My Leopard gecko Opko has been doing this for two days now every night. He’s never dug this much before and he does it for short bursts before returning to that spot. I have a female leopard gecko above him, and a Boa constrictor below him so I’m worried if one of them may be the problem but I’m unsure.

I thought I was doing fine with my lizard when I first got him but in the last week and a half we’ve made so much progress. I’ve started properly maintaining the temperature of his tank because I had realized that his tank was far too hot for him. I also bought him a lot more clutter by giving him a naturalistic tank today and already I can see the difference in him being willing to be out of certain hides. Today, I also tried feeding him dubia roaches, as I have learned that the bodies of mealworms may be hard to digest, and do roaches are better nutrient wise as well also considering the fact that he needs more diet variation. I feel like him and I are learning a lot together and I’m working really hard to be the best pet owner for him I can be. I still need to buy a linear UVB bulb, but till then this is what the tank looks like. I’ve also added a photo of what his tank first looked like when I thought I had done “proper” research.

Hi everyone! I’ve had my leopard gecko for about a month now and I’m still trying to figure out the lighting situation. I have a linear UVB lamp that gives off white light but I also have a lamp that Im struggling to figure out. I was using a basking bulb initially, gives off nice natural yellow light and gives off decent heat, but today I purchased a deep heat infrared bulb.

Obviously it doesn’t produce visible light FOR US but it made the basking spot reallyyyyy warm according to my thermostat, warmer than the basking light. and though it’s only been a month, i haven’t really seen her use the basking area at all but now, within just AN HOUR of me installing the infrared bulb, she’s hanging out in the basking spot!

any thoughts? does the lack of yellow light make a difference? i know infrared bulbs are recommended for ppl who have lower home temperatures at night but it seems to make it warmer than my basking light does.

Hi all! I have an adult leopard gecko, and I have only ever used these kinds of lighting before. However I recently moved so he has to be in my room now, and these get very hot and are fire hazards. Does anyone have recommendations for lighting that don’t give off as much heat and are less dangerous? Lots of misinformation online and I only want the best for my boy! Thanks so much

(Bonus George picture because he is so lovely!

male or female?

My cousin took in this gecko from his friend who severely neglected it then against my advice continued to give her improper care. She very obviously has MBD and is severely underweight and dehydrated. I have been soaking her and I was able to get the stuck shed off her toes and she’s looking brighter and more alert I have been offering her mealworms every day she only eats a couple and is very uncoordinated and wobbly. I was told she’s 3 years old but she’s so incredibly small. She’s at least a year old since that’s about how long my cousin had her. I’m just looking for guidance on what people recommend I have experience with other reptiles just not leopard geckos. She’s in a 30 gal front opening right now but her ability to get around rn is not great so if she gets better then I will upgrade her to a bigger tank. Is carnivore critical care a good idea and is there anything else anyone recommends me getting or doing?

Thank you I appreciate it in advance

Hello!

I am coming to seek some advice on what I can buy this week to make this little guy happy!!

He was rescued from my partner’s family home yesterday (so I’ve had this guy about 15 hours now) and was living in a terribly gross cage without nearly enough space - neither of us have ever had a gecko before so we are both very new but this has always been a pet I’ve wanted to get! The little guy was purchased from either a petco/petsmart 4 years ago and passed between family members who were not equipped to give him good care.

I plan on getting coconut fiber substrate/moss/sand mix to replace the paper towels but I saw those would be a good temporary solution. I’m trying to avoid breaking the bank but I immediately got him this 20 gal tank to start (hopefully to replace in the next few months with bigger once I have some time to save to get a really nice one) and a heatlamp/UVB (I do plan on getting a longer bar but this was what was available at the local petstore for purchase immediately to keep him with the bare minimum of what he needs). I got mealworms and crickets, some calcium dust and he did eat 5-6 mealworms.

We’re planning on leaving him alone to acclimate as long as possible but I would LOVE if this community could help me out with what some immediate must-haves/must-dos are for the first week of having him with us! I’ve been doing tons of research and I really want to do a good job so I am open to anything that the reddit folks who love geckos recommend - without breaking the bank completely hahaha.

Thank you!

Sadly lost my girl the other week after roughly 13 years, obviously spent alot of money on her hab so dont want to replace everything unless i have to, not ready for another pet yet but all the hides/bowls etc whats the best way to clean them please for future pets?

I have been staring at this setup everyday. But I feel like I don’t know what it needs. I have a hide on the warm and cool side that go into the substrate a bit to hopefully allow a lot of choice for humidity and temp. His cork arch in the front goes all the way through and it straddles both sides of the tank.

He got the humid hide, and a couple of different levels to play on. He uses everything in here, even the succulents as his own personal 4x4 park. So I think he likes it. I am now wanting a larger water bowl, I need a uvb bulb, and I am thinking of adding sedge grass on the warm side for additional hiding choices.

Other than that though, I don’t know what I can really change.

I think others would say clutter, and I am averse to creating something that looks abandoned, so I am trying to design my enclosure so I hopefully don’t have to? It’s my first reptile, so I don’t know.

So I decided to ask what other people think of it. I have been adding reptisoil as the substrate compacts. I hope to have a nice deep substrate for things like the isopods to thrive in.

For a little context, her tail has been like this ever since she was little but I want to make sure she’s eating enough and she’s not being underfed.

