| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| nusnakemum |
Posted - 01/10/2011 : 19:50:31
so we,ve just got Mrs T (our new name for her !!) home and any help be much appreciated - she was - wait for it ... to be slowly neglected til she died because her teenage owner could,nt be bothered any more - blood boiling anyone ?? she,s on sand is this ok ??? and we are going to feed n vitamin her properly from now on healthy crickets = healthy gecko right ? she has a basking bulb for which i need to get a timer and 12 hours on in day and off at night ????? heat mat covered in sand but stat dont seem to be workin can she share Ernests for now with his temps ??? any help with feeding her right and generally keeping and any spoiling she needs would be wonderful - thank you we really want to do our best for her - oh she is about 8 and in a 3ft viv |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 09/10/2011 : 09:50:49
thats a good result, keep an eye on her passing the pinky again, you probably wont miss it!! dont give her too many, certainly not to start with, make her diet up of mostly crickets or Locusts, which ever she prefers. |
| nusnakemum |
Posted - 07/10/2011 : 21:00:15
......so anyway Mrs T inhaled a pinkie with vitamin dusting tonight - not so sure she is going to be skinny for long !!! |
| nusnakemum |
Posted - 06/10/2011 : 20:18:01
Thanks Mike to be honest she felt a bit heavier than when we first got her so i am really hoping that a good varied diet will help her loads, but will do the float test if needs be. i did check her toes and all seems to be ok, poor little thing deliberately underfed - so mean ! thanks for your advice it has been very helpful. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 06/10/2011 : 19:59:57
She can have pinkies if she will eat them, does them no harm. Our male will eat them, but neither of the females will at all. If he/she/it will eat them, go for it, will certainly help put some weight on. If she will eat them, give them a good dusting of calcium, or even critical care formula if you have it.
If you are concerned with parasites, take a faecal sample to the vet and ask him to do a float test for pin worm, its an easy test to do, we do our own.
For an adult female, 21g is quite on the skinny side, you certainly dont want her to lose any more weight. If shes malnourished, its worth keeping an eye on the eyes, sometimes they shed pretty badly and can end up with skin in their eyes which leads to them wandering about with their eyes closed, and they get quite sore.
Either way, nutribal and CCF are worth keeping on the shelf for times like these. |
| nusnakemum |
Posted - 06/10/2011 : 19:40:15
so anyway poor Mrs T weighs in at 21g so i,ll keep checking on her and if after a period of good eating if she has,nt put on any weight i,ll sort out the test. Can she have a pinkie ??? |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 06/10/2011 : 09:02:33
Its each to their own a lot of the time, same with the snakes, the main thing is not to do what someone we rescued off did and put a baby leo in a 4ft viv, the result wasnt good. |
| uma and bill |
Posted - 05/10/2011 : 22:11:47
quote:
Originally posted by mikerichards
quote:
Originally posted by uma and bill
Hi i have a leopard gecko and all they need is a heat mat and stat they dont need a light at all unless you just want one for viewing then get one that doesnt give off heat. you shouldnt have them on sand as it can cause impaction so most people either use lino tiles or slate tiles or a cheaper option is kitchen roll, dont use reptile carpet as they can catch their toes on it. She will need a hide at each end( warm end cool end) a moss box you can make this with a tub from the takeaway, keep the moss damp also a dish of water and a dish with calcium powder or if you get a complete calcium with d3 in then just dust the food about 2 to 3 times a week.Anything else you add is just decoration but i would also say a 3ft viv is to big i would use a 2ft or she might stray to far from her heat mat. Hope this helps you:-)
Everything bar the last bit is spot on, the last bit is rubbish. 3ft is fine for an adult gecko, so is a 2ft.
Heating wise, either a heatmat or a red bulb, whichever you choose, as long as both are statted, it makes no odds, i have found they do better with bulbs as the bulb heats the air, as they dont walk about with their bellys dragging on the floor, its more effective.
ok well i was misinformed about the viv size so thanks for correcting me  |
| ozziesmum |
Posted - 05/10/2011 : 14:56:01
My little one's in a 3ft viv and s/he's only a baby, s/he's gone from 6 grams to 12 grams in two and a half weeks s/he's shed twice his/her colours are far more vibrant and tail is now getting nice and plump. S/he loves all the extra room and things to climb on, through and under s/he's out and about exploring from just after lights out until the sun comes up just taking the odd catnap and snack break. |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 05/10/2011 : 14:38:42
quote:
Originally posted by uma and bill
Hi i have a leopard gecko and all they need is a heat mat and stat they dont need a light at all unless you just want one for viewing then get one that doesnt give off heat. you shouldnt have them on sand as it can cause impaction so most people either use lino tiles or slate tiles or a cheaper option is kitchen roll, dont use reptile carpet as they can catch their toes on it. She will need a hide at each end( warm end cool end) a moss box you can make this with a tub from the takeaway, keep the moss damp also a dish of water and a dish with calcium powder or if you get a complete calcium with d3 in then just dust the food about 2 to 3 times a week.Anything else you add is just decoration but i would also say a 3ft viv is to big i would use a 2ft or she might stray to far from her heat mat. Hope this helps you:-)
Everything bar the last bit is spot on, the last bit is rubbish. 3ft is fine for an adult gecko, so is a 2ft.
