Hello, new member here! (:

Hi everyone,

I'm Ashley Nguyen from Los Angeles, CA. I have a 1 year old American Pit Bull Terrier that I rescued from the shelter, a 12 year old standard gray Chinchilla that I saved from undesirable housing conditions, and now a baby Leopard Gecko that I got from Petco (I know, not the best place to get pets.. I'll definitely be going with a rescue or one from a breeder next!).

Here are some pictures of my family because everyone loves pictures! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My dogter and I
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Hailey Havoc:
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Felix:
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Swiftblade, my little .. guy/girl?
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Habitat:
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Currently, he is in a 10 gallon tank with a heating pad on one end. He has the hollowed branch as hiding on the cooler side and the little coconut hut is on the heated end (heat pad sticks outside the glass on the bottom). The whole bottom is covered with a terrarium, to prevent impact. There is a shallow water dish and a dish with a bit of his vitamins with meal worms. The baby crickets are also dusted in the stuff. I have a thermometer that measures his tank at 87 F right now. He also has a 50 watt basking spot lamp over the heated side of the tank. There is also shade provided by a large fan leaf plant (he loves to climb on top of it and in between the leaves) I have a few questions, since he is my first reptile.

1) The second ingredient in the vitamins is "Precipitated Calcium Carbonate" - is this calcium? Does this count as calcium? Should I get him/her some calcium?

2) The vitamins list that it doesn't have D3. What is D3? Do I need to supplement D3?

3) I am pretty creeped out by crickets and do not want to raise them. I realize this means I won't have the benefit of "gut-loading" them. Is there somewhere I can buy gut-loaded crickets? Is there a huge difference between regular crickets purchased at Petco and gut-loaded one's? If I can't get a hold of gut-loaded crickets, what supplements can I give my little bugger to make sure he/she has the best quality life?

4) Is it a bad idea to have meal worms and crickets in the tank? Should I rotate between them? I currently have both inside his/her tank.

5) What color would he/she be described as? I read somewhere that they gradually change color over time?

6) How old do you think he/she is?

7)
Does he/she look healthy? Or at least in decent health? If not, what
else can I do? I noticed that my leo has a thin tail.. are there any
ways I can fatten it up? Is it normal for a baby leo to have a thin
tail?

Thank you! I look forward to learning from all of you! (:

Hi Ashley

Welcome to the forum. I am Jolene and have a ton of Geckos. I am far from an expert but I do know that you do not have to feed crickets. You can feed them just superworms and mealworms. I use crickets as treats because they seem to enjoy the hunt but that is not a requirement, they can get what they need from super dusted with calcium powder.

I am not sure about the vitamins question but I know that there are others on here that will be able to answer that. I used a straight calcium in their tanks and to dust their feeders.

Again, welcome to the forum and I look forward to talking with you.

Thank you so much for your reply!

I think I'll keep the crickets for the hunt as well.

Hi Ashley,

Welcome to the forum, im Sam, me and my other half breed/rescue leos aswell as keeping and breeding some other reptiles.

I mainly feed my leo's mealworms with a waxworm as a treat, your little leo looks like its a few months old.

my other half will love the pics of your pitbull as he's always wanted one but we can't have them over here

hope you enjoy your time on the forum

Miss Ashley wrote:
I have a thermometer that measures his tank at 87 F right now
If your only thermometer is the circle one shown in the picture then you could do with buying another one. A couple of reasons; those round one's are very inaccurate, any humidity in the tank and the card will bend stopping the needle from moving, and also it measure the ambient air temperature, which doesn't really matter. What does matter is measuring the direct floor temperatures of the hot end, as belly heat is what is important for Leo's. The best thing for this would be a digital probe thermometer.

He also has a 50 watt basking spot lamp over the heated side of the tank.
Again, im afraid this heat lamp is unnecessary and probably rather stressful to the leo. 50 watt, seems like it is probably very hot and bright too. Leo's do not need to bask, and do'nt need artificial light. An under tank heater (UTH) will provide all the heat you need. However this brings me on to your substrate; i noticed you are using some sort of sand, which isn't so good and won't let a lot of heat through from the UTH; there are quite a few problems related to sand. The main big problem is impaction issues, the leo can gobble up bits of sand and it gets stuck in their stomach, which could get worse and worse and even be fatal, especially to young gecko's, which yours is. A better substrate would be tile, slate, even just kitchen roll, or butchers paper.
There is a great housing caresheet on the forum written by one of our members here which goes through substrate and lighting: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


1) The second ingredient in the vitamins is "Precipitated Calcium Carbonate" - is this calcium? Does this count as calcium? Should I get him/her some calcium?
I'm not too sure to be honest. But Kermit is one of our US members who knows a lot about all the US supplements so she will be able to help.

2) The vitamins list that it doesn't have D3. What is D3? Do I need to supplement D3?
Yes, D3 is needed to process calcium. Two supplements are needed, one pure calcium, and one calcium with D3. But however there are a few all-in-one subsitutes. As i say Kermit is the one who will be able to answer all this.

