Reptiles - Geckos, Lizards, Snakes, and Turtles!

[SonrienteMuerte]

I'd be carefunded with carpet, most of the sources I've talked to (including Leo owners) say their toes can snag in carpet and lose circulation and you can guess what happens from there

Anywho the reason I've been doing so much research and drilling leopard gecko owners is because I'm looking at rescuing a fully grown leopard gecko with metabolic bone disease. What tips do you guys have to help me convince my mom? I've already got a tank and outside of heater/thermostat I've found ways to DIY everything, so the cost would be... $50 at the most to get started? He's only $5 because he's a rescue.

Tell her you are helping an animal that has had a terrible life. And by the way, Calcium, calcium, and more calcium. I've got a gecko with MBD, and she constantly has calcium, and every so often I add calcium (Liquid) to her water, as well as inject it into soft bodied bugs (Horns). I don't want to overdo it, so I don't inject/add it to her water often, but she constantly has a dish full of calcium, and I feed tons of pheonix worms as well.

[mi ainsel]

Hey guys, new to the hobby as I've only had my skink for 2 weeks and I bought a lil snake yesterday, but figured I'd introduce my cuties~
I have a 6 month old male Blue Tongue Skink named Jörmungandr (your-mun-gand) and a hatchling female Western hognose snake named Dirge!


(Before last week's shed)

(After)

[Sixx O'Clock]

@QuantumNightmare

I'm so jealous! That skink is gorgeous and the hognose is just the cutest! I really want a hognose myself, but I have to get a job first. ^^"

[cswolf.]

I do not own any of these creatures but I love all of these lovely little creatures. I have held snakes before and have seen turtles before as my friend released one that got caught in yard and could not escape. I will lurk here and look at all the lovely pictures which are posted.

[tuesdaysart]

I've been reading up on leopard geckos (since I've grown interested in them and might even want to get one) and the information on the front page doesn't seem entirely right?
Maybe I'm getting my information from the wrong places, but don't leopard geckos need at least two hides? And shouldn't there be a hot and cool side to the tanks? I've also heard about leopard geckos, after they're 6 months and older, eating every other day and sometimes every 3-5 days. I also heard from experienced reptile owners that the red heating lamps aren't recommended for leopard geckos.

[Sixx O'Clock]

I've been reading up on leopard geckos (since I've grown interested in them and might even want to get one) and the information on the front page doesn't seem entirely right?
Maybe I'm getting my information from the wrong places, but don't leopard geckos need at least two hides? And shouldn't there be a hot and cool side to the tanks? I've also heard about leopard geckos, after they're 6 months and older, eating every other day and sometimes every 3-5 days. I also heard from experienced reptile owners that the red heating lamps aren't recommended for leopard geckos.

Leopard geckos are pretty low maintenance pets. I gave my gecko a few places to crawl into, but it's not really necessary to have more than one hide as long as it's big enough to be comfortable. Figured out that they actually enjoy exploring toilet paper and paper towel tubes too, so if you want to give multiple hides it's not at all hard to find something cheap and effective. I personally feed my leopard gecko once every other day, or two days if he decides to be stubborn. Red heat lamps are kind of debatable. Some people say they're no good, others swear by them that they're a good heat source. Personally, I just use one of those heating pads that sticks to the underside of the tank, since they're relatively cheap and you don't have to worry about bulbs burning out or anything.

[.muse.]

Actually they do need multiple hides...
A cool moist hide preferably with misted moss to aid with shedding, a cool dry hide to get away from the heat when they want, and a warm hide for obvious reasons.
They are low maintenance but they do still require some specialized care and initial set up.


This is my set up, sorry if the image is huge, I'm on mobile so it autofits.
The tree log looking hide is stuffed with moss that I mist daily, the sandstone hide is his warm hide, and then off in the corner is his cool dry hide. I've made little tunnels behind the hides out of broken up cork wood. He's got a water dish and a calcium dish in front of his cool hide, and what was supposed to be his bug dish in front of the moss hide, but he declared that skull his poop rock lol.

[Sixx O'Clock]

I forgot about the moist hide, I apologize. My gecko isn't shedding right now so his moist hide isn't in there and it slipped my mind.
So yes, they do need two hides, but one is specifically for shedding.

[.muse.]

I leave his moist hide in 24/7 because why not. Gives him more places to explore when he wants to. It's better to give too many hides than they can possibly ever actually use, than too few.

And if you shop smart, wait for sales, shop at off hand pet stores that have better prices in general, etc, providing plenty of hides isn't as costly as it may seem.
That's why there's no overall theme to his set up and it's all mix matched. I'm pretty sure the cool dry hide was originally a fish tank ornament from forever ago, but I sterilize anything I plan to put in his tank before doing so just to be safe.

[Sixx O'Clock]

I buy those half log hides from Petsmart when they're on sale. He's got a bigger one sitting on top of where the heating pad is so it's warm, and I just plopped a paper towel tube on the cool side of the tank until I can get him a better hide. There's a smaller half log in there too, on top of his big one, so that he can climb if he feels like it. He usually just ends up wiggling in underneath it though, weird little guy.