Leopard Gecko??

[StantonHyde]

DD desperately wants a leopard gecko--she even wrote a 3 page paper on the care and keeping of one :-) I know we want a female--I am not hanging on to a male because they live for a long time! She already knows about the aquarium/lights etc. We are going gecko shopping on Sunday--at Petco/Petsmart. Any recommendations to make this go smoother? Anything I should avoid? TIA!!

[maestramommy]

Dh got me a leoparg gecko for my bday a few years ago. Unfortunately he passed last summer. They are supposed to live a long time, but this one was a rescue so we didn't know how old he was to start. He wasn't a great eater, in fact would stop eating during some of the winter months, even though his tank nice and toasty.

That said, my lil bro has a leopard gecko and his sounds a lot more like the norm. loves crickets, very social.

In general I've been advised not to buy these kinds of pets at petco/petsmart. Dh got mine from a reptile store. The owner was great because I was always going to him for advice, esp. during that first winter when he wouldn't eat. BUT I think the larger pet stores should have some kind of warranty.

leopard gecko is supposed to be a great first lizard pet, esp. for kids.

[StantonHyde]

Well I took the plunge today and we got one at Petco PLUS the lady asked us if we would adopt one--they had one that had dropped its tail and they couldn't sell it. So, yes, I got suckered into taking 2 geckos home. I swear if there are gecko babies, I am going to lose my mind!! The woman at the store was sooooo nice and helpful. These geckos are SET!! We have at least 2 exotic vets in our city. I don't think they need to go in unless they seem unhealthy. I also ordered "Leopard Geckos for Dummies" from Amazon! So let's see how this goes!! (You are probably so right about not getting them at the pet store--I have my fingers crossed)

I know someone who took the class pet home (gecko) for the entire summer and had great luck with it. DD's friend has 2 and they have done fine. They don't give their geckos crickets because they had crickets get out in the house and that was annoying to say the least. DD is 12 so she knows the drill on care and handling. She did very well with the 2 beta fish she had.

I can do dogs and cats. I have taken care of DS's tutor's hedgehog quite a bit. I hope a gecko is less nerve wracking than that thing...

[trcy]

Congrats on your new geckos! Please post pictures, they are so cute! Another thing to worry about with live crickets is parasites. Many years ago I had a bearded dragon that got very sick because of intestinal parasites he got from live crickets. I switched him over to the canned crickets. If you do feed live crickets, make sure your vet does regular fecal checks for parasites.


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[StantonHyde]

okaaayyyy there is another reason NOT to feed crickets!!! We have one bag to feed them and then I am done! ugh.

They are mostly hiding now but DD took out their hiding rock to feed them meal worms this morning and they ate well. I just really prefer a dog-- I can tell if they are happy/healthy because they hang out with you and I know dogs. This is new!

[maestramommy]

okaaayyyy there is another reason NOT to feed crickets!!! We have one bag to feed them and then I am done! ugh.

They are mostly hiding now but DD took out their hiding rock to feed them meal worms this morning and they ate well. I just really prefer a dog-- I can tell if they are happy/healthy because they hang out with you and I know dogs. This is new!


LOL. Yeah, I fed mine mealworms after unsuccessful attempts to get him to eat crickets. I mean, he did for a while, but he was so inept (or lazy) that mealworms were easier. I sometime think he had a vision problem because he would miss at a mealworm!

But congratulations! Leopard geckos can be a lot of fun. We are looking at getting a snake next. Both DD3 and I really want one :p