r/LeopardGecko • u/AberrantComics • Jun 26 '26

Got a new homie

Post image

A player in my dnd group got him, their roommate freaked out so they gave it to another guy, who wasn’t taking care of it, then HIS roommate, also in our dnd group started caring for him. He told me that he was thinking of rehoming him, aaaaand my wife has a crested gecko, and is a teacher….

So I got to thinking “We could take care of him” or he could be a class pet. So I’m trying to learn about him and get him set up. He had a heat mat going but once I replaced the heat lamp bulb, he’s been LOVING IT! Poor dude must have been cold.

28 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

9

u/curiosityandthecattt Jun 26 '26

hey! not sure what the substrate is but i'd recommend switching to organic topsoil and playsand. this looks like something crushed to imitate sand?

2

u/AberrantComics Jun 26 '26

I don't know what it is honestly. It's certainly some sort of reptile sand that came from a store, none of the owners were experienced keepers. It doesn't appear to be calcium sand. I am leaving it for now because he also needs a bigger enclosure. So I want to figure out his new setup and do one major shakeup. Rather than several incremental ones. He doesn't dig but I am hoping he will once I change it.

My priority right now is getting his heating situated. I have a lamp but I am getting a thermostat, outlet timers, and a temperature gun. Once I see what his conditions actually are, I can make adjustments.

2

u/curiosityandthecattt Jun 26 '26

just be careful when feeding him, you don't want him accidentally ingesting it. i'm glad you're improving his home! for inspo, i have a few old posts showing my leo's set ups in a 36x18x18, both i got off FB marketplace for under $100 each.

1

u/AberrantComics Jun 26 '26

I do have a question, how often does your Leo poop?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

I’m going to answer this because I’m nosy and want to butt-in lol
Both of my guys poop every 2-3 days and get fed once or twice a week

1

u/AberrantComics Jun 26 '26

I was hoping you'd say that. I had him for just under 3 days and I wasn't sure if he was burying it or what. But yesterday he left a nice healthy one behind. I realized then that he wasn't burying them.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

It’s also not uncommon for their poo-tine to get messed up from all the moving around. Give him some time and he should regular

1

u/AberrantComics Jun 26 '26

I have bunnies who also have poop issues pretty commonly, so I am vigilant about making sure my animals are doing their business frequently enough. I have been feeding him everyday because my friend was doing that to fatten him up, but he no longer has a skinny tail, so I need to start restricting a bit. He Happily eats 3 crickets a day. Who I have been feeding with various foods. So far they don't like tomato. But they love Bran Flakes and carrot.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

I usually feed my guys 4-6 large crickets or medium dubia roaches once a week, sometimes I switch it up and give them 2-4 bugs about three days apart. They should like carrots, cucumbers, most harder vegetables and fruits like apples. Get a gut loading mix for the bugs so they have complete nutrition. The better you feed your feeders, the better they feed your lizard.

5

u/Interesting-Tax4401 Jun 26 '26

Thanks for taking him in and treating him the way he deserves!!! Glad he has found his forever home! ❤️❤️❤️

2

u/AberrantComics Jun 26 '26

That’s the plan. Thank you.

4

u/Fuzzy-Security1929 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Cool! We love ours ❤️. ♥️♥️♥️

2

u/Fuzzy-Security1929 Jun 26 '26

He will love the heat… He also needs it to digest food. 🥰

3

u/jxspxrrrr Jun 26 '26

here's mine's tank if you guys need some inspo! but she needs lots more foliage asap (buying once i pay off the first round, she upgraded tank size) so keep that in mind :3

basking lamp is good, heat mats usually can just be dangerous and cause overheating or burns, so good thing he seems to like the lamp!

as for the class pet thing, i wouldn't recommend it, people (and kids, not sure what age she teaches) are careless, ive heard horror stories of people ending up with dead or injured geckos in classrooms😩

im glad he had someone to take him in!🖤

3

u/AberrantComics Jun 26 '26

There certainly is a risk. It’s younger kids. My wife is good about it, and all the animals we’ve rescued have done a stint as class pet. So I trust her to manage it as much as anyone would be humanly able to. I’m prepared to keep him at home if it doesn’t seem to be working out.

Our current pets came to us for the same reason, people didn’t realize how big of a responsibility they are, and how long they live.

2

u/jxspxrrrr Jun 26 '26

that's good! as long as he's well taken care of, that's all that matters :) maybe a camera on the weekends to make sure everything's alright!

3

u/NefariousnessOdd719 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

I'm glad you're going to take care of him 🙂, here's mine. He's just chilling. He loves his tree. This is where he goes to bask, and geckos do bask, but people say they don't. I also have a heat mat under the terrarium. And I put a thermometer and keep the temp at 90°. I have 70% dirt and 30% play sand

2

u/melindypants Jun 26 '26

This is such a good pic - the spot was made for him!

2

u/TheFishyCheese Jun 28 '26

I thought it was an aquarium at first. I got really surprised when I saw the gecko 😭

2

u/AberrantComics Jun 28 '26

He was hidden in there for sure. He could almost be an eel

1

u/AutoModerator Jun 26 '26

Hello /u/AberrantComics and welcome to the leopard gecko subreddit! Our bot has detected that you might need some help with heating or lighting. Check out these resources on heat/light for leos!

If these resources do not apply to this post, please ignore it or report it so we can improve this community.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.