help with new Gecko!!!

Hi, yesterday i got my first leopard gecko, I bought a komodo starter kit that came with heat mat, viv (40x30x35), hide, moss, insect powder, thermomiter, info book and calcium sand.
After a bit reading up i got rid of the sand and went to a local flooring company and replaced it with laminate tile (2 for £1.00). This seems to let the heat through better then the sand and is obviously safer to use.
I have a few questions that may seem a bit daft but I have read a load of mixed opinions and would like some people in the know to help.

1-day and night temp? I know the temp should be at 29-31 through the day and 22-25 at night. Now the problem is the heat mat kicks out the same temp heat day or night so surely the day/night temp will be the same all the time? I did notice this morning that the temp was lower this morining due to the room temp dropping as it is winter and also as mentioned i didnt think the sand was letting the heat through very well.
2-Lighting? I have read a lot about this as I was advised i would need lighting but the more I read it seems I dont... I know some people use lighting and some people dont. I was wondering as it is -4 at night and incase the temp drops too much can a infa red heat light be used? i doubt this would be needed in the summer just winter.
3-calcium...i have insect powder to use but an additional bowl of calcium is used by some and not by others. I have read about using cuttlefish ground up and put in a bowl for extra calcium but some people seem strongly against this as it is near enough pure calcium, if not can the insect powder be used in an additional bowl in the tank?
3-mealworm or crickets? at the moment i have crickets to feed him but i am going to pick up some meal worms as well. i have read that these would be used as a treat and not fed every day but every other day or some say every other week? If it doesnt matter and he likes them can he be fed them every day?

That all i can think of for now but im sure i will have more questions as time goes on, or as i read more. Cheers!!!

Welcome to the forum and the world of leopard geckos. I have to warn you, they are extremely addicting! I started off with one and now have 8! :P

Good job getting rid of the sand. Sand is definitely not a good choice, especially if your leo is a baby/juvie. Calcium sand is especially bad as they like to lick it up for the calcium. Tiling is a much better choice.

1. The heat mat needs to cover 1/3rd of the tank floor. This is the hot side. The hot side needs to be between 88*-95* at ALL TIMES. The cool side needs to be about 10* cooler than this. The cool side is the opposite side of the tank. This allows a temperature gradient. Meaning, the gecko can choose what temp he/she wants to be at. If they want to be hot, they go to the hot side. If they want to cool down, they walk over to the cool side. When measuring the temps, you need to measure the FLOOR temps, not the air temps. To do this, you need to get a probe thermometer or a temp gun.

2. Lighting is definitely not needed for leos as they are crepuscular (they come out at dawn and dusk, when there isn't a lot of light). The heat mat should provide adequate heating, but if it doesn't you should use a thermostat to get the temps up. If that still doesn't work, then a light can be purchased. I recommend a ceramic heat emitter, as that doesn't release light but provides a good amount of heat. Light seems to bother certain leos (albinos especially). But a red light can work, although some members (including myself) have found that it bothers their leos eyes.

3. What kind of insect powder is it? What does it contain? You should use a multivitamin that includes vitamin d3, and a calcium supplement. I use reptivite multivitamin twice a week, and I leave pure calcium (with nothing else in it) in the tank in a bowl all the time. Your schedule on supplementation depends on the type of supplementation you use. I've never heard of using cuttlebone for leos, but see if anyone else who chimes in has opinions on that.

4. The best diet for a leo is one filled with variety. I feed my leos crickets, superworms, mealworms as their staple diet, and other worms such as waxworms, phoenix worms and butterworms as treats.
Crickets are fine to use as a staple diet. Mealworms are as well. There is controversy as to whether mealworms contain enough of the nutrition leos need, but I have heard of many well-known breeders who use mealworms as a staple diet for their leos. Click here to read about the different feeders available to you for your leo.

Again, welcome to the forum!

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

The powder i have contains vitamins A, D3 and E,spirulina, kelp, pure marigold, probiotic bacteria, yucca extract, natural antioxidants, phosphorus, fine grade calcium carbinate, rosehip, yeast, dextrose, alfalfa meal, calcium casienate, wheat flour.
Seems to have a bit of everything in it.... do you think i should leave pure calcium in as well as dusting the insects. I have also put some powder on the crickets food so they take it in as well. read this is a good thing to do?

