine and are healthy and fat. Remember to dust the food with vitamins and have a little dish of calcium in their enclosure especially for the females that are laying eggs, they need extra calcium.

 

[da_illest]

i have most of those things done and i can't afford the other yet so i've decided to stick with one for now.. i put the ZOOMED mini heat pad for 1-5 gallon terriums and i put a lot of paper towel on the floor so it doesn't burn the leo but i tried it for a little while, like 5-6 minutes and my temp/humidity reader, which had a probe that i placed right above the heat pad, read 98. something degrees F. even with the little pads the heat pad brings to lift the tank above ground.. so i tried putting the tank on 3x2" boards on each end and after a little while it still read over 98 degrees.. not only that but it kept unsticking from the glass... i'm stuck... i know why the temp read so high though.. it's cause my animal room for some reason is in the low 80's, high 70's most the time, i know because i have 3 thermometers in there, 2 electronic with probes and one manual one.. the room does fall to 76-78 at times and that's the all time low... so i took the heat pad off and have the heat clamp back on with a 40 watt bulb.. the ambient air gets to about 88-89 degrees high this way.. i have a 50 watt exo terra black bulb but i fear that'll make the temp go above 90.. i just can't find any 40 watt black bulbs and the only 40 watt i've found it the blue ZOOMED one at petsmart.. i think i'm going to use the black bulb at night and clamp it so it's higher off the tank so it won't over heat it.. this is so frustrating and i haven't got a rheostat and haven't gotten around to building one.. my pops knows about electricity so i'll ask him to build me one with plans i have.....

 

[da_illest]

i forgot.. i wanted to ask you about handling.. i heard that leo's are playful and get to know their owners, i want that.. how often should i handle him and what's the best way to go about it? do they bite? i know about the tail and being carefull with it or it'll fall off like with most lizards.. my leo won't come out of his repti-den.. that rock split in half with magnets so you can see him in it by taking off the outside one..

 

[OldHag]

I hold mine all the time. I do have one that bites every chance she gets and another that is just a SPAZ....he HATES being held no matter how much I hold him. SOOOO I dont hold those so much. The rest are quite responsive to us...Im sure its not out of affection but because we're the ones that bring food.....HAIL THE FOOD GOD!!!
As for my newly hatched geckos I dont hold them very much just so they can get accoustomed to eating and being out of the egg. After about 3 weeks or so I hold them a lot.
Just watch your leo, if it acts all wiggley and tries to get away all the time put it away and try again later. If its ok with you it will hang out and explore around. Mine have moods..sometimes theyre ok with being bothered other times its HANDS off.

 

[da_illest]

how do you pick them up? and if possible could you maybe post pics of their enclosure to give me an idea? mine is in a 5.5 gallon tank with a screen lid but it's too small with all the stuff in there... mine is around 4-5 inches and doesn't look like a new born but it is very young.. also, how many crix a day do you feed?

 

[OldHag]

When I pick them up I just reach in and grab them by the body... You know not to grab the tail. Then I put them on my hand or whatever...I make it a rule to sit down while I hold them so they dont fall.
Heres a pic of an enclosure. The hide has a hole cut in the side so it can go inside. I put Moist Peatmoss in there. Dont use vermiculite as they tend to eat it and can become impacted. That leo in the picture is about 9 inches long. Shes one of my breeders. That can give you an idea of how big the container is.
The next pic is the pic of the outside of my rack system. The big long tub has my sand boa in it. Im always moving things from rack to rack depending on where I want the critters. (I made some racks for hatchlings and misc. stuff)

 

[da_illest]

my leo is a spaz old hag... i handled it yesterday and it was sprinting around, jumping off my hand onto my lap.. will it calm down or is this normal for all leo's?

 

[OldHag]

my leo is a spaz old hag... i handled it yesterday and it was sprinting around, jumping off my hand onto my lap.. will it calm down or is this normal for all leo's?

Well, keep holding it and if it calms down then NO it wont be a spaz forever...but if not...LOL then your SOL!!! I have a male we named SOS (spawn-of-satan) because hes the spaz posterchild..he has NEVER calmed down and I have had him for a year..some days hes less spaztic than others but hes consistantly spaztic.
BTW No that is not normal for all of MY leos...but I tend to be quite hands on with my lizards. Maybe most leos ARE spaztic but mine have just come to terms with my constant mauling dunno.....