[jtoker131]

I am fixing to buy two leopard geckos. All I have is a 20 gallon long aquarium. What do you recommend for everything else, such as something to hide under. How much light do they need. A water bowl (do they swim in it or just drink from it), what should I put on the bottom of the cage. And what do they eat (crickets I think, but how many and how often)


I know someone on here knows something about these, b/c I have talked to him/her before but I dont know who it is.

Anything that I forgot and any help would be appreciated.

 

[GODFATHER]

Dude if I had Gecko's I would help ya out but I dont. I have 4 ball pythons, 1 Albino Burmese, & 2 bearded dragons LOL

I do however have a buddy with a reptile shop if you would like I could get ya his #

 

[jtoker131]

Thanks godfather. I have a red tail boa myself but these geckos are for my girl. I am just getting everything set up for her. it is a present for dealing with me for a year now.

 

[GODFATHER]

Good present just make sure she handles them a lot so they dont get nasty. I have heard that about them

 

[jtoker131]

I didnt know that. I will be sure to tell her.

my red tail has gotten very angry. She strikes at anything that walks by the cage. Is this b/c I am not feeding her enough. I am giving her about 2 rats every 2 weeks.

 

[GODFATHER]

Noooooooo..... Dont do that........ I dont feed mine but once a month that is about as much as you really need to. 2 rats a month maybe 1 every two weeks would be good. How old is she? And how much do you handle her? Handleing is the key to a good snake they say if you own one your bound to get bit. I have been bit 2 times in 5 years of owning my ball pythons and both of those were my own fault. But to me it sounds like you just need to get her out more. I have 2 dogs and a cat also and they walk by the cages all the time but unless it is close to the end of the month they pay no attention to them.

 

[jtoker131]

Ok, so I should slow down her eating. I would guess wein (sp) her to once a month or something. like go to every 3 weeks for a while and then to every 4. I figure if I take her to once a month she wont like that at all.

I have had her for about 3 years now, and got her when she was 8 weeks old. I have been bit once, my fault. It really doesnt hurt that bad. I handle her when I am there, right now i am working and she is in the trailer with my little brother watching out for her. he doesnt handle her at all. Maybe me leaving upset her.

 

[GODFATHER]

Yup she just wants attention man get her to a good eating schedule and handle her more. the main thing about feeding is that makes them grow twice as fast and that isnt good for their body and it will eventually make their life span much shorter.

 

[alaska cajun]

Something i learned about them little lizards last week.

Most of them can reproduce without a male and the offspring has the same DNA.

It was on some show on PBS.

 

[21 natas]

You can feed them crickets and mealworms and you might want to get some powder calcium to shake the food up with to help with the calcium that the leopard geckos need. I would give them a broken flowerpot or something simular to be able to crawl under, I also used a large grain sand as substrate when I had mine.

 

[jtoker131]

Gadfather

Will do as soon as I get up there to her. 4 more weeks

alaska

that could come in handy, but I wont know if I have a male or female. The pet store doesnt know and said it would cost to have them probed.

21 natas
thanks for the info. that is a great start for me.

 

[Fallguy]

As far as your geckos go my son has one all you need is large grain sand as substrait, a rock or log to hide under, a warming rock or mat, a water bowl (from what I've seen they don't swim), a standard reptile light, and feed it cricket once a week or so the thing will live for ever they're pretty tough. hope that helps.

 

[jtoker131]

How are they about being held and played with. Someone said that you should hold them alot. Fallguy, do you know anything about that.

 

[!!!Kennedy!!!]

I own a bearded dragon but my friend has 3 geckos. You may want to look into Calci-sand. Its less harmful if they eat it but pretty expensive. Do not, I repeat do not feed them meal worms, their exo skeleton can sometimes be to hard to digest and may cause an impacted stomach! I would suggest crickets and a wax worm combination as well as fruits and veggies. As for heat, try to get a set up lamp combo light thing. It has a day light/UV light/Night light. And do not get the hot rocks, those can and will burn your little reptile if he sits on it for to long. The pad that goes underneath the tank is a good alternative to that. Most of the time they will be in whatever cave or underwhatever you have there so put the pad under that spot. If this is a baby gecko I would suggest feeding it maybe everyother day, small sized crickets at first and once it starts to get b***** you can up the size of crickets. Don't feed it too many you don't want it to get to fat, espicially its tall, because thats where they store all of their fat. Well if you need anything else just let me know....

Kennedy

 

[Fallguy]

Got my sons by accident he was stuffed in with a chameleon I got him at a reptile show, didn't really want one but it grew on me (my son loved it right away) the damn thing acts like a dog wags his tail and comes to the front of the tank when he hears us and everything go figure. they're fine to handle I've never been bit but I don't think it would hurt, anyways this one likes to come out so I've never had this problem but their tails will pop off if you grab it. if that happens it'll grow back in a couple of months from what I've heard.

 

[GODFATHER]

Kennedy is correct on the mealworm thing. However you can feed them mealworms you just dont want to do it very often mostly as a treat mealworms are very high in Protien which is good but too much of a good thing is bad

 

[!!!Kennedy!!!]

How old are your beardies Godfather?

 

[Rascus]

Anyone needs gecko's just come to Hawaii...i have about 5 of them running freely around the house. Don't do anything about it because they kill all the bugs for me. Have some pretty cool looking ones too.

So my point here is nothing...sorry for the hijack :banned :twofinger

 

[GODFATHER]

I have one Giant German Orange he is about 2 1/2yrs old and the female is just a plain jane she is about 1 1/2yrs old. They are quite fun

 

[21 natas]

I use to handle mine all the time with out any problems, I'm actually thinking of getting another pair since I'm getting rid of my fish. You might want to look at fat tail geckos also they are simular in their temperment.