Hi, I just joined as this place seemed like a very useful place with lots of info. I recently decided I am going to seriously consider a leopard gecko for a pet. I grew up with animals (dogs and cats) all my life, though have been petless since I moved to university. I can't have pets with fur, so a lizard seemed like a good choice, and the Leopard Gecko sounds like the best beginner lizard and a great little pet.
Anyway, I have been spending the last few hours researching Leopard Geckos (including a dozen care sheets and browsing around here) and was wondering if I could clear up a few questions.

1) I was thinking of starting out with simply paper towel as a substrate, if I get an under tank heater and an acrylic tank, will I need several layers, or something thicker to prevent burning my gecko? Or should I go with tiles from Home Depot or a reptile carpet?

2) Food. It seems they generally eat crickets with a few mealworms on occasion seems to be the way to go for feeding. Now my big question is live vs freeze-dried. Most care sheets don't mention the topic really, but imply live food. I have come across some reports of geckos eating something like Fluker's Freeze-Dried gut-loaded crickets, but how common is it? Feeding freeze-dried food would be far more convenient for me, as I am a car-less university student. I've also seen things like vibrating dishes to simulate insect movement, anyone had luck with these? Also if I have to go the live cricket route, how long do crickets live for? It would be inconvenient, but I could take a bus over to a pet store (unfortunately none in close proximity) every 1-2 weeks if I have to for live food.

Any other tips for a beginner? I've never owned a lizard.

I plan on going around this weekend to look at pet stores to ensure that someone in town sells Leopard Geckos, and healthy ones. Then I'll buy my materials and make sure I have proper heating temps before picking up a gecko (I'll also be in Toronto in a little bit, so I suppose I could also pick one up there on my way out of town, or do you think 4 hours on a bus would be too stressful for a gecko?)
I plan on getting a 10ish gallon tank, probably an under tank heater. Making a moist hide, probably buying a dry hide from the store. Maybe pick up some nice looking rocks from the lake nearby (obviously giving them a very good cleaning). Also using a spare desk lamp on a timer likely for more consistant lighting, as the tank will be in my bedroom, thus I won't have to leave the overhead light on all day.

Welcome to HC!

If you haven't already, please read our caresheet. it may help with some of your questions.

Leopard Gecko Caresheet (Eublepharis macularius) - Reptile Information - Caresheets Database

As far as feeding, I think live crickets are best. Not many lizards will eat the freeze dried insects because they don't move. You could also do mealworms.

You'll want to make sure you have the enclosure set up before you get your leo. Its alot easier to get the temps and everything right before you get it so you don't have to stress it out playing with the temps all the time to get them right.

Paper towels are a fine substrate to use. Its easy to clean and its easy to monitor their poo. You can also get repti carpet as well. Some packages have more than one piece so you can replace the dirty one with a clean piece while you're cleaning the dirty one.

If you have anymore questions after reading through the caresheet, feel free to ask. There are lots of leo keepers here and tons of threads on their care, feeding, etc.

Good luck!

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yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

Welcome to the site, and kudos for doing your homework ahead of time.

My gecko prefers a diet of meal worms and superworms with occasional crickets. It might be easier to use them as a staple food. You can buy a little cup of them and just keep them in the fridge. (mealies last longer that way, supers shouldn't be refrigerated).

As far as freeze dried bugs and vibrating dishes they usually have a feeding response by motion, but those vibrating dishes usually scare the animals. It's best to stick with live food that you have gut loaded yourself.

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So there is no harm in using mealworms as a staple for the gecko? How long do they last? My biggest concern right now is a food situation as I am not sure where sells live crickets/meal worms around here (will be one of my missions this weekend to find somewhere), but the pet stores I have found online are a good 15-40minute bus rides away. Having to do that every weekend would be a pain. Reducing it to every 2-3 weeks if possible would be a huge benefit. I'll have to seriously consider if it's something I want to do before I buy my lizard obviously

Edit: on further study it looks like raising my own mealworms appears to be quite easy. Just provide them with a home and some new food every few days and reap the benefits. If it's safe to use them as a staple that will basically eliminate trips to the pet store for food, and I can just go once every 2-4 weeks for some treat crickets! which sounds like a great idea.

Double edit: Looks like I was able to answer my own question and have come across a number of cases of people using mealworms as a staple food with no problems. I think if I get a gecko I'll give a shot at raising my own mealworms. Seems super easy, plus I can better balance the food the mealworms eat, thus benefiting my gecko! And hey, mostly free food supply! Thanks a ton for that info

According to the caresheet on Leopard Geckos, either crickets or mealworms can be used as a staple food. Every now and then you can give them wax worms but not too often. They're very high in fat, but you don't have to do this.

By all means, if you are able to raise your own mealworms, go for it. just make sure they are the proper size for your leo.

If you haven't read it yet, there is a care sheet on breeding and keeping mealworms.

__________________

yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

Welcome to the forums! As mosh said good job in doing your research and realizing that you need to set up the terrarium first!

Paper towels will be fine but I like tile much more! 10 bucks and you can get tile and have it cut at lowes, just make sure you get those measurements correct! Measure twice, cut once.

As far as the heat mat goes I would get a rheostat. I had to buy one. I'm using tile and with out it it can get to the 100's =/. I would say just buy a cheap light dimmer from lowes but I already tried it. Something having to do with voltage lines being to high. What happened was it wouldn't even work. It was either on at full or not on at all.

Seems like you got your feeding situation down. You could always look into getting a small snake of some sort. Rosy Boas are awesome!They stay small and are very tame. You can buy pre killed mice and all you do is thaw and feed. You only have to feed about once a week and if you buy 5 packs of the three mice in each, you're good to go. Not to mention how low maintenance a snake is compared to a leo. I do have to say though, leo's have wwaaaay more personality!

To answer your question about the bus ride home, he'll be fine. Just get one of those hand warmers and put it on one side of the container he's in(under it, not in it).

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Gerp, Gerp, Gerp.

Welcome to Herpcenter!
I use plastic sterilites with a human type heating pad. Substrate is paper. Since you only put the heater under 1/2 the gecko can get off of it if its a bit too warm.
My geckos staple is mealies. The mealies are insanely easy to culture. I have 3 sterilite shoeboxes I raise them in and it supplies my gecko and 2 adult bearded dragons.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I really appreciate the responses so far, thank you very much.

I do have another question now. after reading this great write-up, Sterilite Enclosures - Reptile Information - Caresheets Database , I am thinking of simply using a rubbermaid or similar container as an enclosure (I'm poor) as long as I can find a suitably sized clear one. I noticed for heating it also mentioned using a simple household heating pad for heating. Are there any concerns or specific types I should be looking for, or any concerns about leaving them on 24/7? Is a digital thermometer and manual adjustment (assuming the pad has a dimmer type switch in place already) fine for control?

Digital thermometers are pretty much the best types of thermometers you can get, they are much more accurate that the stick on tape ones or the little dials. I believe human heat pads can work as long as they don't have an automatic shut off. I've never used human type heating pads, but I know some members on here have before.

__________________

yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

Indeed, I use human type heating pads on several of my enclosures. They have been running for years.
Lately though it seems that a lot of them have an auto shutoff that turns them off after 2 hours. There are some that have an override feature but they are a little higher.
Nut I like the fact that they have different temp settings.
Even of you can't find a clear sterilite you can over come this by simply cutting a hole in one side and glueing a peice of plexi in for a window.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!