Bitten by the gecko bug

I adoooore leopard geckos. A few friends have them, I've handled, fed and geckosat, and I've wanted one for years.

Now that my house is finally getting all sorted out, I have the space for one!

I have a few questions for the gecko-savvy amongst you.

- Any good forums I should look into? I try to find at least one good forum community for each of the types of pet that I have.

- If I'm looking at specific breeders, what are good things to look for? Things to avoid? I found a few breeders on my own already, which I can share if you like.

- Crickets or mealworms? Benefits/drawbacks to each?

- Anything else a n00b should know, keeping in mind I've cared for a gecko short-term before?

Thanks folks!

geckoforums.net is where I go.

hm...with breeders...the questions I asked was:
What is the weight?
What does the gecko eat?
HOW well does the gecko eat???
Age? (they usually have a hatch date listed, though)
Lineage?-you'll want to know this if you ever decide to breed, so you might know what kind of geckos you'll get or at least what they'll be het for.

I would want to feed a worm AND an insect to my geckos. And I do.
Find out what the breeder has been feeding the gecko. Feed that until that gecko is settled in at your house and is comfortable with you (mine are STILL getting adjusted to being here and aren't eating as much as I'd like them to).
Find out how MUCH they were eating with the breeder. Find out if the breeder fed mealies in a dish (most do) or if the gecko was pickier and needed to have them tossed directly in front of it.

Crickets suck. I've just got to let that be known. I HATE THEM. Yes, they are good for them. But I hate the little bastids.
DO NOT leave them in your gecko's cage for longer than 24 hours, if you do, toss in some gut-load in a dish for them, or they WILL bite/nip at your gecko.

I have two females (new ones) that won't eat the feeder roaches I feed. So I HAVE TO feed crickets for now.

gut-load any mealies, crickets, or roaches before you feed them for at least 24 hours.
You know to dust all insects (I don't dust worms, though) with calcium before feeding, right?
Supplement with calcium with D3 once a week or month.
Leave a gatorade cap of calcium in a dish in the cage for your gecko. He/she will lick it when they need it.


The only thing I would avoid with a breeder is...price.
DO NOT pay $500 for a SHTCTB. I mean, I wouldn't.
Some leo breeders jack their prices way up and it's ridiculous.

Have fun picking one out!
I know an EXCELLENT leo breeder where I got Joplin and Crackity Jones from.
I can ask him what he has available right now, if you'd like.
Are there any specific morphs you are looking for?

To entice you a little more (because they ARE cute), I took these of my high yellow male last night.

He's got a bit of dry skin by his eye. We were soaking him in warm water.
Also, he looks skinnier in these pics than he actually is.





hehehehe, I caught him in mid yawn.

Another one bites the dust LOL!!

I am on a couple of reptile forums, both UK forums. I can not believe how NICE people are on there.

Got some great advice

It's kinda cool being the newbie again - starting out in a new hobbie.

And you can see what it's like from the other side of the fence!!!!

Oh goodness Chewbacca - NOT COOL. He's way too adorable. :lol-sign:

Thanks for all the great advice! What you said about crickets is the main reason I'm hesitant about them - the gecko I looked after was on crickets, and the owner told me to look out for the nipping. However, a combo meal of worms and crickets might be just what the doctor ordered.

Gonna join the geckoforums.net forums, I found them via Google and they seemed pretty great!

I'm still learning about the various varieties of morphs, but from what I've seen, I really like bell albinos (I adore your bell boy!), mack snows, and tangerines, although I'm somewhat picky with tangerines. There's no morphs that I vehemently dislike, though, it's really on the individual gecko. It's amazing how much the colourings can vary within morphs!

A friend pointed me to this site - she got her gecko from here - and while I like a lot about them (namely that they're Canadian), their prices seem steep on certain geckos, and I'm unsure about their breeding practices - what are your thoughts?

Thanks again!

That is an awesome site, honestly.
But, yeah, their prices are a little high.
BUT...
You will pay high price for a "rarer" leo.

I hit the jackpot with Joplin and Jethro. Jethro was the last of his breeder's '08 stock, and they wanted to move him (probably needed space for a new breeding project), so he only cost me $45. That MIGHT be a normal price for a Bell male, though. I *thought* males tended to be cheaper than females. Joplin, WOW, her breeder was very generous. I mean, yeah, I did some picture processing work for him, but it was simple work, and he just gave her to me. She's only 6 months old and of perfect breeding weight.