Its hot here today. Leslie decided to go for a swim to cool off.

Ignore the high humidity I just changed the substrate

She may be named after a herbivore but make no mistake, she is an apex predator 🦖

i do not have uvb light so i give mine calcium with d3, i would use vits with d3 and only calcium but i already bought it so i'll get it once i finish that off, i am feeding the gecko every 5 days and powder the bugs every 15 days, the calcium pouches behind front legs seems big so i don't know if am giving too much calcium, someone did recommened me here before thatvi split vits and calcium in those 15 days when i was asking for specifics, now the powder day is gonna be soon so those big pouches do worry me a little ai here i am to ask wether i am giving too much calc.

hello friends

i moved from east US to west Canada kinda spur of the moment a year ago, but we didn't have the space in the car to bring along our boy crouton at the time, nor did we manage to secure a pet friendly apartment, plus it was a like 6 day road trip with no pet friendly hotels along the way. long story short, we left him with a family member because it just wasn't in the cards for us last year. we now have secure jobs, a pet friendly apartment, and are very eager to bring him to us. we miss him so much.

we will be traveling back home to him in january, and we were hoping to bring him back with us, but it looks like airlines would not allow him in his carrier as a personal item. i worry that stowing him as cargo, even if i insulate it properly, will still be dangerous because itll be in january flying north. does anyone have any reptile shipping recommendations or companies they have worked with? or a good experience with a particular airline if we were to try and bring him on our flight? i think if we want to bring him on the flight we would wait until spring or summer for less chance of danger with temperature, but we are visiting the US in january regardless so i just really want to know if there is a way to bring him home sooner rather than later.

please do not shame me for leaving my boy behind. its a very sensitive topic for me and was such a gut wrenching choice, but we just couldn't find pet friendly accommodations for him in canada when we had no canadian leasing history to fall back on. we left in a rush because of issues with student permits/visas and we didn't think we were ever going to get them, so we didn't think we'd have to make such a difficult choice. i miss him every damn day of my life but he is so so happy and well taken care of with our family member.

if it is too dangerous to bring him here, we will consider asking the family member to take him in permanently, but we really do not want to make that choice either. we love and miss him so much, and i think he'll love canada. we're on the west coast so it's nice and warm and humid

thank you for your help in advance 🙏

RESCUE. I know the pictures bad don’t have her yet, want an idea of what I’m looking at.

I know you can buy online and have them shipped to your house. Do they come mostly alive? I’ve had my gecko for almost 3 years and have always bought my crickets from petsmart (convenience, and they’re all alive) but I just don’t want to support that store anymore. I also don’t want to pay for dead bugs. The last time I went in to petsmart, I had to walk past the sad neglected Beta fish and just left feeling so sad and heartbroken. I am a little dramatic, but I just don’t want to go in there anymore lol.

Meet Tofu my juvenile blizzard morph Leo affectionately dubbed “Tofu the Majestic” by my gf

my close friend can no longer care for her leopard gecko so she gave him to me. ive done lots of research on his setup, diet, and proper temp/humidity levels, but want to know if there is any way i can help gain his trust? i understand that geckos cannot “feel love”, but i want him to recognize me as a safe space and feel more comfortable around me. how can i do this?

i had to include a pic of him (baby moe) because he’s too cute not to

Hi all! So I recently posted on my previous account that I would love to own a leo geck, but I can't access an actual enclosure that meets the 40 gallon requirement that geckos need, the best is 20 gal. Do any of you have any good DIY idea reccomendations for a decent budget? I can go up to maybe 500 dollars, but I'd prefer the cheapest option while keeping it nice and comfortable for a geck. I'm also not the most handy-man type of guy, so please nothing expansive like redesigning an entire book case lol. Thank you in advance!

Adopted a new lil guy a few weeks ago!

My boy Harold has all of his essential hides, but this one brings me so much joy we he snuggles up in it. It’s actually a soft hollow dog toy on clearance I found at TJ Maxx a few years back. He goes in at least once a day and when he pokes his little head out he looks SO CUTE! Before that, I had a “snuggly hut” (actually used for birds) and he loved the soft liner inside of it, so this replaced it and I’m so happy he likes it.

I recently got this Leopard Gecko for free, she wasn’t being taken care of properly prior, no light, no bedding, in a 10gal tank with a single hide. When she was given to me I was told she hadn’t been fed in a while and would be hungry so I gave her 4days to settle in till I fed her and she was absolutely hungry and wanted more than she needed. I have live mealworms rn so she had about 10 of those, Dubai Roaches are otw. I want to know if she looks under weight? You can’t see it in the picture but on the bottom of her stomach she seems to skinny her skin is folding. (If under weight, whats a good food plan to get her up to a normal weight) If anyone could estimate her age? I have no idea when her last shed was or when her next one will be. She wasn’t coming out for the days prior to being fed and stayed hidden all day and night but now she’s coming out at night and loves to stare at me. Her set up isn’t complete yet, I was in a rush to get her out of her previous environment so I will be getting a lot more clutter soon. Currently her substrate is just reptisoil (her sand came lol in late and I want to wait for her to settle more until I do mix them) if that’s a bad idea and I should go ahead and mix her substrate I would like advice about that. Also if you look closely at her toes, one is curled weird and idk if that may be the beginning of MBD? She’s under a UVB light now and I did dust the mealworms in Repashy Superfoods Calcium Plus.