Leopard gecko questions

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KKAY27

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I was wondering if anyone on here has leopard geckos! I have 2 right now and I would like to know what kind they are! I know one is albino but not sure about the other! I really want to breed them but I know my female is to small! What are some fattening foods I can't start her on? I would love to purchase a breeding female for my male! I want one with a big tail!!!

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There are so many "named morphs" in leopards that if you didn't buy them from reputable dealers with ids you will never know for sure what the exact bloodline is, these waters are murkier than fish id.

Neither look healthy, those tails are skinny.

Are they under uvb and are you supplementing calcium? Calcium dusted meal worms are a good source, feed the meal worms good quality foods before feeding them to the geckos. Some will eat gut loaded crickets, some scoff at them. If breeding is a goal then a good quality incubator is a must, its not hard to get a pregnant female, the trick is hatching and raising babies.
 
There are so many "named morphs" in leopards that if you didn't buy them from reputable dealers with ids you will never know for sure what the exact bloodline is, these waters are murkier than fish id.

Neither look healthy, those tails are skinny.

Are they under uvb and are you supplementing calcium? Calcium dusted meal worms are a good source, feed the meal worms good quality foods before feeding them to the geckos. Some will eat gut loaded crickets, some scoff at them. If breeding is a goal then a good quality incubator is a must, its not hard to get a pregnant female, the trick is hatching and raising babies.

I been trying to get them to put on some weight! I feed them crickets every week each one about 20! It's so hard for me to keep the crickets alive for a long amount of time!! I put them in a critter carrier thing with cardboard! I been trying to find some meal worms but my pet stores do not sell them! Is there a good place to get them online? I do feed them freeze dried meal worms dusted with calcium plus d3! They eat them good! Are wax worms ok to feed them every now and then? I read the are high in fat! I been looking at incubaters just incase I want to breed , what is a good brand! I found on ebay a zoo med and exo terra I will attach pictures! I don't want to buy one until I have eggs!

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I just want one that works the best! Any other brands that might be better?

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I been trying to get them to put on some weight! I feed them crickets every week each one about 20! It's so hard for me to keep the crickets alive for a long amount of time!! I put them in a critter carrier thing with cardboard! I been trying to find some meal worms but my pet stores do not sell them! Is there a good place to get them online? I do feed them freeze dried meal worms dusted with calcium plus d3! They eat them good! Are wax worms ok to feed them every now and then? I read the are high in fat! I been looking at incubaters just incase I want to breed , what is a good brand! I found on ebay a zoo med and exo terra I will attach pictures! I don't want to buy one until I have eggs!

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Feed the crickets carrots.

This is what I do for my fire belly toads as they only accept crickets and I had to buy in bulk.

Also be careful as in confined spaces crickets can cannibalize. I keep mine in an empty 10g with a screen lid and a bunch of eggcrate. Cannibalizing can lead it disease in the crickets and you wouldn't want that going to your geckos.


Caleb
 
I used to buy 500 crix at a time. Mine were kept in a 30H. Lots of eggcrates. Water bowl with rocks to climb out. I fed flukers cricket diet plus veggies, cereal. Etc.... I did have tank in house so they didn't get too cold. I didn't try breeding the crix as Id have to have multiple tanks to keeps eggs n babies away from adults.

I bought crix. Waxworks, meal worms and super worms. I bred Discoidalis Roaches and Hissers.

I had a lot of things to feed. Including Leopard Geckos


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Feed the crickets carrots.

This is what I do for my fire belly toads as they only accept crickets and I had to buy in bulk.

Also be careful as in confined spaces crickets can cannibalize. I keep mine in an empty 10g with a screen lid and a bunch of eggcrate. Cannibalizing can lead it disease in the crickets and you wouldn't want that going to your geckos.


Caleb

When I get them from the store they are black and mushy and smell horrible and some of them are barely alive! I will try putting them in something bigger and feeding them new things and see if I can keep them alive!

