Dr. ShinDig

Hey guys, just got around to taking a few pics of my new leopard gecko. I got him about 4 days ago.

I found this old terrarium a few weeks ago while I was helping my dad move. It was the same one I used to put critters in when I was a little kid, it was pretty dirty. I got her all cleaned out and prepped up and I think she's lookin pretty good. So I waited like another week and studied up on geckos to make sure I was ready to take care it. So far it seems pretty cool, it has a pretty big appetite but it only seems to eat the live food.

Anyone else have any? I'm wondering how much bigger they get? I think mine is still pretty young and has some growing but not exactly sure or what sex it is.

Well anyways check it out

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John F. Kerry

whoa that thing looks awesome dude. i love the colors and the raised bumps.

id like a pipe that looked like that lizard

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Nasa under Obama

Mafoo

my buddy used to have a bearded dragon. i just remember it stopped eating at one point because it was sick.

it was always really particular about what it would and wouldnt eat. iirc he was feeding it crickets.

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PLUR
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return

Jester4yall

cool beans DR!!

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In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters of principle, stand like a rock. -Thomas Jefferson

You will encounter many distractions and many temptations to put your goal aside: The security of a job, a wife who wants kids, whatever. But if you hang in there, always following your vision, I have no doubt you will succeed. - Larry Flynt

eldizle

i used to breed phalaris grandis as well as eublepharis macularius, such as that beautiful little high-yellow you've got there.

Leopards are a great starter lizard. easy nute requirements, nocturnal, so expensive uv lights aren't a neccesity.

get rid of that hot rock! hot rocks are notorious for getting unevenly hot, and burning lizards. Get either an under tank heating pad, with a thermometer in the tank to get in ideal ranges, or get a ceramic heating element you can screw into a light outlet. The heating pad will be cheaper.

But seriously, drop the hotrock on the double.

also, they need hiding spaces on both the hot end and the cool end.

I didn't like the astro-turf, because you have to either change it every time they poop, or leave it till it's a horrible mess. Sand is good for most leps, although some have a problem with ingesting it with the crickets and getting impacted. Bark chips or coco coir are your best bets. The coco coir comes in blocks you soak in water and break apart in the tank. Soft, easy to clean, and holds moisture *for hiding places* very well.

vermiculite is another low cost, easy to maintain, safe substrate.

You made some newbie mistakes, but nothing serious. pm me or post back in this thread if you have any questions, i'll do my best to help out.

cute little critter, take good care of it.

SageTree

I have a friend who named his bearded dragon after me, in an obvious gesture of LuLzery.

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eldizle

oh, and my biggest leps got about as big around as a tube of jimmy dean sausage and had a snout-to-tail length from about my fingertips to my forearm.

Not quite as big as a jimmy dean tube. a little smaller. how memory distorts. plus the sausage was nearby.

they get so cute when they start putting on weight and their tails get soooo fat, when they get mature, you can feed them pinky mice to really add bulk. my adults loved pinky mice.

AlteredStateGrl

We have a leapord gecko friend!! she's awesome. beautiful! yes, get rid of the hot rock, if you've seen the picture of them being burned, it's sad. we have really thin (mouspad looking) under the tank heating pad. It sits under her shade tree (hollowed out tree), they should be provided with a place like that. A hiding place. Also, i/we spritz the inside of her tank with water, the moisture and humidity is good for them, also helps them have a good shed. Our girl has some issues occasionally with her shed around her toes, so I have to get a q-tip with warm water to coax it off, other wise, it'll cut off the circulation to her toes and she could lose them.

We've had her at least 3, 4 now maybe... years. Loves crickets and grasshoppers. She's got a fat tail...which is an EXCELLENT sign she's happy and healthy. That's where they store their fat. ALSO!!! Yes, they can lose their tails, in extreme trama...it's not good for them though, it will grow back, but it will be deformed and not cool. So be cautious of that. We use sand in one end of the tank and then a fake-y grass turf in the other half. Be cautious with sand, as they could ingest too much of it while going after their food and it COULD cause constipation and back up. Also not good. So far, we haven't had any issues.

Feel free to pm me, or ask questions here, I'll be happy to try and help. ElDizle has lots of good advice too.

Yay! Good luck with your new roomie! And, bomb little habitat you have set up for him!

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*The sweetest kittens have the sharpest claws.*

deadhead94

I want a gecko and a duck that looks like the aflac duck

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~1~

A Pekin.

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SageTree

A pekin duck?

I got the shit penkin'd out of me by a couple of em.

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~1~

A Pekin duck, the type used to make Peking Duck.




If you wanna bird that is never more true to it's name, stand in a gaggle of Geese.

I guarantee at least one 'goosing'.

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SageTree

man... geese are pissed..... like always looking for a fight.

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Dr. ShinDig

Ok, so I'm definitely going to unplug the heat rock. He seems to like climbing on it after its been unplugged and still has just a little heat left in it. Maybe I'll just plug it in for a an hour or so and get it warm when I'm around to supervise and then turn it off when he starts stirring around.

I do have an under tank heater on the hot side and I'm trying to figure a way to get another hide in there. Maybe I will have to abandon the rock all together.

Also going to get a thermo at the pet store today.

Thanks for the tips you two I appreciate it, now I know who to come to if I have any issues

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eldizle

you really shouldn't need it blazing hot man. just warm like a holding a cup of coffee, or not even. if the undertank heater gets it that hot (make sure the therm shows-i think it's in the 90's F, but just from memory, double check to make sure) for metabolization of food and vitamins. now that i think of it, those heating pads are designed for this sort of thing, if it is like what i'm thinking of, by that i mean that if the packaging designated it a reptile undertank heater, then it is likely sufficient.

mine only ever ate live. what are you feeding? are you dusting with a calcium/vitamin mixture? even though they're nocturnal and don't make vit d/-calcium from the lights, they need it all the more via supplementation. just dust the crickets/waxworm/superworms

and very rarely mealworms

before feeding.

mealworms aren't very nutritious, and their chitinous exoskeleton has impacted many a lizard when fed as the sole menu item, versus a now and then treat.

profit

dude you have that aquarium light, use it. grow that little geko some geko buds!

he could probably save us all some money on car insurance by getting super high and giving an unbelievably inspirational speech about how insurance is becoming a form of financial bondage/ punishment for driving, and how all cops are now enforcers for evil companies who are involved in the grand old racket.. ending with the people acting and making changes to the flawed fuckery. lol totally not what you thought i was going to say initially.

seriously tho hes way cooler than the geico gecko.

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