Token Leopard Gecko

[AGActaeonia]

This Coiren, our token Leopard Gecko.

He was a rescue in 2008. We set him up very well, cleared a bill of pristine health and I made a birthday gift of him to my then 6 year old brother in hope of starting him off on the joy of reptiles early.

Well, needless to say, he enjoyed it thoroughly - though my mother was Coiren's primary caretaker. I wasn't exactly thrilled with her lack of attention (by my standards, of course) and checked on, cleaned and fed him and his enclosure whenever I stopped by.

Incidentally, it came up in to conversation that she no longer felt a desire to feed him "once a week" or clean his enclosure once a month; the very best part was how she'd ONLY feed him wax worms because they didn't have faces. He didn't care for freeze-dried crickets, and she refused to feed him live - butt backwards so they wouldn't be staring oblivion in the face during their last moments - thus concluding that she was going to sell him and all that which went with him.

I forbade it, took him and all of his crap - which I threw out and replaced. His enclosure looked like a freakin' obstacle course - and he's been back home for almost a month. He's enjoying his new UTH, clean fresh - and thoroughly compacted - Desert Snow, and can't forget the actually accurate two-location digital thermometer with probe.

Takes dusted wax and mealworms out of a dish and crickets off tongs to avoid accidental ingestion of substrate, and is looking quite well if I do say so myself.

So, without further adieu: Coiren. Our token Leopard Gecko.







The cork-bark pieces on the right double as hides, each with a hollow beneath he just discovered yesterday, apparently, though they've been in there since the first day he came back.

There's another hollow behind the slanted and secured drift wood flat in the back which he likes to use, though he best prefers lounging beneath the leaves of his plant there on the left.

He's a good boy and we like him a lot.

Oh, and P.S... Despite my mother's reassurances that he [my brother] wouldn't throw a tantrum upon discovery of his missing Gecko, I let it lie and left, but my little brother apparently had a near-stroke when he came home from his Cub Scout meeting to find Coiren gone, screaming at the top of his little lungs that someone stole him and his house, and apparently sobbed, laying face-down on the spot where his enclosure stood. Nice.

[nitram]

thats a sad story for the kid. but its cool you managed to salvage him from your mom's garage sale escapades.
perhaps in the future he and your brother can be reunited, once he's able to care for the gecko on his own accord.

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[Icicle]

Go and get your little brother and show him that he's in good hands now.


Sweet looking gecko.

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[AGActaeonia]

Such did my mother remind him, apparently, that he's somewhere with other animals - not to account for the likelihood of his lasting 10 seconds or less near any of them.

Yes, he's a rather standard little Normal, so far as I can tell - and I've not tried other than a passing glance to learn more about his specific type. My heart's in it for his ensured prosperity under my care, marginally less for the prospect of ownership. If anything, actually, it's kind of a pain having to go to the pet-store to buy feeders every week like I did back in the old days.

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[_Sam_]

Looks like he's in good hands now- and he's a chubby little guy
What is it that you have as a substrate?

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[AGActaeonia]

Originally Posted by _Sam_

Looks like he's in good hands now- and he's a chubby little guy
What is it that you have as a substrate?

There she is!

Was waiting for you to see this, Sam.

He is chubby! It's amusing, because my mother emphasized that he never overate, but he's certainly a well-rounded adult. I feed him 3 crickets or 4 wax-worms every other day. Had a book, but my mother misplaced it, and the long ago read up on husbandry recommendations for these things has long since gone out the other ear.

He's on a 1/3" layer of Desert Snow by T-Rex. Got a star on the husbandry recommendations chart on the back of the bag for Leopard Geckos. It's shredded paper and easily clumping. I laid a double thick row of dictionaries across the entire bottom of the aquarium for an hour or two to compact it before use.

It's so matted it might as well be a paper-towel. I can run my hand across it without marring the surface, so it seemed safe. Better than the CalciSand she had him on, regardless.

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[ShaolinKid]

he's a cool lookin little guy. whats the brand of your thermometer? it has two probes you said?

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[AGActaeonia]

Originally Posted by ShaolinKid

whats the brand of your thermometer? it has two probes you said?

Two-location, single 6' probe unit.

The unit itself monitors one location with the probe measuring that of a separate location, both on a double windowed display on the front of the unit.

I've many. They come in several types, those measuring two locations' temperature, temperature and humidity (the unit measures the humidity, the probe the temperature) and units which also have a separate probe for each factor, allowing one to mount the unit on the outside of an enclosure.

They're manufactured and sold by Big Apple. I do not, however, recommend getting them wet. You sneeze on these things and you have to let them dry out for an hour, otherwise the digits appear blurred or disappear altogether.

My higher humidity environments' units are all externally mounted to avoid this problem.

