Rescue leo

Hi,
I've had my new guy (haven't looked to see if male or female yet) for three days. I knew he was coming for about a month so I had time to do my homework. I have a very spoiled bearded dragon so I wasn't totally clueless but there are obviously some major differences in habitat and feeding. The gecko belonged to the younger brother of a co-worker of my husband. The former owner went off to university and moved on. His parents didn't want the gecko.

The viv he came in was textbook awful (hot rock, calci-sand, only one hide, cricket wandering around) and it had been dropped at some point and was cracked along two sides with a large piece missing from the bottom and replaced with duck tape. Fortunately I had a 20 gal long tank and lots of slate tiles already. So we got him a lid, under tank heater, probe thermometer, and two more hides. Kind of expensive for a free lizard but, as we all know, ya gotta do what it takes for your baby. He is sharing our beardie's calcium, crickets, and vitamins.

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Here he is. I assume he is a normal. Is he perhaps a little thin? He is about 7" long. I haven't weighed him yet. Trying not to stress him.

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He came with this tree and I put it in so he would have something he knew. I fastened it down with some superstick goo so it is very secure. I did not expect him to use it. He spends several hours a day up there. Go figure.

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Here is his viv. I added the thermometer later (75 cool, 92-94 warm). He splits his time between the hot hide and the tree with occasional wanders about. He hasn't tried the moist hide yet. I might try moss in there since it seems like it would be more cozy.

About feeding... I'm coming from a 6 month old beardie who eats at least 20 crickets a day plus salad. So the tiny diet is weird for me. The first day I gave him 5 crickets because that seemed to be the going rate. He ate great, good little hunter. Then I skipped a day. This morning he ate 5 more. This evening he was wandering along the glass looking pensive so I was bad and gave him 5 more. They were gone in no time. The first day he had a tiny mostly urate poo. This morning he had a good healthy looking one. So how many crickets should he have? Is he thin and trying to catch up or just a chow hound?

Looks healthy to me, and they say feed leos how ever much they can eat in about 5-10 minutes or so(cant remember exactly what they said). After that just take out the extra, so they dont bite your leo at night, and feed him/her that much at every feeding.

A Leo will only ever over eat once in their life, so off he will eat more then by all means let him have it.

Welcome to the forum!

hey !!! ahhh bearded dragon yeah big diffrent in care a dragon needs way more care than a gekco!!! if you bearded dragon calcium has d3 you should get the calcium without d3 for the gecko!

i feed my geckos daily crickets and mealworms . pinkys once in a while! i get salat in the gecko tank for the crickets to eat so they do not boder the geckos !!! i still take the crickets out at night ! (if they are any left lol)

im not a pro in geckos so if i said something wrong pls correct me !!!

ps.: if you ever have any questions about bearded dragons pm me !

Welcome to the forum! Your leo looks fat and healthy to me. It does look like a normal as well. For his age feeding a smaller amount of crickets daily say up to 10 or a little larger amount every other day will be fine. I always believe in regulating adult leos diets so taht they don't get obese. some are gluttons My adult male eats 2-4 superworms 2-3x a week and is fat and happy. The thing with properly feeding leos is to feed appropriately sized food (nothing bigger around than the space between their eyes) so that you're not over feeding, plus feeding a varied diet so rotating between something like crickets and superworms with the occasional wax worm for a treat is best for optimum nutrition, plus gutloading your feeders with fresh food for maximum vitamin content is always best.

As far as the calcium suppliment they need both plain calcium and calcium with D3. Herps can't absorb calcium with out D3. There is a thread for the basics of supplimenting your leo here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

His viv looks great. I love the tiles. That tree freaks me out a bit... how the heck does he get up there I'd be worried about him falling off but if he's had it for some time I guess he's good with it.

Best of luck with your new leo and if you have any questions feel free to ask

mhhh intresting kermit ! i had a gecko breeder telling me not to use d3! and it made sence why not!! now im confused !!!

we get our gutload for crickets and vitamies , minerals from califorien ! my husband does that so i think its sticky tounge!!! very great company awesome product!

sorry kermit was reading the link you posted!!! thats what the breeder told me and that what im doing! no d3 in the tank but dust crickets!!!

Yes you are correct no calcium with D3 in the viv, just pure calcium in the viv if you're not using an all in 1 suppliment. If you are not using an all in 1 suppliment you do need to dust with calcium with D3 at least once a week.

i have taken to not dusting my mealies weird as it sounds as cleo turns her nose so i have taught her she gets fed next to her calcium bowl or muli vit bowl (i change it when i need to get them in her) i drop a mealie a time into the said pot and she strikes the following licking lips to get the calcium or multi vit off her nose ensures she gets what she needs without her pulling her nose at the food when dusted, works for me so hope no one moans about it

Tha actually sounds like a decent plan Pete. Good way to trick her