I am going to the herp show in St. Louis tomorrow...well, technically later this morning. I am planning on buying some Leopard Geckos. Now here's the thing. I know roughly what to get for them. I think I know enough to make them happy...but just to make sure I'm leaving anything out, I'll make a list, and some one can please quickly update it for me...I know there's not much notice to reply, but we'll see what happens...

Hides (Moist and dry) - I'm going to buy a few of those "rock dens" that have part of the rock on the outside of the tank for easy viewing.

Crickets - Definitely have got tons of those.

Under tank heating - Got some heating pads (human ones) for the warm end of the tank.

Calcium - Might need to get some of this...I know I'm supposed to have a dish of calcium powder, but does the cricket powder work for that? I guess not now that I looked at it...add another thing to the shopping list.

I know I need some kind of sponge or something for both drinking and moistening the hides...can't think of the name of it, but I know what to look for.

Do I need lamps? I know they don't need UVB, but do they need a heat lamp if there is an Under-tank heater? Would opening the blinds at the house be sufficient to provide the photo-period for them, or do they need a light on a timer, too?

Do they need a water bowl filled with water, or will the spongy-looking thing do it for them?

Ceramic Heat Emitter? Do I need one of these, or can I leave the heating pad on all the time, but just use a rheostat to make it cooler at night?

(BTW, it's hard thinking of all these questions at once)

As for substrate, I'm just thinking paper towels. I've read many other options, and this looks the cheapest and easiest. Any comments?

I think I've covered all bases for right now. Let me know if I'm missing any details, and let me know your thoughts. When I get them, they'll be in a 30 gallon tank, only because the iguana-cage building is a little behind schedule. Once the iggy has been moved into her new home, the geckos will move into their permanent home...a 55 gallon tank. So basically if anyone responds to this, thank you for the input. I'll check it again around 8 AM Central time...it's 2:35 right now. Thank you again...and Happy Holidays to all, human and herp alike!

Hello..

Ok here's what I know..
+Paper towels are great
+Undertank Heater will work, during the day u can also have a red heat lamp that provides the correct temps.
+One humid hide on the warm side, u can put spagnum moss on the bottom and keep it moist everyday for shedding.
+Water dish
+I keep a full small bowl of mealies in the tank for my leo.
+ A small amount of Reptical should also be placed inside the enclosure for them.
+Keep a dry hide on the cool end as well.


+any other questions just post and I'll help ya out.. ty, PJ

Be careful with those rock dens. They sound good in theory but I recall reading about someone who had removed the outside section for viewing and when they put it back up they caught the gecko's leg and between the inside part and the glass of the tank and broke the leg.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I am back from the show, and to talk about what Merlin said...I've seen this as a problem. I didn't in fact do that, but I saw it could easily be done. I always look very closely to make sure they're far enough from the glass. I guess it's like a roller coaster..."please keep your limbs INSIDE the rock den, please at all times." But in all, the show was a lot of fun. It was smaller than I expected, but still much fun. I brought back 6 Leopard Geckos, all female. Three are larger than the other, so I have them seperated. The smaller ones will get a little more heat and food, so they can do a little catching up, and then I'll put the two pairs of three together again. One of the breeders told me this would work and they would catch up inside. Let's see how it works...I'll keep you all posted, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions.

For the calcium supplement try and get one that's nothing but 100% calcium carbonate. D3 in it is more of a bad thing than good, and they get all the phosphorous they need from their insects, so none should be in the supplements.

Personally I'm more of a fan of the heat lamp than the Under Tank Heater. After all, the sun is in the sky, so I think the lamps better mimic that. Course the sun also heats the ground, so I guess its a tradeoff. You don't need a lamp if you already have an alternate heat source though. As long as its not dark all the time, cause they still need a 12 hour photoperiod.

I think a shallow dish of water would be better than a sponge. Lightly misting the tank once a day isn't a bad idea either. It mimics morning dew and they'll lap it up of the glass and surfaces in the tank. Just don't mist to much, you want the humidity to come back down soon enough.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

I think one side of the tank should only be misted, though furry probably knows more than me. My opinion is if they are in a cage there are restrictions and boundaries theytcannot pass through, which is not natural at all for a leo.

HEATING: Allthough bulbs are nice, they rack up your heat bill a tad bit more than Under Tank Heater's, usually require a lamp, and burn out after a certain period.
Under Tank Heater's do not "BURN OUT" for along time, infact I have had my Under Tank Heater for 2 years now and it is only heating up 1 degree short which is fine in anyway.

Then we go on to the looks of a tank, bulbs usually make a tank look flawless, and Under Tank Heater's do not give it that certain spark all of the time.

What I do with my enclosure:

Use slate tiles, papertowels, reptile carpet, adhesive or non adhesive shelf liner, or butcher paper.
Use exo terra caves and store bought long caves, all being disinfected before use
Use a very special exo terra cave-like item that holds humidity well, or a carved out gladware box stuffed with peat moss for a humid hide.( if possible, create a dry and humid hide on both sides of tank.)
Use a 20-26 watt Under Tank Heater.

Feeding: Superworms, mealworms, crickets, mealworm/superworm beetles, mealworm/superworm pupaes, Very sparce on wax worms, silkworms, Sparce on butterworms, fly larvae, wax worm moths, locuts, and other various things...

Handling: About 5-10 minutes a day, also I hand feed some geckos with good eyesight, and tweazer feed or drop slower food close to side of their head... I have found that tweazwers for some reason really increase some of my gecko's appetites.

Water: A shallow waterdish is fine. Sponges hold bacteria like a grandmother squeezes you, and they dry out after awhile too.

Supplements: pure 100 percent repcal calcium and herpivite will work.

Gutloading critters like mealies, superworms, and crickets: Simple chicken feed/turkey feed will do a food. Also if you check some of my other posts about feeder help in the feeder section you may find many other choices of food.
Critter water source: A simple potato slice or two, apple slices, squash, or even zuchini.

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The more you whine, the worse it will get.

Actually, that isn't a bad idea. If you use a particulate substrate or PT, its better to just mist the side of the tank a bit, and maybe some of the solid surfaces a little.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield