Hello all

Hi, new to the forum and Gecko's. My wife bought our first gecko from petsmart and I feel they are misinforming us in care. So we have purchased a small book and used the internet. Well we bought a 15 gal tank for it after I felt the first tank we purchased was too small. I have a warm side (about 80) and a cool side (about 70). We have had the gecko for about 3 months. It has been doing fine as far as we know, and it just shed its skin a few days ago. My wife has been happy till a couple a days from now, its not eating when before it had a healthy appetite. We were first feeding it crickets but we have to drive several miles to get them, so we got mill worms because they can last longer. Just recently we learned about gut-loading. For two weeks we were alternating between the two and its feces seemed normal. Here is a pic of it. So we are hoping that any advice from people who have actual experience with leopard geckos would be great. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hello TX, welcome to the forum. Good for you not just believing everything the pet store told you. They follow what they told but what they are told is usually incorrect. A 15g is a good size tank for one leo. The temperature on the warm side should be around 93 to 98 degrees. I am wondering how you are maintaining the temperature on the warm side. I know many pet stores say to use a heat lamp but this is stressful for leopard geckos and does not help them. They need heat on their bellies to be able to digest their food properly. This is done with a Under Tank Heater that should cover about 1/3 of your tank.

Looking at the picture of your pretty little one there,s/he is looks to be quite healthy weight wise. Has a little fat tail which is good, they do not normally get BIG fat tails until they are older because they are putting everything into growing first. As for the not eating right now, most leos do not eat right before and right after shedding. They eat their shed and that fills them up for a few days to a week for some.

I see in your picture that you have reptile carpet for a substrate. That is certainly not too bad but there are other options out there that you may not be aware of. Many people choose to use ceramic or vinyl tiles to make it look more realistic, and some people choose to use simple papertowel. It is a matter of preference. The reason many shy away from using reptile carpet is because, like myself, I find that my leos get their teeth stuck in it when they dive on their prey. This is a matter of preference, and reptile carpet is not the worst choice, such as sand or another loose substrate. The other possible issue that could be with reptile carpet is some worry about the possible germs it could carry if it's not changed often enough, as it is easier to wipe slate clean and not have to worry about a loose poop on carpet.

As for millworms. I cannot say I know what they are. Perhaps it is a different name for what I feed. I feed mealworms, superworms and crickets for variety. Some shy away from crickets because they can carry parasites but I have some reptiles that that is all they eat so I have them in the house at all times anyhow. I have never had an issue with them, but it is a possibility.

Please feel free to ask as many questions as you can think of. This is what we are here for and love to answer them. And thank you for the picture. It sure helps things and we love to look at all the little ones:)

Welcome to the forum! I'm super excited you decided to seek out information rather than be spoon fed the junk they try to give at retail chain pet shops! We'd love to help you!

Thanks for the response. Its mealworms and the carpet is a "suggestion" of the petsmart store. As for the heating we are using a heatpad but I don't think its heating properly now that its a bigger tank, which it will be fixed soon as well as the substrate. I did notice while browsing the forum the usage of tiles which I like. So one question, when I buy the new heating pad do I put it under the whole tank or under the tile its self?

Under the tank. Making sure it covers 1/3rd of the tank.

Hey and welcome aborard TxGeck... sounds like soe one needs to write to petsmart corporate and tell them to update their care sheets I have issues with many of the things you have been told so far..t he repti carpet and the bacteria thing, the teeth and nails getting caught thing... just doesn't make me happy PLUE they charge an outrageous amount of money for them when enough tiles (either ceramic stone or high end vinyl) all run you about a third of the price and are reuseable immediately. All you do is wipe them down with a sanitary wipe, let dry and voila... you're done. I also use a litterbox for my leo to help reduce my cleaning chores for him. He's very good about using it and never goes anywhere else in his viv. There are some pictures of it in the "show off your set up" thread. Nice thread to get some good ideas for your set up. You could see how others are doing it and try to forgoe the misinformation of the chain petstores

Your leo looks like a fat happy healthy fellow. Jolene hit it right on when she mentioned about the lack of eating due to shedding. My Eros won't usually eat for a good 2 days before a shed and at least 3-4 after. Heck he usually only eats 2x a week 1-3 superworms (which are also very easy to keep. Even easier than mealies imo) since he grew into his bog boy pants (passed a year old ) also depending on the sex of your leo ovulation will also put some females off feed for some time as well.

As far as the under tank heater goes. It should be your heat wource of choice when ownign leos as mentioned... it's the belly heat that is most important for optimum health of your leo. I generally recommend a range of between 88-95*F as some leos like it warmer some like it cooler. You'll get to know your leo and see what they prefer. My Eros is most comfortable at between 91-93*F. The mat should cover no more than 1/3rd of the floor surface useing a probe thermometer to measure the floor temps directly over the uth. You really want to know what the hottest point in your viv is and adjust accordingly using either a rheostat or thermostat (both available from $7-$30).

To address where you put the uth, either inside under the tile or outside under the tank well honestly that would depend on your type of substrait and if you have a moisture resistant UTH (for inside the tank applications it is HIGHLY recommended to use a moisture resistant/waterproof uth). On my leo tank I have a T-Rex cobra heat mat (which is water resistant) that is a 6x11 7 watt and use vinyl simulated slate tiles for substrait. The 7 watt heater is under the tank on the outside and heats the floor surface beautifully (we hit 110*F with no additional heat source when test running the viv before Eros was in it) because the substrait is less than 1/2 inch thick including tank glass floor.

Now on my son's ball pythons tank which has a slate bottom (gotta love 1960's tank building techniques. This thing is HUGE and weights as much as a small car) we have an ultratherm cobra heat mat which is water proof inside the tank on top of the slate floor and under a false subfloor that I built with marble tiles (marble is a natural stone and conducts heat well unlike some ceramics and porcelains which are more insulators (think coffee mug here). Since Brey's viv would have about an inch thick substrait already in the tank (the slate floor) before we even add proper bedding for his python we wouldn't be able to effectively heat thru that with a properly sized UTH the wattage just wouldn't do it, so aside of supersizing the uth I went with the next best option. The false floor and it works GREAT. So the answer is dependingon how thick your substrait is and the type of UTH you are using, that should determine placement of either in or out of the viv.

So I hope some of this helps... sorry it's so long... you have a very pretty leo there and I wish you the best of luck with him. Don't worry too much abuot the less eating thing... they phase in and out of appetite. Just keep offering feed nn a regular schedule and he'll take it when he needs it. Make sure he has plenty of fresh water, gutload your feders with fresh foods such as carrot potatoe and apples (minus the seeds and core to avoid arsenic poisoning) and use a good suppliment. I prefer the all in 1 suppliments (multi vitimin and calcium in one) like T-Rex leopard gecko dust icb by sandfire foods or repashy calcium dust icb. Both are great products and fool proof. Just dust every or every other feeding depending on your leos condition.

Anywho... topic for another thread sorry

Hiya Tx,

Welcome to the forum and hope you enjoy your time here.

You have a nice looking leo there

Sam

Welcome to the forum, I'm rather new here as well, but not new to leos.

Hope you enjoy her, can't wait to see more pictures.

See you around.

Thanks for the replies

Heyy

Welcome to the forum!!

It was a very good decision to made to ignore the pet shop and research for yourself Without forums I would still be listening to the pet shops advice and using sand and heat lamp Forum are wonderful

Hello!

Welcome to the forum! I'm new to this forum as well, but so far its really great!

I'm glad you aren't listening to the petstore employees, I learned that after a messy fish fighting incident :$

Your leo is gorgeous by the way!

welcome to the site!