leopard gecko newb

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the leopard gecko world. I just got two on sunday. Definitely did some research before getting them, but I will more than likely have tons of questions because I am new to this and would like to learn more about these little critters.

I know that it's hard to tell the sex of the geckos at their young stage, but I'm hoping that one is a female. I can kind of tell the other is a male, however, the one I think is a female is a bit iffy. Just need more time for them to grow. The good thing is that they don't bother each other; or fight with each other. They like to stick close by together. I feed them wax worms for treats. Also, I hand feed them the wax worms with feeding tongs so they won't fight over it.

So far so good, but i can't really say because its only been 2~3 days. How can I tell they are healthy and doing A-Okay? I only see them be active late at night, obviously because they are nocturnal, but they seem kind of lethargic. Any feed back?


Tank Setup:

Size: 20 gallon tank setup.
Substrate: Paper towels on top of sand
Food: meal worms and occasionally wax worms
Water source: little rock fountain with water bowl
Heating: Infrared Light with U.T.H for 10~20 Gallon tanks
And plenty of places for them to hide and one hide out with a damp paper towel for moisture.

Thanks for you help everyone!

welcome to the forum. Best advice I can offer is to read the thread on how to make the perfect leo set up here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The sandis bad, using paper towels alone would be fine. Usually a 10-20 galon uth is too small for a 20 gallon viv. Your uth needs to cover 1/3rd of your floor surface to be apprpriately sized. Also housing multipul leos together esp. When you're a beginner and don't know the sexes is a bad idea. Leos aren't communal animals and if they're both males, which you really can't tell for sure till about 6 months old, 2 males will fight to the death. Even if it is a mle female comb new owners aren't near knowledgable enough to handle breeding, and egg laying from their female. Its a lot of work and special care for gravid females. Also to have a successful communal tank you need many more hides, 2 of each hot, cool, and moist hides to avoid cnflict over the best spots. There likely sticking close together because its the best spot, not that they care for eachother or are bonded. Wax worms... use VERY sparingly because they are highly addictive and like eating a diet solely made of twinkies... not healthy. Meal worms, crickets, dubia roaches mske a much better staple diet. Lastly leos aren't noctournal, that is a much misunderstood falsity. Leos are actually crepuscular, meaning most sctive at sunrise and sunset. A true noctournal animal won't be up for several hours after sunset. While some crepuscular animals may keep a more noctournal schedule, a true noctournal animal will never be seen at crepuscular hours.

So hopefully that helps a little. If you have any more questions feel free to ask

thank you for you response, it helped very much. I'll be replacing the UTH i noticed that it wasn't really getting warm enough. I know that the sand isn't good for them, that is why i put the paper towels on top. but will change that. That is what i was afraid of, them fighting when they get older.

I don't over feed on the wax worms. only gave them 2 today.

I had a question about the lighting, many say that i do not need it. As for now because i do not have a UTH that is warm enough should i just keep that in the time being?

Also, can i get another 10-20 gallon UTH and kind of overlap it with the one i have right now? or should i just get the one for a bigger tank?

again, thanks!

If you ned the heat lamp to make the appropriate temps then keep it for now. I would upsize the uth rather than buy another undersized under wattaged uth. Once you get the layer of sand out you'll likely see better temps. San heats horribly, not only does it not hold the heat but you have to heat each granule of sand plus all the air between the particles. Its just not effective plus if you're trying to heat thru an inch of sand plus a 14 inch of glass bottom plus the paper towels you'd need atleast a 12-15 watt uth to be powerful enough to go thru all that.

Also id be prepared with a second set up and seperate the leos as soon as you can honestly. You could wake up one day to a bloody mess and feel like absolute crud, its just not worth it in the long run even if they are opposite gender. A frustraited dominant female will tear up a male just as badly as male on male aggression can be.

thanks again! i was thinking about it and i am getting the bigger one also going to home depot to get substrate. also i don't think the geckos really like the lighting.. so i'm gonna get rid of that once i replace everything. and i'm going to get another set up to separate them. when will they start being real aggressive towards each other? even when babies??

I would say that by 5 months-ish would be pushing the envelope. Some leos develop faster than others so waiting any longer that that could be bad. I'd really like to see them separated really no later than 4 months just in case you have a fast developer. That's what I would do.

hiya and welcome to the forum

@kermit, i changed out the sand and put ceramic tiles on for the substrate. also, switched out the u.t.h. to the bigger one.

i will separate the two soon too. Thanks so much for your help!

@samsleos, hey thank you for the welcome!

Youre welcome just be sure to properly monitor the new uth temps to be sure our doesn't get too hot.

Welcome to the forum, we're glad to have you!

welcome to the forum!