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I used to buy 500 crix at a time. Mine were kept in a 30H. Lots of eggcrates. Water bowl with rocks to climb out. I fed flukers cricket diet plus veggies, cereal. Etc.... I did have tank in house so they didn't get too cold. I didn't try breeding the crix as Id have to have multiple tanks to keeps eggs n babies away from adults.

I bought crix. Waxworks, meal worms and super worms. I bred Discoidalis Roaches and Hissers.

I had a lot of things to feed. Including Leopard Geckos


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I might try this! Is it hard to breed crickets? That would make it easy for me because my store is 2 hours away and it's hard to get there! So I would need 3 tanks?

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I have another question to! I know some breeders use the rack system I don't want to do that because I like to see them but they don't have uvb lighting on them! Do they really need it?

Does anybody have say experience with african fat tail geckos I love them are they easy to breed I could get a mail and female but where is a good online place to get them without paying a fortune!

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I had some things to add but got very busy at work. All the above advise is great, we got some lizard guys here eh? With crickets I had far better luck ordering in bulk online and keeping them. They're not as easy as mealworms to breed but its not difficult. One note from above, skip the water bowl in the cricket tank. They drown incredibly easy, I used the flukes food and sliced potatoes and they never had an issue getting sufficient moisture. Large (30ish) gallon Rubbermaid tanks work great for housing. We would smear a ring of Vaseline along the inside a few inches from the top and never had any escape not even using a lid. Egg crate is their friend for increased surface area.

On the incubator, my brother in law and I were heavily involved breeding leopard geckos, panther and Jackson chameleons, and ball pythons so we went in on a roughly $400 unit that was superb. I can get the brand name if your interested. Either unit you linked will work, I'd spring for the exo terra, I've never used one but a guy on our old forum swore by them, he had three.

I totally support your idea not to use a breeding rack. I actually still own one but its the least possible humane way to keep an interactive reptile like a lizard. I was more comfortable with using it with my snakes but even that isn't great.
On the D3 thing, absolutely great that your using it, that's often overlooked and the poor geckos die a long slow death. The topic of lizards and uvb is still somewhat debated but its became a lot clearer in the last decade. Many lizards, especially monitors absolutely require uvb, d3 doesn't help, but some still believe leopard geckos can survive off d3 alone. Key word, survive. Try a little test I conducted, keep him on d3 a while, then go get a uvb just to see how he reacts. If it goes like my experience you'll never take it off. Many of the breeders (big time show breeders, we were all repticon season table holders) that I dealt with agreed, uvb is the way to go unless you have so many you can't physically provide it to them all, hence the use of d3.

Wow, didn't mean to get that wordy, hope some of it helps.
 
I had some things to add but got very busy at work. All the above advise is great, we got some lizard guys here eh? With crickets I had far better luck ordering in bulk online and keeping them. They're not as easy as mealworms to breed but its not difficult. One note from above, skip the water bowl in the cricket tank. They drown incredibly easy, I used the flukes food and sliced potatoes and they never had an issue getting sufficient moisture. Large (30ish) gallon Rubbermaid tanks work great for housing. We would smear a ring of Vaseline along the inside a few inches from the top and never had any escape not even using a lid. Egg crate is their friend for increased surface area.

On the incubator, my brother in law and I were heavily involved breeding leopard geckos, panther and Jackson chameleons, and ball pythons so we went in on a roughly $400 unit that was superb. I can get the brand name if your interested. Either unit you linked will work, I'd spring for the exo terra, I've never used one but a guy on our old forum swore by them, he had three.

I totally support your idea not to use a breeding rack. I actually still own one but its the least possible humane way to keep an interactive reptile like a lizard. I was more comfortable with using it with my snakes but even that isn't great.
On the D3 thing, absolutely great that your using it, that's often overlooked and the poor geckos die a long slow death. The topic of lizards and uvb is still somewhat debated but its became a lot clearer in the last decade. Many lizards, especially monitors absolutely require uvb, d3 doesn't help, but some still believe leopard geckos can survive off d3 alone. Key word, survive. Try a little test I conducted, keep him on d3 a while, then go get a uvb just to see how he reacts. If it goes like my experience you'll never take it off. Many of the breeders (big time show breeders, we were all repticon season table holders) that I dealt with agreed, uvb is the way to go unless you have so many you can't physically provide it to them all, hence the use of d3.

