My New Leachie

[Prognathodon]

Managed to get a couple decent pictures of Chirrut this morning:



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[DWRVT]

These geckos are awesome - so jealous!! Someday, I will own one Congrats on your new guy!!

[Prognathodon]

I cleaned Chirrut’s enclosure yesterday, with *no* escape or other excitement! Yay!

He’s up to 15 grams, so he’s clearly eating more often than he leaves footprints on the doors or I can actually tell there’s CGD missing. I was thinking he was looking bigger, guess I wasn’t imagining it. I suspect he’s probably shed, but not that I’ve been able to tell (we’ve got a couple snakes that I only know are in shed when I find the shed skin, so I’m not fussed if Chirrut is another stealth shedder).

Debating going bio-active for his eventual grownup enclosure. I thought that was going to be an 18x24x24” tall Exo-Terra style we already own, but this weekend my husband suggested either the 55- or 75-gallon tank. The two refugee cichlids (yellow labs) from the 55 and their juvenile offspring have killed off everything else in the 75-, so we might as well consolidate all the cichlids into one or the other. The aquaria are 20 and 21 inches tall, but 48” wide, so lots more room to roam than the Exo-Terra. And already in the room I want to move Chirrut to. Anyway, have time to consider, he’s got a couple additional steps up before he’s ready for his grownup home.

[Prognathodon]

Got a couple pictures last night before and after misting, even show his nice pinky blotches. Looks like he just had or was about to lick up some water when I took the second picture.

[Prognathodon]

Today is moving day for Chirrut. My son put the A/C units in the bedrooms this morning, so I’ll be moving Chirrut’s enclosure to my bedroom. Still not entirely sure *where*, since I had to set up a hospital bucket for a beat-up cichlid, and the best place to put the bucket was where I was going to put Chirrut...


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[Prognathodon]

After moving Chirrut, I found him flat on the enclosure floor. I don’t think he approved of the earthquake.

Didn’t have any problem at all finding him Saturday night.




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[Prognathodon]

Monday morning there was a herd of little black ants in Chirrut’s food. I took the food out, and have been only leaving food in overnight. Reading up on geckos and ants, it appears that ants can be dangerous, so I gave his enclosure a good cleaning, and moved it away from the window the ants probably came in to the spot I originally planned to put it, next to my aquarium (which had been temporarily taken up by a hospital bucket for one of my cichlids).



Before anybody worries, Chirrut’s enclosure was well-insulated from the sun coming in the window, and there was an air-gap between the fabric blind/insulation combo and his enclosure. In a 12” x 12” x 12” cube there’s two thermostat probes and a thermometer/hygrometer probe, so he’s also well-monitored.



Chirrut Does. Not. Approve. of enclosure cleanings. Not sure he’s much in favor of Repashy’s Mulberry Madness, either - prefers his Pangea Watermelon/Mango. But he’s up to 20 grams.



Once the bio-active enclosure for my sand boa is done cycling I think I’ll upgrade Chirrut to the 16” x 16” x 12” enclosure the sand boa is currently in.

No more ants have shown up since I cleaned and moved the enclosure. Probably from the front-porch colony that we discourage from coming in the front door a couple times a summer with diatomaceous earth. Tonight/this weekend I’ll probably hit the porch pre-emptively with DE, and wipe down the area where Chirrut’s enclosure was with vinegar to help wipe out any scent trails.

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[Prognathodon]

No more ants in the bedroom, yay!

When I got home Friday Chirrut was hanging out on his pipe insulation “branch”.





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[Prognathodon]

Hooman! You opened my doors! Oh, fresh foods? AAARGH! NOT THE MISTER! (Disappears into the foliage)



Now that Shai-Hulud the sand boa has moved to his bio-active enclosure, Chirrut can get Shai-Hulud’s old one. So did I get my husband or son to pull it out of the shelf where it is this weekend? No, no I did not. Silly hooman... (the old enclosure and bio-active fit nicely side-by-side on a shelf, but getting them in/out is a tricky 2-person job)


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