new to leopard geckos

by mrs looney on Thu Mar 24, 2011 6:10 pm

hello there , basically i got my leopard gecko on tuesday and he hasent eaten very much .. is that because he is in a new invirament?? he as eaten in total 7 crickets over the last 2 days .... 3 on tuesday night and 4 last night... is it best to feed him when i turn the uv light off in his tank?? because that is what im gunna try n do tonight... coz he tends to eat the crickets when im asleep.... also im leavin the uv light on from 8 in the mornin till 8 at night is that ok?? dnt want him gettin to cold ...

by mrs looney on Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:09 pm

oh and also i have wax worm for him and he dnt seem to eat them at all lol????

by **Jordan** on Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:36 pm

Hi Sarah and welcome to the forum Smile

First off, 7 crickets in two days is a fine amount. That is nothing to worry about at all. Smile

If he carries on eating like that he will grow big and strong in no time.

Second, the UV light is likely doing more bad than it is good. UV serves absolutely no purpose to leopard gecko's. So by buying it, you've wasted money unfortuantely. Also, the gecko's will be asleep while it is on as they are crepuscular/nocturnal, so they won't get any use out of it. Also, the UV lights can cause large temperature fluctuations within the the environment which can be bad. They can also serve a great a deal of stress to your leo's as they are often to bright for their nocturnal eyes. ALSO if you supplement your gecko with d3, the UV can help put your gecko at risk of a D3 overdose, which im afraid can be fatal.

So to put it into one sentence; the UV light needs to go.

If you need any help in terms of housing, there is a great caresheet in the 'Caresheets' section about housing. It goes through a lot of details which will help.

To help with your feeding problems, If the gecko doesn't eat the waxworms, then thats a bonus. Waxworms are very fatty, so should only be used as a treat, so if they don't want to eat it then thats great. No point eating a burger if you prefer a salad.

As a breeder i would recommend mealworms, many keepers find they are the easiest option.

PS, i have edited your post to make the picture more veiwable rather than as an attachment.

by mrs looney on Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:32 am

hi ya thanks Smile

lol

but the thing is with the uv light it is only a 25 watt bolb n if i dnt have it on its only about 80 c in the tank just with the heat matt .... bt with the uv it gose up to 90 c.... which is what it needs to be.. plus the man at the pet shop said it is ok n he dnt seemed bothered by the light.... so if i dnt have it is it gunna be to cold in the tank... my tank is 3ft by 1 ft so it is pretty big n i have got the biggest heat matt out there for it ... it is ovousily only on one side tho ... it i really confusein coz some people tell u one thing n some people tell u another i dnt want lil elmo ( gecko ) to get to cold ...n he had the same ub light only smaller in the tank he was in at the pet shop .

by mrs looney on Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:43 am

oh and also wen the uv light is on he dnt ever go in his hide out to get away from it or anything ... its like he is sun bathein ... coz ov the uv light is ment to represent the sun lol

by **Jordan** on Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:29 am

Hi, many pet stores think UV lights are necessary but its just a common misconception, there is absolutely no need for them. Gecko's don't come out in the day in their natural environment so the sun has never been important for them or for growth. Hence causing the problems mentioned in my last post.

If the temperature remain too low, then a 50watt infrared bulb shouldhelp supplement the heat.
However, most under tank heaters can provide an adequate amount of heat with no lights at all, so im curious as to why yours isn't. It may be due to your substrate being too thick, may i ask what your substrate is?

by **Jordan** on Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:34 am

Hi again. Just stole this quote from our caresheet.

Seeing as how leos are crepuscular, there is no need to suppliment a uv valued light in order to provide your leo with optimum health benefits. Seeing as how they are not, in the wild, generally exposed to uv lighting they do not depend on uv values to aide in metabolism, supplimentation, and digestion like some other herps can. By providing your leo with a broad spectrum UV or flourescent light will only serve to stress your leo out as the light will be TOO bright (esp. for albino leos). If your leo is housed in a dark room where there is limited daylight, you can use a regular 15 watt incandescent light bulb to help establish a day/night cycle. Check with your local time and temperature station for the hours of sunset and sunrise and set a timer accordingly with the season changes to make sure your leo is properly cycling through the seasons. Setting a timer on a flat 12 hours on 12 hours off schedule is inaccurate if your attempt is to simulate the natural day/night cycle for your area.

If you need to suppliment heat that you may not be getting thru your under tank heater, whether it is because your substrait is too thick or your uth is undersized or under-performing, you can use a 50 watt infrared or 50 watt moonlight blue bulb to suppliment heat (this wattage is recommended for a standard 20 long viv). I have found that the infrared irritates my leo's eyes. He will not come out and explore if the red light is on but he will happily explore when his blue moonlight bulb is on. This is a subject of debate but from my own experiences I would presume the red light is bothersome and would prefer to use the blue. Experiment with both to see which is best suited for your particualr leo.

also here is a link to it: http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t55-proper-housing-for-leopared-gecko#291

I hope this has helped. Very Happy

by mrs looney on Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:01 pm

i have calcium sand in my tank n it is not thick at all n the heat matt is inside the tank under the sand so im really confused to y it is not gettin enough heat ....so where do i get a moonlight blue bulb from? n how much are they?? n can u get them in the long tubes like the uv light? n can i have that on for 12 hours in a day? thanks

by **Jordan** on Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:35 pm

Ooh, calcium sand is bad.
Have you heard of impaction issues? Sand can be fatal to your leo over time, especially if he is fed on crickets.

To be honest im not quite sure where to buy good bulbs and stuff, personally i never use bulbs as i find them all unnecessary as a breeder.

The person to contact would be Kermit as she knows all about lights and bulbs. You can click her name just here or if you look at the caresheet, Kermit wrote it.
Sorry i couldn't help with the lights.

But the sand is a real issue, i would recommend swapping it for tiles or paper towels, or brown paper.

by mrs looney on Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:10 am

i have been hearin from every where that calcium sand is bas so ive been told if im gunna get sand i should get play sand??? do u recomend that and all??

by **samsleopardgeckos** on Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:30 am

hiya,
i think most of us on here use kitchen roll but i did used to use wood chip without any problems. personally i won't use sand but thats just because i dont like the noise it makes when it gets in the runners of the glass.

by mrs looney on Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:39 pm

yh i agree with u on the sound it makes its horrible lol ...

by **Jordan** on Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:09 pm

Yeah I agree with Sam on it, ALL sand is considered bad to be honest.
The better option would be kitchen roll, slate or tiles.

The wood chip is okay as Sam mentioned, I've found that Aspen is good. So might be worth a google, it's really cheap too.

by mrs looney on Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:17 pm

just tried googlein it n it dnt say much? lol.... see some people have told me not to get wood chip coz they can eat it easyer then sand thats why i got the sand lol

by **samsleopardgeckos** on Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:30 pm

they dont normally eat the bigger wood chip usless they are lacking something in their diets, well thats what my vet told me lol

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