Yes you should use an additional dish of pure calcium in the viv since you are not using an all in 1 suppliment like repashy calcium plus or trex complete leopard gecko dust. Your leo needs both multi vit and calcium. Your leo will get his D3 thru the multi vit and the leo needs D3 to absorb calcium. Add the dish of pure calcium, and dust with the multi vit every other feeding for juvie or laying leos, or once a week for adult non laying leos. Hope this helps

Makesure the calcium you put in a dish in his tank is pure calcium and doesn't contain added D3

Thanks for the advice! Got some calcium and meal worms yesterday. Another quick question... He doesn't seem to be eating, I got him on Sunday and today is Tuesday and so far he has ate one cricket, I put some worms in a dish last night and 2 crickets, woke up today and everything is still there. Is this normal till he settles in? Little bit worried... I will check again when I am in from work and see what is left. The crickets seem to join him in the moist box as well and he still doesn't eat them

It is normal for them to not eat as they settle in. It sounds like you are doing a great job with him

Grrr, this always happens! I write a long helpful reply and for some reason it doesn't show up

Don't worry about him not eating he probably won't eat for up to a week because he is getting used to his new surroundings. He could even be getting ready to shed, they sometimes lose their appetite when they are ready to shed. Don't leave crickets in his tank they will nibble on him while he is sleeping, probably the reason they were kn his moist box with him. Also make sure the mealworms don't escape their dish as they have also been known to nibble at your gecko

Thanks again people! I'll keep you updated on how we're getting on

Fun fact.... Yucca extract is suppose to make their poo smell nicer... ;D

Im buying a thermostat for my heat pad as I am concerned about the temp and what to make sure everything is perfect. I have also noticed that every time we have put the light on in our living room where his tank is when we get home he hides straight away. Should I therefore be looking at moving his tank maybe into the bedroom where it is quieter and purchasing a blue lamp for him? I want to make sure the temp stays fine and be able to view him without stressing him out. Im also looking at buying organic vermiculite as a friend of mine says it is better than the moist moss as it dont get mouldy. If the blue bulb is any good can you recommend a particular one? I have noticed many people choose not to use the red as they find this hurts their eyes?? Many thanks again ... this time from Hayley (Chris better half) ; )

You certainly can use a blue moonlight bulb, I would suggest nothing more than 50 watts if you're worried about temps getting too high. That shouldn't add any more than about 6 degrees to your viv. Also I would move him out of a high traffic area. I notice they don't tend to like the lights on lights off thing... it really messes with them until they are so bombproof it doesn't matter what you do to them, like holding a wet qtip to their nose for 30 seconds with out them twitching.... remember that leos are prey creatures meaning that they are on this earth to feed larger animals so their instinct o run and hide is primal and will show itself whenever there is something out of the norm for them whether it's incidental or habitual in their environment they will spook...

As far as using organic vermiculite versus sphagnum moss... sphagnum moss shouldn't mold. It has natural antibacterial/antifungal qualities that prevent that. I can keep the same moss in my viv for months before it falls apart on me, but in Eros' main moist hide I use paper towels and smaller wet hides have moss, his choice, but he always picks the paper towels. he was tub raised and I don't think he likes the way the moss feels.

I hope this has worked correctly! So we think he has finally are one cricket and possibly one meal worm and this morning after cleaning the tank he decided to poo on his thermometer though I did not see him do this the sneeky thing. Does this look like normal poop? I have done a bit research and they are normally really dark in colour but this seems to have a greenish tinge to it with the white lump??? Help please ... yet again
thanks

As for the white lump, that is a urate or pee.

Also you could check the poop thread in the health section stickies... there's some helpful pictures there but it looks like a normal fresh poo to me. They get darker as they dry out plus the coloring will be a little different depending on what he's eating. Yes the white chunk is called urate... it is their urine, altho leos can pee (I should know mine peed on me the first week here ) if it looks more yellow and less white that is a good indicator your leo might be slightly dehydrated.

Well panic over! He is shedding, that would explain the hardly eating..

