Newbie Leopard Gecko owner. Questions.

Sledge · 26th July 2010, 01:27 PM

Hi guys,

Great site and hoping to learn a lot.

Got myself a LG from a friend as he and his wife split and she took his kid so he was stuck with the LG and no time to look after it.

The varium is really good. Wooden with glass front over 1 meter wide, about 50cms deep and 50cms high. Has a light (15w) and a heat matt under small wood chippings. I have 2 hides, a water bowl and some other "furniture" (sicks and stones etc).

Now reading the care guide has raised a few questions.

1- The guy I bought it from told me wood chips were good for the floor but the care guide says they are dangerous if swallowed. Now she is 2 years old and I assume has been on wood chips all that time so is it worth changing her environment as this may lead to stress.

2- I'm currently buying food from Insects Direct Home and getting a great service but it seems quite expensive. Any other sites anyone would recomend?

3- I've been sticking to locusts and they have been varied in size from 10mm to 50mm. She seems to take both with the same delight but I read that you should not feed them stuff bigger than the gap between their eyes. Any truth in this or are the bigger insects fine? Obviously I'm thinking the bigger ones have more goodness in them.

4- On the care giude it says variety in food. I'll try that but any idea what they like as I've tried crickets and didn't seem to like them as much as locusts. What are worms like?

5- Is it right that instead of coating the insects in the calcium powder you can just put a bottle cap in the tank with the powder in?

Many thanks in advance for any response and I hope I've not made any noob mistakes.

wayne · 26th July 2010, 06:10 PM

1. repti sand or bark should be fine for the substrait. Personaly iv always used aspen (wood chip) and have never had had any problems.
2. Cant help you on that one, i buy direct from a local reptile store. Im sure someone else could help with this.
3. I have heard this one before, im not sure how much truth there is to it, id say if your gecko eats it then there's no problem with size.
4. you can try brown or black crickets, also as a treat you could try meal worm or wax worms.
5. Never heard that one, id just stick to dusting.

Tom · 26th July 2010, 06:58 PM

Hello mate:

1: its more a threat when there young and "hunt" and grab the food, sand/ bark/ etc out of excitment. but there is always a risk, to take the risk away, kitchen roll is fine, but ive also kept them on bark..

2: Scales and fangs do bumper packs, double normall, and only £2, pm "rob" and im sure he can deliver some out to you at as good a price as you pay now, but will get healthy, and more locusts etc for you money.

3: more for bearded dragons, not leos, but smaller are better, as easier to digest. :)

4: meals worms are fun, gut loaded, locusts are by far the best food item, and if they eat them, stick with them. :)

5: you can, but its not needed, more for gravid females, who may "search out EXTRA Calcium"...

you can have a small tub in there incase, wont hurt, but dusted is good.
old school breeders use to put crushed egg shell in with there leos, so a small pot of calcium dust is fine, if they need additional calcium, they can them lick it.

Tom

wayne · 26th July 2010, 08:59 PM

Nice one Tom, iv never really been a Leo expert.

Tom · 26th July 2010, 09:32 PM

im not really, use to breed them, but to be honest, its like most things, when your out of the game, you miss out on new tips, advice, and whats what...lol

Sledge · 27th July 2010, 08:42 AM

Thanks for the advice guys. Seems I'm more or less on the ball.

I'll PM rob about food and I'll get some worms too and see if she likes them.

Tom · 27th July 2010, 09:14 AM

cool, like i said, its just getting the basics right, ( witch you do ).. and then learning the little tips, and tricks...lol

SimonM · 29th July 2010, 08:28 PM

5- Is it right that instead of coating the insects in the calcium powder you can just put a bottle cap in the tank with the powder in?

Yes, thats fine, we do this with all ours- can't halm them!

Good luck x

KingGeckos · 29th July 2010, 10:05 PM

hi there, im a leopard gecko breeder, if you hve any questions feel free to PM me.

kind regards,

brad

SleepyDee · 30th July 2010, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimonM

5- Is it right that instead of coating the insects in the calcium powder you can just put a bottle cap in the tank with the powder in?

I leave a dish of calcium available at all times plus I dust with calcium during the week and vits etc at weekends