Leo Newbie (;

Hey guys! I'm Kristyn, I just joined today and I'll be getting my Leo soon! (Saturday) I'm so excited, but a bit nervous too. I decided I wanted to get a Leo, around Thanksgiving, so about 5 months I've been trying to convince my parents to let me get one! I think I've done most the research that I need, but any tips, suggestions, ect would be greatly appreciated. No one in my family really likes reptiles, which is a shame, so I'm kind of on my own here. I have a full grown Border Collie, Shadow, he's in my room most of the time. Will that stress the Leo out? Suggestions on Brands to get, and what substrate to use would be extremely helpful, and I'll love you forever! Haha, but yeah I'll post pictures on Saturday!
Any name suggestions would be lovely! I'm leaning towards Nyx, and Apollo

Welcome to the wonderful world of leopard geckos Apollo is a nice name

We have some very useful caresheets on the forum, that will tell you how to correctly house a leopard gecko. As for the substrate, do not use sand whatever you are told by the pet store or the internet. The best substrate is tile or slate, or you can just use paper towels

About brands.. you are in the US and I'm in the UK so we use different brands of supplements and heating over here mostly so I'll let one of our many American members help you out with that Also, From personal experience, I'd say your leopard gecko will be fine around your dog. Mine share a room with all sort of animals and when I take them over to my friends, they don't mind her cats at all.

Make sure you post loads of pics when you get your leo

The links in my signature will be very helpful at this stage of your research!

The main tip I can give is no sand! New geckos are exciting!

Thank you guys, I just got my Aquarium in my room it's 10 gallons, I think? Will I have to upgrade soon, this will be just a baby from petco, I know I probably shouldn't buy it from there but it's the only place that doesn't involve driving more then 3 hours... I live in hillbilly heck :P
Any suggestions on what to look for to make sure it's healthy and won't die within a few months?
I'll probably go with tile! I'm really glad you guys said that because the guy I talked to on the phone said sand would be the best :/ now I know who not to listen too! (;
I am very excited as I said I've been pinning for one for MONTHS I just hope it doesn't hate me xD
I will be sure to post tons of pictures (;
Another thing... The guy I talked to on the phone told me that I couldn't hold it that often and it should remain in the cage for most of the day.... I was under the immpression that geckos liked to be handled once the got use to their surroundings....
Again thanks for the help guys!

It's a perspective thing, they ARE wild animals so they will never be tame by any means. Handling SHOULD be left to just 10 minutes or so, in my opinion, but it's really up your gecko.

Also, there is an adjustment period. For a week you should leave contact to a minimum, just to spot clean the cage and not handling your gecko so that he/she settles in and will begin eating for you.

As for indicators, the fatter the tail the better. Usually the fatter tailed one will have been the dominate one and gotten more food and is all around the "healthiest". You'll be able to see a sickly one from the others because it's tail will be super tiny.

Also, when you are buying your leopard gecko, look for clean, shiny eyes and ears. Look around it's mouth to make sure there's no sores or scabs, that could be the beginning of mouth rot. You will also need to look at the leo's toes to make sure there's no shed skin stuck to it's feet, and on the tip of it's tail, too

It's okay, when I got my first leo, I listened to everything the pet shops told me. I bought UV lights, a heat bulb, sand etc. but then I joined a forum and they sorted me out.
Leopard geckos are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) so they do not require any UV lighting. They don't need a heat bulb because they are thigmotherms (they absorb heat from their surroundings, through their bellies- 'belly heat') and so the best heat supply for them is a heat mat or a heat cables etc.

can't wait for the pics

I knew about the adjustment period (;
Okay! Thanks that's what I figured but I see so many people warning against getting animals from petco or petsmart so I was a bit worried
Also, the petco we're getting it from is an hour and a half away, will it be okay on the car ride home? I apologize in advance I have a lot of questions, I have read a lot of stuff and articles on them, but I don't know it's more relieving to actually be able to ask actual owners (:

Expect a little poop because of the car ride, but yes it'll be fine on him/her.

Haha, okay I'm fine with cleanup, when I go up to my sisters in the winter I took my dog and it turns out he gets car sick so I don't think any clean up from no on will be that bad (;
I just didn't want it to stress it out, or make it sick or something!
@GothicGurrrl- Okay! That's all the things I was expecting those are on my checklist of things to check for (:
Haha yeah, I'm guessing I'm not going to take anything that petco says seriously without checking out here first! I'm really glad I joined

To reply to some things in this thread... I have always had my leos (not babies, of course) on sand, but not fine sand. I think that as long as it's not possible for the sand to clump up in their stomach, there's nothing wrong with sand. Many leos love to dig in it.

