Leopard Gecko,advice please..

angelface2008

Hi all,Im a new user,my first post,Desperately need help..last saturday we bought a year old Leopard Gecko from a pet shop in arklow.We bought a complete starter kit for one hun fifty euro,this included the gecko,vivarium,heat mat,hide and two feeding dishes and sand.The vivarium is very small,I looked it up and its recomended for Tarantulas!!Think pet shop owner pulled a fast one:mad: Also from researching Geckos on net everything Iv read said he shouldnt be on sand,but on paper and he should have two hides,one moist and one warm?Only one will fit in..At the moment the heat mat is under his hide and he spends most of the day in there,at night he sits in his food bowl.I have left a cooler side of the tank for him too but really feel we were ripped off with the size as I will have to buy him a bigger one.
Regards feeding we were supplied with wax worms and told he eats four a day,from researching this it seems they are mainly for fattening them up so I bought him crickets and calcium and vit powder,the first night he didnt touch them,last night I put in two wax worms and a cricket and he ate them all,thank god..He is very very nervous so I have covered half his tank with a blanket and he comes out then,Im really lost here and any and all advice would be really appreciated,He is my sons first pet and I would hate anything to happen to him..Sorry for such a long post..Thanks:)

tallus

How big is the vivarium ? you haven't really said how long it actually is. Secondly I certainly wouldn't be feeding the gecko every day, every second or third day is fine. Is it male or female ? also, are you dusting the food with vitamins ? always have water available too.
I don't think sand is a problem to be honest, they are a semi desert species usually found in pakistan, newspaper is handiest because it's clean and cheap. Just put a plastic tub with a hole cut out of it with some damp vermiculite for hiding/damp spot. I'd turn the heat off at night too, where they come from gets very cold at night.
Any chance of posting a pic of the setup ?

angelface2008

Thanks for replying,its 30 x30 x30cm,I dont have room for a moist hide at the moment,Im dusting the food with Nutroban calcium,multivit supplement,Il post a pic as soon as I figure out how to do it,hopefully by tomorrow.Its a year old male,very nervous but he is living in a house with two kids!
The pet shop said never to turn off the heat or he would die but he may be too hot thats might be why he sits in his food dish at night! Also it looks like he has a tiny bit if his old skin stuck to his mouth,I was going to give him a few days to get used to me and then maybe moisten it with a cotton bud?

georgina

The problem with putting sand in with your gecko is when they hunt their food and kind of pounce on it the can ingest some of the sand! This can block their system and cause impaction.

On the food front, I give my gecko crickets and mealworms and just cover them in Vitamin powder. And every couple of days. I find if she's hungry when you go over to the tank she'll look up real quick expecting food...I dunno if thats just my girl or not.

Not too sure on the tank size, when I got mine she was in a tiny little plastic box with a blue lid. It was way too small, coz with her food and water bowls in...she had flip all room to move...

The bit of skin at his mouth means he must have just shed his skin. When mine sheds she hides a lot....

G

angelface2008

Thanks for the reply Georgina,the sand in his tank at the moment is called vita sand,it says its all natural vitamin fortified calcium carbonate substrate,which is supposedly ultra fine grade to help prevent compaction from over consumption?Recommended for Geckos..I might leave it in for a while and see how it goes because I dont want to upset him too much by changing his enviroment again,he seems so nervous,when I go to put the food in he cowers away from me.Im definately not going to feed him tonight,just change the water and hopefully he will be happier to see me tomorrow night..:)

dbrock

give fintastic aquatics a ring in dun laoighaire,, ask for denis or dimitri they will be more than willing to help

number is 01 2145442

georgina

I had that Vita sand stuff in with my lizard. Same stuff...recommended for geckos, but then mine got this big swollen bit under her tail, had her in with the vet. Not too sure if it was coz of the sand or not but i didnt want to take the chance so i have her in paper for the minute!

So many people say different things really hard to know when your doing right.

Maybe ring the people dbrock suggested...sound like they'd know what they're talking about:)

G

Our man in Havana

it sounds to me like you were sold a gecko starter kit - this is mainly for babies not a larger adult.

I keep mine on sand - never had a problem with it myself.

angelface2008

dbrock wrote: »

give fintastic aquatics a ring in dun laoighaire,, ask for denis or dimitri they will be more than willing to help

number is 01 2145442

Thanks Dbrock,Ill definately do that,I work near dunleary and didnt know they even existed,I have pics but not too sure how to post them,Im off to try...might take a while:o

angelface2008

Im really grateful to everyone for replying,thanks a mill,he seems a lot livelier and less nervous tonight,I put my hand in to change the water and he didnt move! He is digging the sand though,is this normal?he has pushed most of the sand out of his hide and his cool corner?As you can hopefully see,there is not much room for a moist hide but I'm working on it:)

dbrock

love the pics,,
thats a small exo terra viv he gave you, it will be good for a baby gecko but as he gets older you will need to get a bigger viv,,,

as far as a damp area dont be to concerned there as this will be hard to do when you dont have the experience,, and you could make it to wet causing dif bacterias to grow,,,,hence the gecko could get sick

make sure fresh water every day,,,, you could feed him one or two crickets every day and a few more every 2 to 3 days just to keep him stimulated,,
make sure to dust the crickets in vitamin powder every time,,, nutraball is a great vitamin powder,, you could also use a tiny bit of zoocal d in the water,(another vitamin additive)

when handling and taming down
for the first while gently pick him up in his own enclosure,, not far from the ground as he may run and fall,, try waxworms as a treat so he wont mind and will with time come out to you to get them,,these can be addictive,,so dont give them do him as food all the time,,

when he sheds if you notice any skin stuck around his feet or dryed skin on him , give him a little bath in luke warm water to help remove the dryed skin ,,bath him for roughly 10 to 20 mins maybe do it in the viv to stop the water going cold,,,and dont put to much water in i mean no morethan over his knees,,,
im sure i missed loads but sure as i said before give the guys a ring there more than happy to help plus they have a mob number for rep questions,,any time

www.fintasticaquatics.ie

tallus

That setup is definetly too small. I'd say a minimum of 2 feet 600mm for a single male. I used to keep 5 adults in a 3 foot tank and they were fine. If he's male I wouldn't dust the food with vitamins for every feed, they aren't as needing of the vitamins as the females are. He certainly won't die without heat at night, and I'd certainly contact the pet shop and have a word with the owner about the size of that tank, it's totally unsuitable for a one year old leopard gecko. You can get sphagnum moss from garden centres for use in the damp hide, but microwave it for about a minute first to kill any organisms.


Good advice from Dbrock.

angelface2008

Great advice from everyone,Im delighted I joined the boards,I checked out the location of that shop and will probably pop in later today,Thanks again everyone:)