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Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred
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Po's Stepdad
I'm new here...
Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 5
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 Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:38 pm Post subject: Care sheets |
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| I have looked at many care sheets for leopard geckos and none of them seem to agree on every deatail, does any body know of a care sheet that is definitive. I am particulary concerned about substrates and heating. Can any body help on these issues or point me in the right dierction. |
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Matt Lusty
Contributing Member
Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 81
Location: Gloucestershire
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| Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 12:01 am Post subject: |
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I'm afraid no caresheet you find will agree on everything. All caresheets are written by peoples own experiences, so everyone will differ. The more caresheets you read and the more people you talk to, you can piece together things that may suite your own 
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Well butter my bum and call me a biscuit! |
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Scott W
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 13355
Location: London, England.
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| Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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also, try and learn from people who are sharing their own experiances, not just quoting what they heard or read on another forum etc
There are many ways of doing something correctly, so as Matt say's no two care sheets will be identical but the basic facts should all be the same (temps, foods etc)
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk |
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ssthisto
I've settled in...
Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 3:33 pm Post subject: Re: Care sheets |
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| Po's Stepdad wrote: | | I have looked at many care sheets for leopard geckos and none of them seem to agree on every deatail, does any body know of a care sheet that is definitive. I am particulary concerned about substrates and heating. Can any body help on these issues or point me in the right dierction. |
I don't know of a definitive one, to be honest.
My own personal experience:
I use heat mats and heat cable on stats underneath the substrate (mostly under perforated-hardboard false floors) for heating - I did use ordinary light bulbs for light, but have now stopped for space considerations. Might try rigging some sort of LED lighting.
Substrate is possibly where you'll get the biggest range in opinions; some people say that particulates (I'm lumping ALL particulates here, from coconut bark and corn cob bedding through gravel, bird sand, play sand, calcium sand and vermiculite) are safe to use in X circumstances for X age of gecko.
My experience, however, leads me to believe that particulates are not safe even for adult leopard geckos - I lost an adult female gecko to impaction-related complications after having my group on a bird sand/playsand mix for a month, when I was doing everything else right (Calcium bowl available at all times, water dish cleaned to ensure no sand in it, feeding out of a bowl or off tongs). One death is one death too many for me since my animals are companions and pets first, breeders last, so I've put mine back onto my preferred substrate.
I use carpet tiles - the "Graphlex" fabric-backed kind available at B&Q designed for human indoor use. Cut-pile tiles don't have loops that the geckos can get their toes caught in (though I haven't had a gecko on looped pile catch a toe either) and the fabric backed type don't outgas like the rubber-backed kind do when heated from underneath. They are quite sturdy, don't unravel on cut edges (thus no accidental ingestion) and very easy to clean - and come in colours that look more natural than paper towel (which I still use for babies) or newspaper - with less problems of foodstuffs hiding underneath paper, as well.
I use coconut fibre (the stuff that comes in a compressed brick) in their humid hides, but I do not feed in the humid hide. Everyone comes out to the doors when I bring the yellow tongs out.
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- Ssthisto
Too many species for this signature space. |
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Po's Stepdad
I'm new here...
Joined: 11 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:25 pm Post subject: Substrate |
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| Substrate does seem ot be the biggest issue and my greatest concern if i use the carpet option will i need to throw it away at cleaning time or can it be cleaned readily? |
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Po's Stepdad
I'm new here...
Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:28 pm Post subject: Ornamentation |
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Is it possible to use ordinary Logs found in the woods for ornaments climbing type things or do we need to stick to the cork bark sold in shops.
Also what is the best way to set up a Humid Hide????? |
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ssthisto
I've settled in...
Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:45 am Post subject: Re: Substrate |
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| Po's Stepdad wrote: | | Substrate does seem ot be the biggest issue and my greatest concern if i use the carpet option will i need to throw it away at cleaning time or can it be cleaned readily? |
Buy a spare 'set' of carpet tiles, and swap out the dirty stuff when you do your cleaning (I actually just vacuum the carpet regularly and do a more thorough disinfect less often) - you can then soak and rinse your dirty tiles and let them dry out naturally. No need to throw away unless the tile looks damaged or does start to unravel on the edges.
If you do use logs/etc from the woods, be sure to sterilise them first to kill off any bugs that might be in them - I baked the wood I collected for my slow worms in the oven for a couple of hours, but some people soak in dilute disinfectant first, then rinse well, then bake.
My humid hides are made of flat plastic biscuit boxes with a hole in the lid; they're three-quarters full of damp coconut-fibre bedding. I keep mine on the warm side of the viv (some folk suggest they should be on the cool side, however - there's pros and cons to each, and I prefer that my lot have the humid hide on the warm side even if it means I have to water them more regularly). I don't know if that's the BEST way, however. I've seen people use sphagnum moss successfully and I used to use vermiculite, but I've been uncomfortable with the size of the pieces after losing our blizzard girl.
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Scott W
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 13355
Location: London, England.
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| Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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if you have room in a freezer, that's also a good place to 'sterilise' wood collected from outside.
As for substrate, I use Calcium carbonate (animal feed grade). I house over 150 reptiles (probably nearer 200) on this substrate and have not had a single problem. I also used to use bird sand which I also never had a problem with.
Humid hides / egg laying boxes, I use either peat / sand mix or damp vermiculite, again both without issues. I have also used damp kitchen towels in a plastic tub for a high humidity hide (not suitable for egg laying).
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk |
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