couple more questions from a newbie

Hi All,

I've had my Leopard Gecko for a week now, the past few days I've noticed after feeding between 5-5:30 pm eastern standard time my Gecko starts trying to climb the walls of the glass tank he is housed in. Is this a behavior of an ill or distressed gecko? Is he possibly still hungry? Or is it merely his personality coming out as he is becoming more comfortable in his new home. He is eating daily, pooping daily and doesn't seem to be hurting himself by doing this.

My other question is he seems to spend all his time on the hot side of tank or towards the middle but still on the warmer side. I have vinyl tiles as a substrate and use two digital probe thermometers. the hot side reads 93.4 degrees( I use a Rheostat) and the cool side reads 79.2 degrees during the day. I can't sit and watch him all day but when I do watch him he's always on the hot side or towards it. Should I be concerned here? Also at night should I lower the rheostat to lower the hot side temp, without lowering it it drops to about 88 degrees and the cool side drops to 73 degrees. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated

Sounds like all systems are normal to me. The leo will only go to the cool side to explore and thermoregulate, apparently out doesn't find a need to. It may be a lil cool for the leo, I'd try keeping the tank around 95-96* F and see if that changes anything. If not then your leo is just the type, like mine, that only needs their cool side on the hottest days. Don't adjust your temps down at night, that won't make any difference except making digestion a lil more difficult with inconsistent temps and could risk consisting your leo.

Thanks Kermit, I appreciate all your help and advice. Do you find it necessary to put a cap of calcium in the Gecko's tank? I've read on here that a lot of people do but I can't seem to find plain calcium anywhere. Petco and Petsmart don't carry it here in the US and I've tried two locally owned pet shops that didn't carry it either. With the Calcium being so hard to find I was wondering if it is no longer recommended. I do dust my juvenile( 2 months) Gecko's food with calcium with D3 six days a week and on the 7th day I dust his food with ZooMed's Reptivite multi vitamin with D3.

i agree 100 with what kel(kermit) said. as for the calcium, it honestly depends on how often you dust your feeders with calcium. it is absolutely needed by the geckos. i do keep a cap in all of my enclosures. if you go to a reptile expo you can find it pretty easily, usually. you can also order it online. i often wonder how many people are over supplimenting thier geckos though, because they surely dont get suppliments in the wild, but thier natural prey obviously has what they need as far as vitamins and minerals, as well as nutrients. i cut my supplimentation down personally, to about once a week with calcium, and once a week for multivitamins. i was giving calcium twice a week. with younger and especially babies, calcium and vitamins are VERY important...not that they are not with adults, but babies will suffer alot if they are not provided.

" i often wonder how many people are over supplimenting thier geckos though"

After seeing a good amount of necropsy pictures with calcification of soft tissue, I can only assume too many. I have a hunch that leopard geckos being crepuscular have low requirements for vitamin D, but of course it's not proven. Every brand has a different amount of VitD in it. Then of course it depends on the gutload and insects you feed. Honestly when these calcium questions arise I get goosebumps.