Lizard FAQ's Please Read Before Posting New ThreadsQuestion:
Hey everyone, I've had my Crested Gecko for about a month now and I have never seen it shed. Is there something wrong with it?
Answer:
Hello and welcome to the forum!
Crested Geckos are nocturnal, so they usually always shed at night time. They shed very quickly, so within 10 minutes the entire process is complete. They usually wait until it is dark and quiet, so you are more than likely in bed sleeping when it happens. Also, don't be alarmed if you never find remnants of shed, Crested Geckos eat their shed.
Question:
Hello everyone, I just got a new ____ , how long should I wait until I can handle it?
Answer:
Hello and welcome to the forum!
Whenever bringing a new pet home, it is best to leave them alone for a week to allow them time to settle into their new home without any extra stressors, other than adding food, changing water, misting or spot cleaning to remove poop.
After about a week, you can then begin short intervals of handling.
Question:
Hello everyone, I just got a new lizard and I was wondering if someone could tell me what size of crickets I should be feeding it?
Answer:
Hello and welcome to the forums!
The general rule of thumb is that the cricket should be no larger than the space between the eyes. Feeding crickets that are too large can cause impaction and digestion problems.
Question: My Leopard Gecko is not eating. What do I do?
Answer:
Don’t panic. There are many things that can contribute to gecko not eating.
When you start to notice that the tail shows signs that it is losing mass, you then need to figure out what's wrong. There can be a number of reasons that the gecko has stopped eating enough to begin to lose tail mass.
1. TEMPERATURE
· The first thing you should do is check the temperatures in the enclosure. It may be too hot or too cool. Use a digital thermometer that has a probe or a temperature gun. The thermometers which you stick on your tank are NOT accurate, and that includes if you place it on the floor of the tank. Your tank needs to have a temperature range from 30-35 degrees Celsius on the warm side, to low 20’s degree Celsius on the cool side. If it is a small tank this can be hard to do. If it is 35 C on one side of your tank and 30 C on the other, the animal cannot cool down and will enter a state where they will not eat. On the other hand if it is too cool, maybe mid 20’s on one end to mid to high teens on the other they might not eat as they know they cannot digest properly.
2. IS THE GECKO NEW TO YOUR HOME?
· New geckos may not eat for a few days, up to a week due to stress of changing environments.
· What was the gecko being fed prior to you bringing it home? If you have changed from what the gecko is used to, it might not take to the new feeder.
· Where did you purchase the gecko? The most common and most convenient place to buy reptiles is the pet store, but this isn't always the best place. Pet stores commonly have ill reptiles that may suffer from parasites, bacteria, or fungus. Many times reptiles at pet stores are housed incorrectly on sand or other loose substrates, which means that the gecko could come home with impaction for you to deal with. Many reptiles at pet stores are housed inappropriately, such as too many reptiles in one enclosure, multiple males in an enclosure, sick reptiles with healthy reptiles, inaccurate temperatures, and multiple species in an enclosure. All of these things can contribute to illness.
3. CHANGES TO YOUR GECKO’S ENVIRONMENT
· Have you recently changed the gecko’s enclosure, added decorations, removed decorations, rearranged your room, moved the leopard gecko's cage, or anything that would involve changing the environment in or around the leopard gecko’s enclosure? Sometimes if you are keeping your gecko in a high traffic area, it can also cause stress. These circumstances could cause the gecko to stop eating for a few days to a week or so, depending on the gecko and the amount of change.
4. SUBSTRATE
· Consider what substrate you're housing the gecko on. Loose substrates such as play sand, calci-sand, vita-sand, silica sand, wood chips, bark, potting soil, gravel, crushed corn cob, walnut shells, or any other substrate that is sold in a bag that you could find at a hardware store. Loose substrates can cause impaction, which can be fatal. Slate tile, paper towel, newsprint, or reptile carpet are all good substrate options for housing a leopard gecko.
5. HOUSING MULTIPLE GECKOS
· Are you housing multiple geckos together? If so, the larger gecko or geckos may be bullying or stressing out the smaller ones. This can occur in geckos of the same age and nearly the same size- one will always be just a little bigger than another. Remember just because you don't see it, doesn't mean that it’s not happening. Leopard geckos are nocturnal, meaning most of their activity occurs at night, while you sleep.
Question:
"Hey there, I'm new to the forums and am just wondering what all the numbers in everyone's signatures mean? "
Answer:
Hello and welcome to the forums!
The numbers represent Male, Female, Unsexed and eggs if there is a fourth number. So If I have 2 males, 6 females, 5 unsexed and 2 eggs it would look like this; 2.6.5.2.
Question:
Hi everyone, I'm new to the forums and see that everyone recommends "gut-loading" bugs? Could someone please explain what this means?
Answer:
Hello and welcome to the forums!
Gut-loading your feeder insects means that you should provide your feeders with food 24 hours prior to feeding to your pet. So if you are feeding crickets, provide your crickets with kale, carrots, bok choy, etc or you can buy a premade powder usually labeled as "Insect Gut-load" and provide that to them.
It is important to gut-load your feeders because insects as a stand alone that haven't been "gut-loaded" are essentially an empty shell. Providing proper nutrition for your feeders will provide a healthy diet for your pet.
