toying with the idea of Leos

[dakski]

Recently I have been torn between a second BP or a lizard - and have been looking at a thousand species - from Ackies (need too much space right now) to blue-tongues (brumation honestly scares me lol), and bearded dragons seem too sensitive as far as UVB and the bugs they can/can't eat plus veggies to prep etc. Leo's have more pros than cons from what I have learned by reading, but I have a few questions that I hope someone with leos can answer.

Deborah nailed it, but I'll give my two cents on a your questions, but only add anything other than a one word or one sentence answer where it's necessary. For what it's worth, I have 3 Leopard Geckos Females and I love them all. They all have unique personalities and are all beautiful and all very different morphs. My only regret is they I started out with three young females and one big cage (like you want to do) and long-term that did not work because of dominance issues. 1 cage went to 2 and soon, for their own good, not necessarily for absolute necessity and safety (like 1 cage to 2 cages was), I will be moving from 2 cage for 3 geckos to 3 cages for 3 geckos, all 3X2' cages. I'll explain more on that in a moment. If I had to do it all over again, knowing my space requirements, I am not sure I would have gotten 3 leopard geckos. However, I am committed and I love them all, so they are here for the duration.

1. Are mealworms an acceptable staple food source, with occasional roaches or other worms for variety? (I raise mealworms anyway and have read that they can eat all life stages)

​Yes. Very important that they are a) gut loaded properly (you seem to address that well in your following post) and b) calcium (reptile vitamin with d3) dusted at least 3X a week and vitamin (reptile vitamins) dusted 1-2X a week. However, variety in prey is good for Leopard Geckos, IMO, and from what I've read. I believe prey variety is less important if you are adequately gut loading your prey and with variety in the preys diet. Breeders often do what's easy. Leopard Geckos tend to love mealworms. I feed mealworms 1-2X a week and Dubai 1-2 a week. As an occasional treat (1x a month) they get a wax worm or two (gecko crack) and I offer a superworm or two 1-2X a month as well (2 of my geckos go insane for those as well, but 1 refuses them entirely). I believe Dubai's are easier to digest and are more protein packed, although they don't seem to like them as much. They do eat them, however. They also last a long time, and since I don't keep a colony of mealworms, prefer that.


I have also read where some people use repashy "grub pie" for geckos as a supplemental food but I'm not sure this of for leos vs arboreal species like the fruit based gel foods.

Zero luck here. Leopard Gecko's like to hunt! They want it live and moving!

2. Is there such a thing as too big of a cage for an adult? I like the idea of something the size of a T10 (48x24x15) for lots of customization - multiple hides, multiple substrates, cage decor, etc

​I do not think so. I currently have one in a 3X2' and two in another 3X2', soon to be 3 in three separate 3X2's. They will use the room. They like a temp gradient and enjoy moving around, especially at night. I use a food dish, but I imagine they would run all around the tank hunting if they had to. Mine run around anyway, and usually come to the front of the tank to beg for food or just see what I am doing at night.

I would not get tempted to get more than one just because you have a large tank though. Mine started fighting, almost to the death (all females that grew up together from babies) at 5 years of age. I separated them immediately, but they really are solitary creatures. They will use extra space, but won't necessarily appreciate, or get along with another tank mate just because they have extra space.

3. I understand that young geckos need far less space to reduce stress, but how fast do they grow? Can you start with a 10-20gal footprint terrarium then move to something bigger?

4. Being nocturnal I assume that a CHE would be best, but do they need visible light to know where to bask when needed? Probably a silly question

No. I have a fluorescent light in my gecko tanks for day/night cycle but temps are constant with a RHP and Heat Tape for the hot side and nothing on the cool side. CHE and/or a UTH will work great depending on room temps. They like belly heat. However, night temps can drop into the mid 70's for them ambient and cool side. Day temps should be high 70's to low 80's cool side, low 80's ambient, and 88-90F hot spot. That hot spot should be consistent for digestion.

5. Can sphagnum moss be used safely for moist hide substrate?

Yes.

6. I've read everything from tile, repti-carpet, and paper-towels as substrate plus occasionally eco-earth (dried out) for digging enrichment. Is there a 'best' or is it what you feel like cleaning up?

I use printless newspaper. They occasionally burrow in between it, but mostly use their hides. I love the printless newspaper. The use the bathroom pretty regularly, but one cool thing about leopard geckos, is that they tend to use the same bathroom spot like clockwork once they pick one they like. Once they find "the spot" you can pretty much rely on it and spot clean their as needed and everywhere else weekly or less.

7. Is there a big difference in personality / health between genders? Any worry of egg-binding in non-breeding females?

I've only kept females and they tend to be more available, or so I've heard. Not sure about general health, but apparently, males live much longer. Females I believe average 10-15 years or so and males 15-20+.

8. Most I've seen are sold young, some tiny some a few inches - any pros/cons with purchase age?

Little ones can be delicate and squirmy. I would not order one under 25-30G (adult size is usually about 50-70G) and would not buy one in person that doesn't seem very chill under 20-25g.

9. As for supplements I've read that its is suggested to leave the calcium+d3 down in the cage at all times, as well as dust insects with both that and vitamin powder- but the recommended supplement schedules are all over the place from every feeding to once a week or less. Is vitamin A toxicity something common to them? I have not had to supplement a reptile since my iguana 15 years ago lol.

See above. I've heard too much vitamin "something" is not good for them. Hence only dusting vitamin powder 2X a week, plus whatever is in the prey. Calcium is really important though. 3X a week plus, yes, leave it in a shallow dish. They lick it if they need it.

10. In the winter my house is 20-40% humidity, but in the summer that can be as high as 50-65% just in the house - will the ambient high humidity in the summer cause issues? I can add humidity for shed when needed, removing it is another story

No. They will be fine. My house is the same pretty much. I keep a moist hide to help with shedding and because they tend to like it, in the cage, on the cool side, all year round. I would do that, especially if you have the space in a nice sized tank. High humidity in the summer is another reason to use a substrate that doesn't hold too much humidity though.

My ideal habitat would have a lot of natural rock, slate tiles, homemade grout structures, and easily removable areas of repti-carpet for quick clean up. Possibly a removable section of eco-earth for digging that was opposite of the feeding area, unless they will just eat it. Sorry for the word wall ;/