Petrie is home!

[Meatball]

Today Petrie came to live with me. She is an 18 year old Leopard Gecko who was my mom's ex-husbands when they were married then she lived with my good friend for the last 15 years. She could no longer care for her so asked me to take her. Since she is "family" and easy to care for I agreed. Her cage seems a bit bare, is there anything else she should have in there that she doesn't?

 

[Katy]

Cute! Congratulations. Can they have live plants or pieces of foliage?

 

[pmeadfournier]

I would not recommend stone in Petrie's cage as it can impact her should she accidently ingest it when going after crickets. Cage carpet is the best in my mind All just a recommendation only !!

 

[AmberMuffinz]

Super cute! I don't know anything about leopard geckos but after googling I found this Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

One thing I would definitely add is a moist shelter since that appears to be suggested on multiple leopard gecko sites.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A moist shelter should be provided so your gecko can have access to high humidity when it is shedding. I have found leopards usually prefer the moist hiding place, even when they are not in the process of shedding. The moist shelter can consist of a small plastic container. A plastic cottage cheese container with a hole cut in the side works well, or you could use a Rubbermaid sandwich container with a hole cut in the top. I typically use peat moss as the bedding in the moist shelter, but cypress mulch (Zoo Med Forest Floor Bedding) works equally well. You want to keep the peat moss or cypress mulch moist, but not sopping wet. [/FONT]

 

[TikiLola]

I'm totally in love with her!

 

[Meatball]

Super cute! I don't know anything about leopard geckos but after googling I found this Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

One thing I would definitely add is a moist shelter since that appears to be suggested on multiple leopard gecko sites.

Thanks for the link! I joined a gecko forum but all the info was overwhelming me, too much at one time! that care sheet is much easier to follow for beginning, lol

I will be adding the shelter for her tomorrow. I'm pretty sure she's never had one


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[Meatball]

I would not recommend stone in Petrie's cage as it can impact her should she accidently ingest it when going after crickets. Cage carpet is the best in my mind All just a recommendation only !!

Thanks for the info. My friend has always had the stone in her cage but I will change that because with my luck she will ingest one! She has a cage carpet as well but it's smaller than the cage. but i will get he a larger carpet.


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[Meatball]

Cute! Congratulations. Can they have live plants or pieces of foliage?

Looks like you can! I'm going to look into that, thanks!


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[expressmailtome]

She is very pretty! Sorry that I have no advise. Matt

 

[Momto3boys]

Yes, DEFINATELY a moist box!

Also I prefer ceramic tile for my lizard tanks, SOOOOOOO much easier to clean and keep sanitized. You will see on the reptile forums that alot of people got the ceramic tile route.

Shes beautiful and her age is impressive!

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

What a cutie!

 

[roxynoodle]

I've never had a gecko, but she's cute

 

[DQTimnehs]

I'm not a Reptile person but she is quite cute!

 

[Anne & Gang]

very very cute!

 

[pmeadfournier]

I know ALOT about reptiles so I can help you out with questions anytime. Also I don't know if you have heat on Petrie or not but you should as well. A inexpensive way to make a moisture hide is to take a "tupperware dish with lid" or a "Zip Lock Storage Container" put the lid on and set back down on the lid. Get some "moss" at the pet store and cut enough to fit the lid. You want to wet it down every day with very warm water and place in the container. Cut a dome like door into the container large enough for petrie to fit through it but not much bigger!! Place the container under Petrie's light and it will warm up the container and make it like a sauna. They LOVE LOVE LOVE it and it will give Petrie moisture as well as make her shedding process so much better!! Let me know if you have any questions as I'm happy to give advice in this department

 

[yvette]

I have never owned a reptile. From what I have heared, these guys are pretty easy to care for. Congrats on your new pet!!!

 

[Meatball]

I know ALOT about reptiles so I can help you out with questions anytime. Also I don't know if you have heat on Petrie or not but you should as well. A inexpensive way to make a moisture hide is to take a "tupperware dish with lid" or a "Zip Lock Storage Container" put the lid on and set back down on the lid. Get some "moss" at the pet store and cut enough to fit the lid. You want to wet it down every day with very warm water and place in the container. Cut a dome like door into the container large enough for petrie to fit through it but not much bigger!! Place the container under Petrie's light and it will warm up the container and make it like a sauna. They LOVE LOVE LOVE it and it will give Petrie moisture as well as make her shedding process so much better!! Let me know if you have any questions as I'm happy to give advice in this department

Thanks! I read online that they don't need or like a lot of light. They don't need it because they are nocturnal? So I got her an UTH heating pad and will install that today. I will also make her a moist hide, thanks for the advice on how to make it! I have lots of Tupperware, lol

How often do I need to change out the moss?

I actually read they need 3 hides, a warm, moist and cool hide. I have a lot of work to do in her cage to make it appropriate for her!

 

[Momto3boys]

I actually stopped using moss on our moist hides. Monkey (leo) got impacted from it. So I put paper towels in her hide and added a bit of water to them daily, when the paper towel got yucky, I changed it, UTH is the BEST....and no leo's dont need added light.

 

[waterfaller1]

I used to have to help Mr. Smiley even though he had a moist hide. I would take him to the bathroom, run warm water and gently help him remove the shed with a warm washcloth. She is very cute, but also very thin. She needs fattening up, vitamins on alternate days and calcium on the others should be dusted on the crix or superworms. They can suffer from a disease in which they loose control of their hind legs if you don't, and eventually they die{cannot remember what reptile people call it, it's been a long time}Her tail should be big and fat, that is a sign of how healthy she is.The most important thing is to gutload the feeder bug properly. It matters not which one you choose to give her, as long as she willingly eats it, and it's been properly gutloaded.

 

[ashbirdlady]

She is gorgeous!