Wow, didn't mean to get that wordy, hope some of it helps.

Thank you so much! I'm probably going to end up doing exactly what you did and order some and put them in a Rubbermaid tub! I probably order some live Meal worms just for them to eat! I will do what you said on the uvb light to! They will probably really like it! If I do decide to breed I will probably end up getting the exo terra! I really don't want to spend that much for a incubater but I really want some babies! Thank you so much for the help! If I have any other Leo questions I sure will ask!

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I don't have leopard geckos, but I have a pair of crested geckos. My pair has already given me 4 healthy babies. They lay a cutch of 2 eggs about once a month. I put the eggs in a separate container that has vermiculite for substrate and holes on the lid. I spray the vermiculite once a week. Two months later, the eggs hatch. Very easy. I keep the babies in a separate terrarium from the parents.
Edit: no incubator is necessary for crested geckos. Room temperature is fine. The geckos don't need heat after they are born, either. And no need for crickets! They eat a powder that they sell at Petsmart.

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One of my babies. One week old.


And daddy in his enclosure.
ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1447373435.002481.jpg


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I don't have leopard geckos, but I have a pair of crested geckos. My pair has already given me 4 healthy babies. They lay a cutch of 2 eggs about once a month. I put the eggs in a separate container that has vermiculite for substrate and holes on the lid. I spray the vermiculite once a week. Two months later, the eggs hatch. Very easy. I keep the babies in a separate terrarium from the parents.
Edit: no incubator is necessary for crested geckos. Room temperature is fine. The geckos don't need heat after they are born, either. And no need for crickets! They eat a powder that they sell at Petsmart.

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I have been looking into them! I think they are very pretty! I honestly thought they were alot more difficult to keep. Like there habitat and feeding! What all do you need for them and stuff? How do you tell female and male apart? Your baby is so cute!!!

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I have been looking into them! I think they are very pretty! I honestly thought they were alot more difficult to keep. Like there habitat and feeding! What all do you need for them and stuff? How do you tell female and male apart? Your baby is so cute!!!

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Thanks! You just need a terrarium, a food dish, a spray bottle, and a crested gecko powder. You mix the powder with some water to make a paste. That is all they need for food. I do buy them crickets about once a month because they love them, but since it is just a treat, I don't dust them with calcium. I buy about 30 and put them in the enclosure with the geckos. My enclosure has real plants, but they are not necessary. Crested geckos are climbers, so you need a tall enclosure and branches. You have to spray them once a day with water. You can tell the gender very easily once they are about 6 months old. The boys have a bulge at the base of the tail. They are very mellow and like being handled.

Here is one of my older babies (one month old).
ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1447376075.446177.jpg


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Thanks! You just need a terrarium, a food dish, a spray bottle, and a crested gecko powder. You mix the powder with some water to make a paste. That is all they need for food. I do buy them crickets about once a month because they love them, but since it is just a treat, I don't dust them with calcium. I buy about 30 and put them in the enclosure with the geckos. My enclosure has real plants, but they are not necessary. Crested geckos are climbers, so you need a tall enclosure and branches. You have to spray them once a day with water. You can tell the gender very easily once they are about 6 months old. The boys have a bulge at the base of the tail. They are very mellow and like being handled.

Here is one of my older babies (one month old).
View attachment 280589


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Ok I have a 10g and I have some driftwood I can put in there! Do they need a terrium that stands up or should my 10 be ok?I would like to have some live plants!
What different kinds do you have?
How much should a cresty be?
The only ones around here are from petsmart and are like 40$


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If repticon comes near you then its the way to go, Google repticon for dates and locations. I've seen decent sized cresties marked $15. I don't think a 12" tank will be enough. Screened vivariums aren't that high. I have a few ranging from 24-36 inches tall by 18" long and 12" deep. Craigslist is great for those, I've seen them under $20.
 
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