Monday, August 16, 2010

Leopard Gecko Pets

If you want a great pet a Leopard Gecko is one of the best with their great personality all in one small package. If you look you can find a good Gecko Sale to save on money. They are originally from the hot dry places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Iran. Most of their day is spent in underground borrows and are mostly nocturnal.

When they live in their natural habitat they have very few different colors and patterns but with breeding in captivity there are hundreds or even thousands of different colors and patterns. Being small and their friendly temperament Leopard Geckos are a very good beginners reptile pet. Being easy to care for and their small size their entire life can be a happy one in a ten gallon aquarium. A couple of good things about having a Leopard Gecko for a pet is that they are very affordable and they don't take up very much room.

They can live up to thirty years if they have good care by using a few good rules and not making the mistakes that a new gecko pet owner could make. Lighting is one of the first important things, with mistakes being made very easily, by first time pet owners. They spend a good share of their day in underground burrows and come out at night to start hunting so keeping them in a area with bright lights will cause them to be very stressful. Some say UVB light is alright but it is still out for debate.

Get a very good under the tank heat pad to put under their tank and don't throw away your money buying a heat lamp which with the brightness will only be added stress. Some pads you can buy can be overly hot and can be bad for your gecko. A temperature gun is recommended to have the right temperature at any given part of the tank. These temperature guns are much better than the adhesive or digital prob thermometers because they can measure the temperature only at the spot they are placed and can be misleading.

Humidity is another very important thing for a gecko and this is easy to do with a small dish or may be Rubbermaid or Tupperware filled with paper towels that are wet, coco fibers that are moist, or sphagnum moss that is moist. Use only paper towels for baby geckos because the babies have a tendency to eat different things that might not be good for them.

To make the hiding place have a opening big enough for the gecko to get in and out of and whatever you use inside,paper towels, coco fibers, sphagnum moss, just make sure it is kept moist. Have the humidity hide right over the heat pad because without the heat you will have only a wet box. The heat makes the humidity and without the heat there is no humidity.

Don't make a mistake of buying a sand substrate because it looks great and tempting because this is not what a gecko in the wild lives on. Even though they say that the commercial sands are safe for geckos, even the calcium based sands, are not safe for geckos. Natural sand is round but processed sand has squared edges and can cause impaction if eaten or ingested some way. They will not be able to go to the bathroom and will have to have medical attention.

What do you use for substrate now that we know that sand is not to be used for your pet gecko. There are different things that can be used but the best substrate that I have found is reptile carpet. The reptile carpet is similar to felt and is designed for Leopard Gecko cage or tank. It can be purchased at about any pet store. If your little gecko messes on it all you have to do is rinse it off with hot water and use it again and again. There could be one slight problem with reptile carpet is that for very young geckos their toes can get caught in it so for young ones go ahead and use paper towels. This way your young one will not lose a toe and besides that they are cheap and easy to dispose of.

Dennis Killian
http://www.geckosale.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Killian

No comments:

Post a Comment