Leopard Gecko Help Please!

[Tom4Fish]

Hi I Am Planning On Buying A Leapord Gecko, First Of All A Few Questions,

1. The tank i bort for him came with a plastic hood [ pretty light ] will i need to buy a reptile hood or could i put something
( ornament or something) to way it down.

2. Do they need lights in there tanks?

3. How often do i feed and how manny crickets per feed (Lps sells them in tubs )

THANKS!

 

[grahamsokel]

It depends on the height of the tank ,If its quite tall you probably wouldnt need to weigh the lid down.
You would need some sort of ventilation in the lid though seeing as its a tank your using.
I take it you are going to be heating the tank with a heat mat?If you are you will also need a mat stat to control the temperature in the vivarium.
You dont need a light in the tank but if you do add a light you would have to make sure it doesnt increase the temperature in the vivarium.

Feeding: It depends on what age your leo is my grown on babies used to eat about 10-15 small crickets every day dusted

my adults can eat that many large crickets every other day.
Just make sure the crickets are no bigger than the space between the leos eyes

 

[Betta5]

yeah

They cant climb, (unless they have something to climb on, well they can climb just not like day geckos) anyway. If the tanks like 12" tall its should be fine. Is it one of those shoe box things? Also i give mine as many as he will eat. He eats about 10-12 a day ATM but he always has mealworms im a bowl. Oh yeah mat stat as heatmats will overheat and burn your leo (£19.99 i have seen them for)

 

[cheesy feet]

Yea, just feed as much as they will eat, leos need to be fat! (not being sarcastic atall).A habistat mat thermostat will control the temp of your heat mat.The heat mat should be covering 1/3-1/2 of the enclosure.Leaving a hot and cold end for the leopard gecko to thermoregulate (keep it's body temp at what it should be) as they are cold blooded, as all reptiles are.

When young the diet should consist of;
Small brown crickets (slightly smaller than the leos width of it's head),
small mealworms (no morio or adult ones),
butterworms,
waxworms.Thats about it, but butterworms and waxworms are only for occasional feeding.You could also try small locusts, but they have serated spines on there back legs and they are not really neccesary when you have all the other foods commonly available which are cheaper.

When adult, or nearly adult they can be fed;
Adult brown and black crickets
small-medium locusts,
morio mealworms,
butterworms,
waxworms.And others
large mealworms,

Unless it's a giant form of leo (which you can get) 10inches from the highest object in the tank to the top of the enclosure and it will not be able to get out, mine have tried and failed (Both my tanks which I keep my leos in are open top) Mine are glass but the leo may be able to climb out on other cage materials.Leopard geckos do not need light and tbh it's pointless.They are nocturnal so you will rarely see them in the day, and if the lights on it may scare them when they would usually come out anyway.Mine sometimes sleep outside their enclosures!

 

[AQUAKING]

I would say defo put a lid on the tank open top is just a bad idea. Other pets can get into the tank (my dog jumpped up onto the table where the leo tank is and almost had it on the floor. If i didnt have a lid i prolly wouldnt have a leo now. Also cats can get to it, i have read lots of threads about cats killing leos. Children, if you have childern or children visit your house alot (like me) Lids on everything are needed as they can put things in that are harmful or pick them up and drop them etc. I think just the simple thing such as a lid can avoid alot of problems. And also Leos have been known to climb up the corner of an aquarium and mine gets quite far up.

Yep UV light is pointless as it is thought to harm their sensitive eyes. Also they will be in their hides most of the day so its wasted anyway.

My leo also wont eat anything but mealworms, not even waxies. Fully grown adults can have a pinky mouse, which is thought to up calucim levels in the leos body. They are very fatty along with wax worms and should be fed in small amounts and less often than other foods, like a treat. Pinky mice are usually used to fatten up mother leos that have just layed eggs.

Also make sure you 'gut load' all foods given to your leo, otherwise its like them eating mealworm skin. Fish food flakes, carrot, dandilon plant and leaves, are all good foods to gutload with.

Most importantly enjoy your gecko!

 

[cheesy feet]

T-rex Calcium plus is a great gut loading food I have found btw.As the above poster said pinkies really should only be offered to females who have lost alot of calcium during the breeding season, or skinny leos.Other then that there isn't really a point with all the other BETTER and more natural foods available...I completely forgot about other people with cats/childen etc .

All reptile stuff can be bought from livefoods.co.uk

 

[AQUAKING]

I find livefoods.co.uk overpriced. My LRS is very cheap without being bad quality

 

[cheesy feet]

Livefoods sell qaulity stuff, with very fair prices.

 

[Betta5]

a little pricy as my pet shop does things cheaper than the net. i would always go to a shop rather than the net as you will also save on postage