Also, I have had leos that were extremely tame. It might take years, but when it happens, they want to be handled pretty much everyday, they recognize you, and they can fall asleep on you, etc. Not all leos become this tame, but some do.

I had a leopard gecko (that I had to sell when I moved from Sweden to Denmark last year ) that got stressed when strangers held her. And this might just be random, but she once escaped from the terrarium because my dad left it open, and I found her in my room, by my bed.

Anyhow, you should avoid handling your leo the first 2 or so days, to let her/him settle in. I didn't read eeeeverything so maybe people already told you that, haha.

TildeC wrote:To reply to some things in this thread... I have always had my leos (not babies, of course) on sand, but not fine sand. I think that as long as it's not possible for the sand to clump up in their stomach, there's nothing wrong with sand. Many leos love to dig in it.

Also, I have had leos that were extremely tame. It might take years, but when it happens, they want to be handled pretty much everyday, they recognize you, and they can fall asleep on you, etc. Not all leos become this tame, but some do.

I had a leopard gecko (that I had to sell when I moved from Sweden to Denmark last year ) that got stressed when strangers held her. And this might just be random, but she once escaped from the terrarium because my dad left it open, and I found her in my room, by my bed.

Anyhow, you should avoid handling your leo the first 2 or so days, to let her/him settle in. I didn't read eeeeverything so maybe people already told you that, haha.

I should have noted that it is personal opinion when it comes to sand, I know plenty of people who do it and well. However is is the general opinion of this forum to advocate against sand. There is a risk involved with keeping on sand, and any risk is a risk I personally won't take.

I know this may not apply for you, but here in the US animal rights organizations use our words of "tame reptile" against us, the reptile keepers. So, I make a point to remind new keepers that they are wild animals by nature, not to scare them but help the face value of Herp Nation we all salute to.

Thanks for your input! Quite an insight!

TildeC wrote:To reply to some things in this thread... I have always had my leos (not babies, of course) on sand, but not fine sand. I think that as long as it's not possible for the sand to clump up in their stomach, there's nothing wrong with sand. Many leos love to dig in it.

Everyone has the right to do what they want with there reps, I respect that, but what I don't get is why would you risk it. Also imagine the feeling of dirt in your eyes. I'm sure you have had something fly in your eye before and your blinking away and irritated. That can be piling up little by little in the stomache and you won't even know about it. Worst is looking back and then you will have to live with the regrets. I don't know about you , but I can do without that unecesary vet bill, lol

I'm with Kodieh on the tame part. I think people forget there reptiles and it's good to remind them.

Lets not turn this into another anti sand debate please. There are already plenty of other threads covering this topic on the forum for the poster referr back to.

You guys have helpd a lot! I'm probably going to get vinyl tile to start out on! Thanks for all your guy's help
I'm getting it tomorrow! So I'll keep you guys posted

Here s/he is! I'm really loving her/him! It's names Nyx
S/he won't let me hold her/him yet, but that's okay and expect I haven't grabbed her/him or forced her into my hamd I'll put my hand there for a few minutes she'll come lick me and stay there but won't actually crawl into my hand. If I sit beside it's aquarium he/she'll come and hang out by the edge and stare at me and wink or just stand there
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If you can't see it well heres a bigger picture

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ahh congrats hun, he lokks amazing hope all goes well

peach75 wrote:
Everyone has the right to do what they want with there reps, I respect that, but what I don't get is why would you risk it. Also imagine the feeling of dirt in your eyes. I'm sure you have had something fly in your eye before and your blinking away and irritated. That can be piling up little by little in the stomache and you won't even know about it. Worst is looking back and then you will have to live with the regrets. I don't know about you , but I can do without that unecesary vet bill, lol

I'm with Kodieh on the tame part. I think people forget there reptiles and it's good to remind them.

There's nothing to risk since the sand isn't fine enough to be able to clumb in the reptiles' stomaches! I think my 13 years with keeping my leopard geckos on sand (once again, this is not fine sand, more like the kind you would use in an aquarium) without any of them having any complications speak for themselves. It's also more natural for them to have something to dig in. But yeah, let's not discuss this here in this thread.

Anyhow, @BlameItOnBeingGemini: Your leo looks really cute! I'm sure she/he will get used to you soon and come crawling up your hand/arm. ^^