I totally missed the first time around that you're in Canada. If you don't go with a Canadian breeder, you're going to pay a TON for overnight shipping for a gecko.

Honestly?
When I thought I was only going to be getting one leo, I picked my Cotten. My high yellow female. I loved her face and all white, but spotted head.
High Yellows will be cheaper (I paid $45 for Cotten) because they're common.
I, personally, think high yellows are very pretty. But those deep in the leo hobby tend to sometimes turn their noses up at high yellows because they aren't new and "fancy".
I went for health, too, when I chose Cotten. She has one of the FATTEST tails I've EVER seen on a leopard gecko before in my LIFE.
I like the high yellow and normal/wild types.
So, if the morph doesn't really matter to you, and this would be your first gecko, you could consider a high yellow as they are cheaper in price.
Bells shouldn't be TOO expensive, either, depending on what they're het for.

Jethro is 100% Bell Albino, so that could also be why he was selling for cheaper. He isn't het for anything else, so he only has bell albino genes to contribute when he mates.
If he was a bell albino but het for Mack Snow, he might have cost more.
I'm not too sure.

You can look around for other leo breeders in Canada, though I'm not sure what price differences you'll find.
Cotten came with a 1 month health guarantee. That's a LONG TIME for a leopard gecko. In fact, that was one of the main reasons I went with her breeder (that, and he breeder has written a book on leos and has been around for a LONG time).

Thanks again for the tips!

Yeah, I have absolutely nothing against a "plain" ol yellow. They're gorgeous as well. Once I budget for the startup supplies, I'm going to purchase them, set them up and then be ready in case the right gecko shows up.

Speaking of which... I'm going to this, and I hope I'm not too starstruck. XD

oooh,
I might be tempted to wait until you go to that show before purchasing!
I've never been to a reptile show of any kind, but there is one north of Chicago they have about twice a month.

I'm hoping when I go that I can either find a gargoyle gecko or a chahoua.
I'll probably have a better time at finding a gargoyle than a chahoua there, though.
Chewies and leachies are two of the more sacred rhacodactylus geckos, and if you can find them, their breeders will NOT part with them for cheap.
I want a chahoua so badly, but they can be complicated boogers. They're more social than cresties, gargoyles, or leachies, but they are harder to successfully breed. And, like with most Rhac geckos, you have to be extremely cautious about calcium levels.
Chewies even moreso, though, because their eggs are SUPER thick, so it takes that much more calcium from them when they are gravid.

My leos are FINALLY starting to eat after having them for almost 2 weeks. They're not eating in front of me, but they ARE eating.
oooh, also, when you get your leo, let me know. You HAVE TO get these dishes that my roach supplier gave us. They are the most awesome invention on the planet.
They're just simple, cheap, thin plastic dishes that come with a semi-lid that forms more of a "lip" on the dish.
We can put roaches in them and the roaches cannot escape.

Awesome (and cute) photos!

Your photos are really funny!

I would like to know if I could use them for an open source project presentation. It is a spanish linux system (GECOS) and our logo is a gecko.

Under what kind of license do you publish these pictures?



Anyway, congratulations! Your pet looks cute and dangerous at the same time!

I didn't get around to reading the entire thread but thought I would put in what I know. I have a leopard gecko of my own (a petstore rescue). For a gecko you will need a decent sized tank, if you keep it in something small, it will hide most of the day. I have a 10 gallon for mine. You're going to need one side of the tank to be the warm side (85-90 degrees) and the other side to be cooler (75-80). You can use a heat lamp or a heat pad, whichever is fine. You will need at least 3 hides. One will be a humid hide, where you can put paper towels inside and keep it damp, especially while he/she is shedding. Than another hide in the warm side, and one in the cool side. You will also need 2 bowls, one for water, and one to put calcium power (without D3) inside. The gecko will lick up the calcium powder whenever it feels he/she needs more calcium. You can also dust it's food once or twice a week with it. And for substrate, it's important not to use sand or any small particled substances. You can use reptile carpet or paper towels for easy cleanup. And for food, I use mealworms. Crickets drive me crazy. They somehow always find a way to escape the tank and we used to find them weekly all around the house, now I feed them crickets once a week and mealworms on any other day. Anyways congrats on the future addition!

EDIT: Just realised how old this thread was. :wall: I'm sorry. :rofl1: