Hello! My name is Tamara, and I am the proud new mama of a Leopard Gecko. He is about 4 years old, and was a classroom pet at the beginning of his life...his teacher retired about a year and a half ago, and a student took him home. The boy is a teenager now, and was just kind of "over it". I am so excited to have found a grown leo that is already very comfortable with being held, etc. BUT his previous owners obviously did not do any research on how to care for him. They admittedly said that their son convinced them to bring him home and they just kind of started feeding him and never worried about it. He was living in sand with a heated rock in his tank...no moist hide, no calcium, and some random dead crickets laying around. Despite that, he appears to be quite healthy and weighs 56g...he is about 8.5" long. I now have him in a 20 gal tank lined w/ paper towels...an under tank heater, a calcium dish, a moist hide, and a hide on the warm and cold sides....I think we are good to go. I do have two questions....

1) The heater says not to use with papertowels as the substrate - but it seems like a lot of people on this forum use papertowels for their leo's...thoughts? It specifically says that you need to use Repti-carpet - is this really necessary, or do they want to make another sale?

2) Since this little guy or girl has never had a moist hide, he does have some skin leftovers on his toes....what do I need to do about this? Should I wait until he sheds on his own next time in hopes that it will come off since he now has a humid home to go into? Or do I need to try and get it off now? Any tricks for this?

I think that covers it for now...thanks in advance for your help!

Sincerely,
Tamara and her gecko that is currently named Geico (but s/he needs a new name I think)

Welcome to Herp Center! I'll like more the Leo experts answer those questions.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Hi welcome.

I am not an expert on geckos but have one (Annie) I use paper towel and a under ground heater. I have no problems at all. The paper towel is great because it is so easy to clean up. I do use the mat in my other two inclosures (Anole house and horned frog house) but that is because they hold water great for hi humidity. They are also fairly easy to clean up. If you decide to go with the mat you could put a pice of paper towel down where he\she goes potty as he or she will normally go in the same place. But my Annie likes to go pee all around and poop in one spot. I would think you would have to wash the mat to remove the pee. Again paper towel so much easer. I will not reply on the shedding as I said before I do not have enough experience. As for weather she or he is a she or he send in a picture of its underside it is usually quite easy to tell.

Jackie

hi and welcome. Give your guy a little bit of a soaking in warm water. That should help the shed come off.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Welcome! I could be wrong, and if anyone more knowledgeable than I knows better please say so, but coming from the firefighter part of me, I would say that if it specifically says not to use it with paper towels, there is most likely a reason. I personally would opt to go with either the repti-carpet or tiles, or even slate rocks... For the toes, like Liz said, warm soak and if then see if you can rub the areas that are still stuck. I I don't think you are supposed to be pulling at the old shed, but maybe if you can rub it off.

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Thank you everyone for your welcome and answers!! I am going to give the warm water soak a try on its toes....as far as paper towels, I am still confused...I genuinely do not feel that it is a fire hazard, but I am a little concerned about the floor getting too hot for its gecko tummy. I suppose I just need to observe! I am thinking that if that part gets too hot, I will put a carpet section over the heated side and leave papertowels on the rest to make the cleanup factor a little easier. Is there something special about repti-carpet? Can I use bunk carpeting, or astro turf?

Thanks,

Tamara

Repti Carpet has a very fine nap? the loops that make are usually in carpet... this helps to keep the animals toes from getting tangled. it also is easy to wash and drys quickly as well.

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Hi and welcome to HC Network....I hope you like it here and enjoy your new leopard gecko!!

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

Hi and welcome to HC. It is perfectly fine to use paper towels with your Under Tank Heater. They recomend repti-carpet to make you go out and spend more money on there products. I've been using Under Tank Heater's with paper towel or newspaper for over 30 years withous a single problem. If they were hot enough to set fire to towels they would burn your leo and melt the carpet.

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

Actually if it was hot enough to ignite the paper you leo would already be dead and cooked.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!