My son has been wanting one in the worst way...so I finally broke down and purchased the entire set up plus one leopard gecko for his easter present.....I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with them and any tips...
Thanks! 1|1|Is that a person or a critter? ROFL|Beaglesfly|lmllr77@aol.com|11:16:10|04/11/2009|
Just the way you capitalized Leopard & Gecko, at first I wasn't sure....lol.
Sorry, never heard of them but geckos are cute :P
lauren 2|1|site inside dedicated to care of them...|Skaytes|skaytez@gmail.com|12:52:03|04/11/2009|
no personal experience but here is a site dedicated to the care of them:
http://www.leopardgecko.com/emcare.html 3|1|All I know is they're kinda cute when they're small but get a little "homely" as they get bigger, lolol....my boys had wanted one years ago, but we settled for the anole lizards instead....|saint6811|waylan@comcast.net|16:27:34|04/11/2009|
"Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy." 4|1|I have one that is like 7years old now...(more inside)|Sockrgrl33|kbess@cox.net|00:19:34|04/12/2009|
Posted on Apr-12-09 at 00:19 AM (Eastern) by 70.176.189.237
I have had mine since he was a baby. He is pretty big now. They are extremely easy to take care of. I only feed him 6 large crickets per week and that is it, they really don't need a lot more. You will probably never see yours drink either as they only take sips every now and then ( I don't think I have ever seen mine take a drink!!) Also when they are shedding when they are younger it is a good idea to spray their cage with water to help them. If you have any particular questions post in this link or email me.
Also make sure that your son or anyone else for that matter does not grab them by their tail. They will loose it if they do. It is a defense mechanism to distract their predators. if they loose their tail as a baby it will grow back but it will look funky. If they loose it as an adult they would probably die because that is where they store all of their nutrition. Their tail gets pretty fat as they get older. We keep ours in a ten gallon gallon tank which is plenty of space for them. You generally don't want to put two together they like to be alone.
5|1|also|Sockrgrl33|kbess@cox.net|00:24:58|04/12/2009|
For ours we use Calcium Sand that we purchase at Petco. It is the only place that I have found here that sells it. It is ok if they eat that type of sand because it won't impact them like other sands can. I think it looks a lot better than newspaper. We change his sand and clean his entire cage like every 4 months or so. We use a little scoop to get the poop out of the cage. Their pee is in a little white clump too, so it's not wet or anything you can just scoop it up like poop. I clean out the pee and poop like once a week. 6|2|Thank you sooooo much....all of this is very helpful..more inside:|kellysp6637|frugalk76@aol.com|00:38:36|04/12/2009|
I put everything together and it is now on the table from the "Easter Bunny".....question,,,do you use a heat lamp???? I know they told me to buy one so I did....but I'm just super nervous about fires and stuff...so do you use a heat lamp???? 7|3|Do you use a heat lamp???|kellysp6637|frugalk76@aol.com|00:47:18|04/12/2009|
:) 8|4|No I don't use a heat lamp. Instead we use an under tank heater|Sockrgrl33|kbess@cox.net|01:26:56|04/12/2009|
Last edited on Apr-12-09 at 01:31 AM (Eastern) by 70.176.189.237
Last edited on Apr-12-09 at 01:30 AM (Eastern) by 70.176.189.237
Posted on Apr-12-09 at 01:26 AM (Eastern) by 70.176.189.237
It is a pad that you tape onto the bottom of the tank. You plug in it during colder months and unplug when it is hot. They don't get too hot so I am not worried about fires, but they are warm enough to keep the gecko warm. I never use a heat lamp, we tried it once but it gets way too hot, I wouldn't recommend it.
I recommend the T rex cobra heat mat, they are pretty inexpensive and last forever. The current one we have had for like 5 years and they don't get too hot.
If you search google you can find them all over the internet, let me know if you need help finding one.
9|1|you can find the heat mat way cheaper on the internet than you will find it at petsmart or petco|Sockrgrl33|kbess@cox.net|01:34:34|04/12/2009|
:) 10|2|I think I may look for one...I bought the heat lamp...it's a small one at pet co....|kellysp6637|frugalk76@aol.com|01:37:00|04/12/2009|
and it clips on....dh said it's fine...but nervous nelly that I am I keep stressing...though the idea of a heat pad makes me stress too....ugh.....how come BEFORE I became a mom I never stressed like this LOL!!! 11|3|they seriously get really hot. I wouldn't want to use it. (more inside)|Sockrgrl33|kbess@cox.net|01:42:42|04/12/2009|
here is a link to what the mat looks like
what size tank did u get? the nice thing about the mat is it should only cover part of the cage so if they are cold they will go to the heated side, if they arent they will go to the other side. No stress, these are super easy lizards to take care of. You probably couldn't have made a better choice. if you have any questions let me know.
12|1|here is a mini pad i saw on ebay that would be perfect for a 5 gallon tank|Sockrgrl33|kbess@cox.net|01:48:22|04/12/2009|
http://cgi.ebay.com/T-Rex-Cobra-Heat-Mat---Mini_W0QQitemZ310102132267QQcmdZViewItem 13|2|That looks awesome....I'm definately going to return my heat stuff and get one of those.....|kellysp6637|frugalk76@aol.com|01:51:18|04/12/2009|
plus it's not so bulky like the lamp. 14|1|hope your son loves the gecko|Sockrgrl33|kbess@cox.net|02:04:17|04/12/2009|
Have a happy easter, I hope he is happy. Going to bed now, if you have anymore questions I will check the board tommorow. Good night :) 15|2|You too...Thank you so much for everything...I'll talk to you later|kellysp6637|frugalk76@aol.com|02:05:33|04/12/2009|
Night!!! 16|3|Your welcome...Night!|Sockrgrl33|kbess@cox.net|02:07:03|04/12/2009|
:)