3) I am pretty creeped out by crickets and do not want to raise them. I realize this means I won't have the benefit of "gut-loading" them. Is there somewhere I can buy gut-loaded crickets? Is there a huge difference between regular crickets purchased at Petco and gut-loaded one's? If I can't get a hold of gut-loaded crickets, what supplements can I give my little bugger to make sure he/she has the best quality life?
A little info about gut-loading; all gut loading is in its simplest form, is buying some crickets, then dropping a leaf of cabbage in, or carrot or something healthy, 48 hours before giving to your leo. They eat the veg, and then the leo will then get the goodness of the veg when it eats the cricket, so that's all that is involved in gut loading really. But as Sam mentioned, crickets aren't necessary, and since your gecko is on sand then it may be better to cut them out completely, as every cricket it catches, it will also catch a mouth full of sand.
As a breeder, i think mealworms and superworms are both easiest and best for my gecko's. Mealworms can be stored in the fridge when not in use, meaning they don't die off or eat each other, and also can be gut loaded with the simple process of dropping a bit of veg in their tub. Feeding dusted mealworms in a bowl, is sort of what every breeder does pretty much, its perfectly fine as a staple diet for your leo.

4) Is it a bad idea to have meal worms and crickets in the tank? Should I rotate between them? I currently have both inside his/her tank.
No it's fine. Except for the problems i mentioned about eating crickets on sand. Also, its important the mealworms don't escape from the bowl, or you'll have the same problem, the gobbling up the sand.

5) What color would he/she be described as? I read somewhere that they gradually change color over time?
It looks like a 'Normal' morph gecko. As she grows, the bands will begin to fade into spots all over the body, a quick google images search of normal leopard gecko will bring up lots of pictures of what your gecko may look like when its older.

6) How old do you think he/she is?
Looks about 3 - 5 months old.

7)
Does he/she look healthy? Or at least in decent health? If not, what
else can I do? I noticed that my leo has a thin tail.. are there any
ways I can fatten it up? Is it normal for a baby leo to have a thin
tail?
Looks good yes. The tail is a little thin, but not too thin for her age. Younger leo's don't normally fatten up their tail as much as adults will, most of the food they eat will go towards growing rather than fat storage. So yes its normal for younger gecko's to have thinner tails.
Just keep a small record of her weights and as long as it is rising regularly then she is growing healthily.

Right, now the questions are answered; Hi i'm Jordan. lol. I'm the administrator and owner of this site so if you have any problems with anything (site related) then i should be able to help you. Also if you need help doing anything (site related again lol) then let me know in the members chatbox or by PM.
Have a good time on the forum, and i hope you enjoy it.
I know its small at the moment but its growing quickly.

Thank you everyone for your detailed replies! You guys rock!!

I'll be heading to Petco today to pick up a digital thermometer and some waxworms to give him as treats! Should I give him them once a week or month?

Jordan, the bottom of his tank is lined with terrarium liner. It is not sand, but some spongey type of material?

This is it:
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Is it possible to put the cricket feeder in the same enclosure as my leo? Will it be toxic to him? I was able to pick him up and saw two developing bumps at the base of the underside of his tail. I'm guessing he's a male?

I have ultimately decided that we might as well raise crickets as feeders. For those of you that raise crickets, we plan on going to Petco and buying a container. We are then going to buy highly nutricious cricket food and water gels that are supllemented with calcium. What else do crickets really need?

Also, how many crickets should I give in a feeding? How many times should I feed him a day? He is also fed mealworms (how many of those per day, as well?) Let's say he eats 2 crickets and 2 mealworms a day, can I just buy 14 (a week's worth) and raise them in thei own container until he finished them all?

How do I gut load the mealworms? Do I just put the same cricket stuff in the container they came from in the store?

Miss Ashley wrote:
I'll be heading to Petco today to pick up a digital thermometer and some waxworms to give him as treats! Should I give him them once a week or month?

Jordan, the bottom of his tank is lined with terrarium liner. It is not sand, but some spongey type of material?

Is it possible to put the cricket feeder in the same enclosure as my leo? Will it be toxic to him? I was able to pick him up and saw two developing bumps at the base of the underside of his tail. I'm guessing he's a male?

Good idea. Erm, about 4-5 waxworms a fortnight won't do any harm.

Oooohh right lol, sorry about all my ramblings about sand then lol. But you might want to be careful with that substrate, make sure he can't get his teeth or toes stuck in it. Also, it may harbour bacteria quite badly.

Erm i'm not sure, but i wouldn't risk it. Just put the cricket feeders in with the crickets a day before feeding.

Miss Ashley wrote:I have ultimately decided that we might as well raise crickets as feeders. For those of you that raise crickets, we plan on going to Petco and buying a container. We are then going to buy highly nutricious cricket food and water gels that are supllemented with calcium. What else do crickets really need?

Also, how many crickets should I give in a feeding? How many times should I feed him a day? He is also fed mealworms (how many of those per day, as well?) Let's say he eats 2 crickets and 2 mealworms a day, can I just buy 14 (a week's worth) and raise them in thei own container until he finished them all?

How do I gut load the mealworms? Do I just put the same cricket stuff in the container they came from in the store?

If you breed and raise crickets for just one gecko you are going to be overrun and seriously over supplied with crickets lol. Most of your crickets will grow too big for your leo before you get the chance to feed them to him.

About 3 - 4 crickets a day, or 5 - 6 crickets every other day. depending on the size of them though obviously.

I don't think you can buy mealworms in such an exact quantity. Just buy a tub and it see how long it lasts.
Personally if i was feeding both mealworms and crickets then i would alternate the days. Give him 3 - 4 crickets one day ande then the next day 7 - 10 mealworms. He should grow nicely on that diet.

Mealworms are gutloaded same as crickets, just drop a bit of veg in the container they come in, and they will munch on it.

Hiiii Ashley
Nice to meet you! Welcome to the forum!
I'm Sarah
&& I have to say.. your pets are reallly cute!