Help with leopard geckos PLEASE READ?

Question

i have two baby leopard geckos and am nervous im not taking care of them right. i read about them for about two weeks before getting them.i have a book about them.i have a petco and petsmart care sheet about them. i have had them for about 4 days. i think they are doing fine. i feed them about 10-15 crickets a day. they are in a 20 gallon. substrate is paper towels. i have a moist hide and log on the cool side. i have a water and food dish. the hot side is about 90. the cool side is about 78. humidity is 70 and i dont know how to keep it down.

Answer 1

missing #1 thing, a uvb light! Reptiles need uvb rays to absorb vitamin d, and make their skin, shell( for turtles) and bones stronger. Youi absolutely need to get one, recomend Reptosun 5.0, at petsmart, $35  

Answer 2

BIGGER TANK... YOU NEED A BIGGER TANK... thats it tho

Answer 3

The things you need are

UV lights, and vitaman sand. its a little expensive, but worth it, I bought 30 lbs of it and it covered my 200 gallon tank that my savannah monitor is in. It would be great to buy a big water bowl, my leopard geckos love to soak in their water bowls!

Answer 4

your right you don't need a uvb light its fine to have them but you need it so i wouldn't get it but your doing everything else right. but when they grow into adults you should house them separately

Answer 5

The vote is still out on UVB for noctural Leos, so don't sweat it if you aren't using it.  I do for 4-5 hr. a day, but they will be fine without it and you can research it further while you start saving up your pennies, if you decide to buy a UVB light later.

Vital to their diet is calcium with D3.  MBD is very serious.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Metabolic_Bone_D...

Their crickets should be gut loaded 1-2 days prior to feeding them to your animals, as well as being dusted every other day with vitamins and calcium.  Make sure the insects are no longer than the space between the lizards' eyes.  You can keep a shallow bowl of calcium powder in the habitat at all times (change frequently so the D3 is viable).  Once you see the Leos are taking calcium on their own, you can stop dusting crickets with it, but continue the vitamins.

Keep the vitamins and calcium refrigerated to prolong the life of the vitamins.

IMHO, I would suggest the following:

Don't feed them meal worms, but you can add an occasion Phoenix or Silk worm to their diet.  Don't give them wax worms until they are older, and then only 1-2 a week, as a treat:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Impaction

A 20 gal. long is fine for 2 Leos for now, but they might feel cramped when they are full grown, and this can lead to fighting.  You might want to start saving up for a 30 (if they can be housed together as adults).  But you know you cannot keep two males together, so be sure to separate them before 6 mo. of age, or as soon as you can determine their s*x positively.

Unless you want to become a breeder (and do all the research that involves, and the expense of caring for all those babies) I would also suggest you separate them if they aren't two females.

Your temperature gradients sounds okay, but you need to get that humidty down.  Do you have the water bowl on the cool end of the tank?  If so, then try switching to a smaller shallow bowl.

You need to add another hide, one on the cool side too.

Feel free to email me if you have any further questions.

Enjoy your Leos.

I hope this has been of help.

Answer 6

My daughter volunteers at a local reptile rescue center and we adopted 2 leopard geckos.  You are right..you don't need a UVB light because they are nocturnal.  They won't be out basking under it anyway.  A bigger tank would be a good idea..and try using an Undetank Heater.  It helps to increase the heat on the ground, which is where they spend all their time.  Everything else sounds fine.

Answer 7

Sounds ok, place a dish of pure calcium in there for them too. UVB lighting is not necessary for Leos, too much exposure can be quite damaging to their eyes. A rock to bask on would be nice, placed on the warm end of the tank obviously, mine love to sleep on rocks.

Keep in mind that Leos are solitary creatures and are prone to stress when housed together, even life long siblings may fight as they get older, just a thing to look out for.