Heating wise, either a heatmat or a red bulb, whichever you choose, as long as both are statted, it makes no odds, i have found they do better with bulbs as the bulb heats the air, as they dont walk about with their bellys dragging on the floor, its more effective. |
| uma and bill |
Posted - 05/10/2011 : 09:34:40
Hi i have a leopard gecko and all they need is a heat mat and stat they dont need a light at all unless you just want one for viewing then get one that doesnt give off heat. you shouldnt have them on sand as it can cause impaction so most people either use lino tiles or slate tiles or a cheaper option is kitchen roll, dont use reptile carpet as they can catch their toes on it. She will need a hide at each end( warm end cool end) a moss box you can make this with a tub from the takeaway, keep the moss damp also a dish of water and a dish with calcium powder or if you get a complete calcium with d3 in then just dust the food about 2 to 3 times a week.Anything else you add is just decoration but i would also say a 3ft viv is to big i would use a 2ft or she might stray to far from her heat mat. Hope this helps you:-) |
| nusnakemum |
Posted - 05/10/2011 : 09:31:48
thank you Mike am going to weigh her tonight, and for toes tip i,ll check them. Feel much happier about her now - she,s got clean home, no substrate, lots of hides, no basking light n she,s wolfing hoppers so hopefully she,s a happier little gecko. Have just got a dish for the meal/waxworms and will sprinkle her vitamins on them.
Thanks to everyone for the help ! and (as with Ernest i will eventually get pics up !!!) |
| mikerichards |
Posted - 05/10/2011 : 09:14:57
the only thing i can think of right now to add is the toes. Keep checking the toes for any sign that he/she/it hasnt shed properly. They eat their own skin, so dont expect to be finding bits of skin all the time, the main thing is bad shedders tend to leave skin around their toes, and its not that dissimilar to corns leaving their tail on, after a few sheds it causes the end of the toe to fall off.
To give you an idea on weight, females should be about 60g to breed, males will be bigger generally. Not saying you gonna breed, but it gives you an idea of what the weight should be roughly.
Another thing you can feed is Wax Worms, they are quite fatty so its more of a treat, but hey are good for bulking up.
Bear in mind Leos carry their body fat on their tail, so skinny tail = low fat levels, skinny body and tail = malnourished.
If shes not putting weight on like you think she should, its worth getting a fecal float test done, check for worms, because of the nature of the food, pin worm is quite common in leos, have dealt with it ourselves, its easy to fix, but devastating if left.
Good luck with it. |
| nusnakemum |
Posted - 03/10/2011 : 20:57:06
thank you - well for now Mrs T has got brown paper and kitchen roll lots of pebbles and 4 hides - had to get rid of the sand it was dirty n smelly urgh |
| ozziesmum |
Posted - 03/10/2011 : 19:44:00
S/he is only a baby bless him, oh if you do go for the carpet tiles make sure you don't get the ones you stick down as glue and heat mats don't mix. You'll only need 2 and they're really easy to cut down to size, you can just see the thermo and stat probes by the side of his back leg. |
| nusnakemum |
Posted - 03/10/2011 : 19:33:57
thanks Jane n 2 sheds in 2 weeks wow !!! |
| ozziesmum |
Posted - 03/10/2011 : 19:01:09
Hi nusnakemum, carpet tiles straight on top on the heat mat and then the thermo probe and stat probe laying side by side on top of the carpet. I've got a damp hide in the viv as well but Tripod doesn't use it and so far in just over 2 weeks I've had 2 perfect sheds. |
| nusnakemum |
Posted - 03/10/2011 : 18:01:20
thank you all v much - yep no more lamp - she loved hoppers rather than the crikets n thanks for the fridge tip !!! do you put the carpet tiles straight on top of the heatmat or still try to leave a gap ? |
| ozziesmum |
Posted - 03/10/2011 : 13:06:46
Hi it sounds like you're doing great, the only things I do differently are carpet tiles from B & Q for the floor of the viv and I feed mealworms instead of crickets as they don't smell and don't escape round the house. |
| stuart619 |
Posted - 03/10/2011 : 12:31:34
Hi, Hope that she is doing well in her new home. I always use reptile carpet for my leos. I heard that there is a danger of compaction with all loose substrates and plus it is alot easier to clean just have 2 pieces and remove one whilst the other is being cleaned. if you do get reptile carpet I would suggest one like Zoo Med Reptile Repti Cage Carpet. the fibres are not looped so there is no chance the leo can get a claw caught in it.
The best thing when it comes to feeding is ensure that you gut load the crickets for 24 hours first and then dust over with vitamin powder. You can put a calcium pot in with her as they cant overdose on calcium but can on other vitimins. I don't bother with a heat lamp just the mat. They are nocturnal and would not bask in the wild. I have actually read that too much light is bad as it could do damage to their eyes.
You will also find that they will use one corner for the toilet. I just place a piece of toilet roll down and replace it when it gets soiled.
Also another thing I do is chill the crickets for 30 mins or so in the fridge (not freezer  ) This slows them right down and means that you can take them out the tub one at a time and remove any dead ones so they dont get eaten. My leo tends to just eat them as I put them in and once she is full, she will turn her nose up. At this point I stop offering her them. Some prople will just put a few in with the leo and leave them for a couple of days but I have seen a cricket bitten lizzard and it looked pretty nasty, that's why I do it the way I do. See this for a pic of cricket bite (http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs23/i/2008/065/c/7/cricket_bites_by_SgtGecko.jpg)
Some people might do it different to this but it works for me
Good luck with everything |
| scottishbluebird |
Posted - 02/10/2011 : 14:51:50
Fantastic, glad its getting sorted, the little guy will be doing a happy dance! |
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