Gave him a little run around tonight and a warm bath as a helping hand. Seems all the worrying was for nothing haha

Awwwh he sounds absolutely fine

chris_street wrote:

I hope this has worked correctly! So we think he has finally are one cricket and possibly one meal worm and this morning after cleaning the tank he decided to poo on his thermometer though I did not see him do this the sneeky thing. Does this look like normal poop? I have done a bit research and they are normally really dark in colour but this seems to have a greenish tinge to it with the white lump??? Help please ... yet again
thanks

His stool shows he is not warm enough. Your home is cold and why the heat mat only reaches 29-31. It must be at least 33-34. It's a common problem in the winter and leads to slow digestion, poor appetite and bacterial infections in the gut often. As kermit mentioned a moonlight blue bulb needs to be used to increase the temps a few degrees.

Just curious herp but how would semi soft wet poo signify that he is too cold? If a herp wasn't warm enough you would be morelikely to see GI stasis, not runny poo which is often a sign of an overly active GI tract. The poo is being pushed out before it has a chance to be properly processed. Something else I would lookk at is his diet. You might be feeding insects that are too high in fiber for him which would also cause soft stool. Their GI tracts work much like ours. Too much fiber leads to the runs, too little leads to constipation. Letting him have some free range time out of his viv could also promote remature poos because movenemt makes movements I wouldn't be too overly concerned just yet. Just keep an eye on it for the next couple poos and if the problem persists then you may want to have a fecal done as runny poo is also a sign of a possible parasite infestation.

Kermit wrote:Just curious herp but how would semi soft wet poo signify that he is too cold? If a herp wasn't warm enough you would be morelikely to see GI stasis, not runny poo which is often a sign of an overly active GI tract. The poo is being pushed out before it has a chance to be properly processed. Something else I would lookk at is his diet. You might be feeding insects that are too high in fiber for him which would also cause soft stool. Their GI tracts work much like ours. Too much fiber leads to the runs, too little leads to constipation. Letting him have some free range time out of his viv could also promote remature poos because movenemt makes movements I wouldn't be too overly concerned just yet. Just keep an eye on it for the next couple poos and if the problem persists then you may want to have a fecal done as runny poo is also a sign of a possible parasite infestation.

Soft stool or diarrhea is one of the possible signs of GI stasis.

I'm afraid I have to disagree herp. Stasis, by definition, is a slowing or suspending of an activity. Gi stasis is the slowdown of the movement of the gut.  Diarrhea however is the frequet and excessive expulsion of watery stool, so if an animal is experiencing stasis they would have less frequent, smaller stools, and if they're experiencing diarrhea that is overactivity of the gi. Would you happen to have something explaining gi stasis in herps being different from what I understand it to be? I hate to seem that I keep calling you out on your facts but sometimes they just seem way off base.

Trust me! What I state is never off base. Gastroentestinal stasis is caused by many reasons. For the most part in reptiles it's due to cold temperatures. The bacteria in the digestive tract becomes out of balance, you will notice change in color of feces for example, greenish as in the picture. If the bacteria is not on overload and the temps are corrected there is the chance the immune system will fight off the bacteria on it's own. Once the bacterial infection is more advanced it will cause loose or soft stools and change in color.

Again tho, with gi stasis it isn't entirely the bacteria that changes the color of the poo, it may contribute to it but what causes the problem is the food rotting in the gut from the slower digestive process. It is that rotting fermenting food that causes the majority of bacteria inbalance, not the stasis itself perse.

I do agree that cooler temperatures are a main cause for gi stasis, but then again not eating can also cause it. If there's nothing going in the the gi simply stops working. You will often see gi stasis in emaciated animals, people too, so saying runny poo is a side effect of gi stasis, like you stated above, is inaccurate. So your facts ARE off base, and your explanation has changes from talking about consistancy to color.

Soft runny stools are only caused by a few factors. Stress can certainly contribute to it, parasite infections can cause runny stool because of the impact on the intestinal tract affects proper nutrient absorbtion. Protozoal infections from Cryptosporidium and Entamoeba can also cause loose stool in geckos. However gi stasis will produce small dry looking poos that decrease in size the longer the stasis continues until eventually no poo is produced at all.

Ya know maybe if you were willing to throw some credential out there, something about yourself... ie, I'm a vet, vet assistant, vet tech, someone with a zoology degree... anything aside of saying "believe me because I say so", esp. With as many times as you've been proven incorrect or inaccurae with facts based in scientific study, it could help you to be taken a little more seriously. I mean I'm trying to be a bitch but some of things you say are really absurd, make no sense, or are completely off base. People's animals could be put at risk with some of the misinformation you suggest, so please don't take it as a personal jab, id do the same to any member who's information is inaccurate.