Reptile And Animal Cage Digital Thermometers and Humidity Gauges

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[_Sam_]

Originally Posted by AGActaeonia

There she is!
Was waiting for you to see this, Sam.
He is chubby! It's amusing, because my mother emphasized that he never overate, but he's certainly a well-rounded adult. I feed him 3 crickets or 4 wax-worms every other day. Had a book, but my mother misplaced it, and the long ago read up on husbandry recommendations for these things has long since gone out the other ear.
He's on a 1/3" layer of Desert Snow by T-Rex. Got a star on the husbandry recommendations chart on the back of the bag for Leopard Geckos. It's shredded paper and easily clumping. I laid a double thick row of dictionaries across the entire bottom of the aquarium for an hour or two to compact it before use.
It's so matted it might as well be a paper-towel. I can run my hand across it without marring the surface, so it seemed safe. Better than the CalciSand she had him on, regardless.

Well, as far as chubby goes, he doesn't really look overweight though i would never recommend a diet of just wax worms he looks to be doing alright. I am very glad you're getting him on a proper diet, though! it will extend his life, that's for sure

I've never heard of using that substrate for leos, but i suppose it cant be that bad if its not loose. If there are loose particles I would be careful. Also, what happens when you get it wet? I'm really just curious because I have never used it (and we don't carry it at my store) so I literally know nothing about it :P

Whatever it is, is definitely better than CalciSand... gosh I hate that stuff.

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[_Sam_]

Also, He may be "just a normal" but he's a really pretty guy! normals can be among the most pretty leos, IMO. I'm not huge into leo keeping (though I do breed a few here and there), but they will most definitely always have a place in my life. A baby leopard gecko is what started it all for me, and I don't see a point where I wont have at least one little guy running around

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	In My Opinon IMO = In My Opinion and IMHO = In My Honest Opinion

[AGActaeonia]

He isn't happy to eat anything but wax worms and crickets, truth be told. He refuses to eat mealworms and I'm going to stop spending $6.00 for a little cup of 100, 80 of which are dead anyway.

What else can I try?

When it gets wet, it clumps together and hardens, much like SaniChips. As far as I can tell it's thick shredded paper.

There's a substrate chart on the back of T-Rex bags' with a list of popular reptiles, lists the types of substrate offered by T-Rex and with a diagram with a green star (best), blue dot (good) or crossed circle (not recommended).

Just double-checked a bag of aspen I have... For LGs it has a green star for CalciSand, SaniChips and Desert Snow.

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[_Sam_]

Originally Posted by AGActaeonia

He isn't happy to eat anything but wax worms and crickets, truth be told. He refuses to eat mealworms and I'm going to stop spending $6.00 for a little cup of 100, 80 of which are dead anyway.

What else can I try?

When it gets wet, it clumps together and hardens, much like SaniChips. As far as I can tell it's thick shredded paper.

There's a substrate chart on the back of T-Rex bags' with a list of popular reptiles, lists the types of substrate offered by T-Rex and with a diagram with a green star (best), blue dot (good) or crossed circle (not recommended).

Just double-checked a bag of aspen I have... For LGs it has a green star for CalciSand, SaniChips and Desert Snow.

first of all...holy expensive meal worms! :O we sell them 50/$1 o.O

As far as food goes- if he'll eat crickets stick with that. I've raised many a leopard gecko from birth on into adulthood on just crickets.

If the substrate is working for you, go for it! Like i said, I've never used it. One word of caution though, I've seen many of those chart things that recommend different things for specific reptiles that I would never, ever use. Its all about marketing. The people who make calcisand will tell you its perfect for leopard geckos, but in reality, I've seen it cause geckos to become impacted and die...
Every company is going to market their product as the best, as what works.
Just be careful is all I'm saying
From what you've said about it so far, I don't forsee any problems

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[AGActaeonia]

Yours is the final word on any of my Gecko-related trials, Sam. I'm glad you swung by.

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[_Sam_]

Originally Posted by AGActaeonia

Yours is the final word on any of my Gecko-related trials, Sam. I'm glad you swung by.

glad to be of help!

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[kenyabloodstone]

I have used desert snow for my leopard gecko for a year now and she is happy on it and it seems to work well when compacted down like you did. That is a very cute leo you got there AGA

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[Keri]

Very sweet little leo

Would he be considered "high yellow"? He looks to have less spots than a normal - he's cute whatever he is

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[AGActaeonia]

Originally Posted by Keri

Very sweet little leo
Would he be considered "high yellow"? He looks to have less spots than a normal - he's cute whatever he is

He is pretty yellow.

Has two horizontal light purple bands across his back (you can see where there are less spots in the two places between neck and tail-base).

He's amusing.

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