Finally - 5 years late: An introduction to Cleo, Carra, and Kayla

Got some okay pictures of Cleo tonight. Katie did the honor of holding her while I snapped some shots.

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I wanted to update on Cleo, Carra, and Kayla, but mostly on Carra and Kayla.

First, they are all doing great. Since I separated Cleo from Carra and Kayla, everyone is doing better. Cleo is her old chill self and loves being queen of her castle (she has an entire 3X2' all to herself). Carra and Kayla are doing great together, as always, and Carra is having much better sheds. I think Cleo used to hog the old moist hide, and Carra didn't want to fight with her, and just had bad sheds instead. I used to soak her all the time to help. Not anymore. She still has a little damage to a couple of toes, but seems no worse for the wear. Everyone is eating well, shedding well, etc. I am very happy.

Secondly, Cleo has always been super outgoing and super friendly. She's a dream to handle. Carra and Kayla, not so much. They tended to get very squirmy and even jumpy and were difficult to hold. I let other people hold Cleo, but not Carra and Kayla.

Well, over the past few weeks, I've been working with Carra and Kayla and slowly building some trust. They would always let me pick them up to move them for cleaning, etc. but it wasn't fun for anyone if I held them longer. There is a noticeable difference between now and three weeks ago. Carra has chilled out a lot, and Kayla a little. Although Kayla will walk from hand to hand quickly, she's not jumpy anymore. Carra, is actually getting pretty calm and will walk from hand to hand, but often just chills in one hand for a minute or so.

I'll keep working with them and update soon.

Last night, I couldn't sleep and wasn't feeling well. I went down to the reptile room as I had forgotten to give the geckos food last night (not a big deal - they usually get every other night, but sometimes every 3 nights, and yesterday was day two).

I fed everyone, Carra ate a couple butterworms, her favorite (and only an occasional treat - they are Gecko crack like wax worms), out of my hand, and Kayla even crawled out of the tank and into my open hand. Working with them is paying off. I think Kayla, with light pink eyes, is particularly sensitive to the light. She doesn't like being out during the day at all. However, last night, she was quite social and calm.

I had fun bonding with them and I think I will work with them more after dark from now on.

Today, I got a video of Carra Vs. A Butterworm. Enjoy!

https://streamable.com/36v4y

Another good update.

Last night, Katie held all three geckos. She loves Cleo and holds her regularly. She's attempted to hold Carra and Kayla before, but it did not go well. They were very squirmy and when Katie tried to gently restrain Carra, she let out her blood curdling squeak that sounds like a baby bird drowning.

Last night, Carra was really chill in her hands and Kayla did pretty well too. Big improvement. I will continue working with them and I think Katie will be spending more time with them as well. Win, win.

Katie even watched them eat mealworms. Katie hates bugs, big time. Almost told me not to move in if I brought food for geckos. She's made her peace with them being in the house - well contained. Plus, I feed mostly mealworms and Dubai Roaches (which Katie makes me call beetles). No smell, no noise, and the geckos love them. Both are good for Leopard Geckos (I do not like crickets in my house or as a staple diet), but equally important to food variety, is gut loading. I pack those critters to the brim with nutritious stuff for my little girls.

Carra shed the other day and I got some cool, and bright pictures, of her in her enclosure with the light on her. Still iPhone pics and not super, but you can get the idea. She glows.

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When I bought the original Boaphile tower a year ago, the three geckos were living in a 4X2' and seemingly, doing okay, although Cleo had started some occasional aggression towards Carra. When I moved them into the 6X2' Boaphile, the aggression got significantly worse. So I split the tank and moved Cleo to one side (3X2') and Kayla and Carra stayed on the other side (3X2'). When I bought them, the breeder said that if all females and they grow up together, they should be fine living together. He had said that "six can live in a 4X2', that's huge." Well, the more I read, and the more I observe their behavior, especially during feeding, the more I disagree. I have tried two feeding dishes, but inevitably, there is a spat here and there at the same dish. Additionally, before last shed, I found a little bite mark on Carra again. No bueno.

So, Carra is moving into Figment's tank (3X2') and Figment is moving into a 4X2' (he's big for a corn - over 5ft and 640G). Figment is fine in a 3X2', but for stacking purposes, all the tanks need to be the same size, so big or not, he, Feliz, and Yafe, will all have 4X2' tanks.

I know, three 3X2's, for 3 leopard geckos is insane! I agree. However, I do not want to set up separate small tanks for them. More work and harder to maintain temps etc. The Boaphile tanks are setup and easy to dial in and maintain temps, to say the least. Additionally, if I set them up in smaller tanks, I will want to put bigger things in the 3X2's! Nope. I am good. Let the girls live like queens! Carra, for all she's endured of late, deserves a mansion!

A couple quick things.

I feed the girls mostly Dubai Roaches and mealworms as their staple. I supplement with occasional wax worms, phoenix worms, etc, but they like those a little too much (wax worms = gecko crack) and will hold out for them. So just every once in a while as a treat.

I'd offered superworms in the past as they are easier to digest and last longer than mealworms. I also had a beardie at the time who loved them, so they were on hand. In any event, the girls were not really interested in them.

When I went to the local reptile shop yesterday, they were out of mealworms, had Dubai, which I bought, and it was suggested I try superworms again. A couple go a long way with leopard gecko and it can't hurt to add a third component to their diet.

Well, today, I offered Cleo and Carra (Kayla hates the light - very light red eyes do not do well during the day and she generally freaks out when not in a hide) and I was 2 for 2! They each ate one and loved them! I'll try them in their dishes tonight and for Kayla too.

Also, I had Cleo out for a few minutes today for bonding time. All the snakes downstairs, except for Figment, ate, so bonding options were limited, and I usually take Cleo out 2X a week. This seemed like an excellent time. I took a video (not a great video as I was moving the camera lot as Cleo moved) to show how chill Cleo is. Today she was actually pretty revved up for her. See below.

Video link to Cleo, the chillest gecko I know: https://streamable.com/lagut

The new Boaphile tanks came this week. Everything got set up and dialed in and Figment got moved into his 4X2' yesterday. A thorough cleaning, and decorating it like her old tank with Kayla, and Carra got moved into her new "forever" home.

Now Carra, Kayla, and Cleo, each have a 3X2' enclosure in the 6X2' boaphile tower. They are living like Queens!

Carra and Kayla didn't seem to miss each other much and each happily gobbled down some Dubai Roaches last night. However, this time, there was no arguing over who got which one!

I am glad everyone has their own digs and is happy now! Glad I was able to do that for them.

Very cool. Never thought I'd be learning about other reptiles so is an added bonus!

Beautiful & probably the healthiest looking LGs I've ever seen, :gj: