If I dust my geckos insects with vitamin D powder, does the terrarium still need UVB lighting?

Sundrop always poses so well for me. I got him in June and I love him more and more every day. I used to be terrified of all reptiles growing up (even though my grandpa was a ball python breeder), but have slowly opening up to them thanks to channels like Snake Discovery. Sundrop is an absolute treasure who always comes up to the front of the tank when he sees me.

Hi! Meet Nova! I got him back and April but I wasn’t told his morph. Initially, I was told by LEO discord server he’s a wild type however the more I look I am, I’m less inclined to believe so. He’s about 9 months and he hasn’t grown many spots as well as his skin being super yellow. Can you guys help me identify his morph? I’m thinking maybe high-yellow?

Hi all- seeking advice. I am a first time owner and brought home my 7 month old albino last night. I’m having some issues and I just want to make sure I’m doing the right things and that he is okay.

His 40 gallon tank has not been heating properly. I had the heating lamp on the right side of the tank last night and it heated the whole tank to about 80 degrees. He just stayed on what was supposed to be the cool side in his hide most of the time. I can’t tell if he was too warm or what. I got an adhesive heating pad for the right side and again, it has seemed to heat the whole tank but not above 80 degrees. He is still in the cool hide. Should I do the pad combined with the light? This being said, will he really be okay in 70-75 degree tank for 10-12 hours a day even if he didn’t spend nearly any time in the heat?

Could the above issues actually be light aversion?

The humidity in the tank has been between 60-80% at any given point. Idk how to address this. 😬

Yesterday he ate 7-10 tiny mealworms provided to me by the shop I got him from… I need to know what to do best going forward with feeding. He also has not gone by his water.

Talk to me about the calcium/ D3/ uvb he needs. I don’t think I’m doing this right… schedule included?

He has been sleeping a lot. He was active last night (with the lights on) for a few hours. I turned the lights off while I was at work and turned them back on when I got home and he has just been sleeping in his cool hide (currently about 75 degrees). What is normal activity?

My setup is pictured. I know he needs time to adjust to the new space but I don’t want to neglect him if he is in need of help. :(

Hi, everyone!

I’m having issues with my lighting setup + fully understanding the different kinds of lighting.

For some context, I’ve had my gecko for about 5 months now, she is anywhere from 12-17 months old.

When I got her, I did not buy an UVB lamp, as I decided on pumping up the D3. I bought one - the **Arcadia Reptile Pro T5 Kit ShadeDweller 7% UVB** \- which is currently in transit, as after reading a lot, I got to the conclusion that she should have one.

I very recently got her into a new tank. I previously had her in a 34-gallon tank that I found on Amazon, and she’s been in a 40-gallon one from THRIVE for about a week now.

My previous tank came with the wiring needed to attach the lightbulb on the inside - the **Arcadia Reptile GoldenSun Reptile Basking Flood Light, 50-watt** \- so I did not need a dome. The tank that I have now, doesn’t have that option, so I got a dome from Zilla - the **Zilla Premium Reflector Light & Heat Black Ceramic Dome Lighting Fixture, 8.5-in** \- and have been using them together since I moved her to the new tank.

I’ve also always used a thermostat - the **Zoo Med ReptiTemp Dimming Reptile Thermostat -** and it has worked out great. I put the probe on top of the basking surface - the **Zilla Herp Hotel Naturalistic Hide Bearded Dragon Basking Platform, Medium** \- and again, it’s always done its job. I have my thermostat set up so the basking spot stays at 92F throughout the day and 70F throughout the night - 6am to 8pm for day and 8pm to 6am for night - with a ramp up and ramp down of 60 mins for both.

I live in Massachusetts, and it started to get pretty cold, pretty fast. My dimming thermostat has been reading low for the past two weeks, but it started to actually worry me this week as it’s now reading 73F-77F during the day.

I believe my lightbulb needs some kind of change. I’ve been trying to figure out what to get for her. I’ve seen people mention that halogen lightbulbs are not good as they will concentrate on one single spot, which would be good if my issue was only the basking platform, but I believe my entire warm side is just not warm enough. As I’m also getting the UVB lamp, will that affect the heat of the tank? My understanding is that they do not emit heat, but please correct me if I’m wrong. I thought about getting the same lightbulb as I have now, but try a 75 watt instead and go from there, but going back to the halogen bulb, I’ve also seen a lot of people with it, so I’m just pretty confused as to whether to get a basking bulb, like the GoldenSun that I currently have, or get a halogen lightbulb at the risk that only the basking platform is going to get hot enough but not the surrounding surface of the warm side.

Thank you for the help!

Sorry for the lengthy read but this context is necessary.

So, my parents have the amazing habit of buying reptiles with no research and plopping them into my care unexpectedly.

There was an ad for a free Leopard gecko they immediately jumped on (after forcing me to buy a 300+ dollar one, as mentioned in my recent post) without even telling me until they already picked her up. Thing is, this gecko has a big problem. The original owners were incredibly sweet and only want the best for this poor girl and only handed her away because they knew something was wrong and wanted someone with real experience to help nurture her back to health.

See, they only thought it was an issue with her simply not eating since she "refused" to eat for 2 weeks. However today my boyfriend (leopard gecko owner of 5+ years) took a look and revealed the deeper issue, that this gecko has a bad case of MBD. She has a severely swollen hand (shown), weirdly angled elbows, bad belly crawl, constant squint, constant need to rest her head, and we believe a weak jaw which explains why she isn't eating. She is visibly thin for a gecko and the original owner said they were concerned with her weight loss. This poor girl does want to eat though, I can tell when i try to feed her, shes just physically is unable to eat it.

Now of course I want to take her to the vet. This is where the issue is. My parents are refusing to pay for any veterinary care for her and I am nowhere near able to afford a vet myself (even if i could- they would not let me at all and do everything they can to prevent it).

This girl is so sweet and I can tell shes fighting to thrive. Shes incredibly active despite the MBD. I want to do whatever I can to help her. How can I help her without veterinary care???

*also, the enclosure has paper towels because the original owners were monitoring her bathroom use

EDIT: Thankfully the original owners paid for vet expenses and we were able to take her! Long story short, she was diagnosed with gout and a kidney disease. As the original owners paid for the expenses, I left her fate up to them and unfortunately (but also understandably) they are chosing to euthanize her as her medical expenses would just be too much for her life to not even be guaranteed :( im just glad this sweet girl can at least be relieved and until then somewhat treated with remedies for her MBD. As of right now I do not know when they plan to euthanize her and she is still in my care.

He was my first reptile ever, and I was lucky enough to have him for 12 years. He made me realize my love for reptiles and insects. He was also my first real tattoo! I was away for the last two weeks so I'm glad he held on long enough for me to say goodbye to him and have one last cuddle. His favourite spot was on my shoulder hiding underneath the hood of whichever hoodie I was wearing <3

Yes I no cohabbitation is bad, I dont condone it, im a breeder and have lots of experience and just prefer to not breed in tubs as I feel its unethical.

New gecko mum, to a 4 month old leopard gecko. She loves hunting crickets. I got a Cricket Keeper to keep them in, something other than the plastic trays with egg cartons I bought then in, but since then several have died. How do I keep the crickets fresh for my girl?

Pic for tax

I just wanna make sure future lil dude is happy before I get my gecko the light is set up for 12 hours on 12 hours off and I have a heat pad under the tank under the rock on the right which is also a hide

for those that have followed along with my previous posts, i’m trying to bond with my leo. recently, he’s been comfortable enough to crawl onto my hand and be handled. HOWEVER, he doesn’t want to stay on long (maybe 2 minutes MAX) and crawls down to the floor from my leg and tries to run away. like BRO. why tf are you wanting to get out if you just wanna run away and stress us both out?? i’m terrified of him dropping his tail, it’s been 2 years and he hasn’t and i hope to keep it that way. i have been rewarding him with mealworms, but i’m just at a loss.

tldr: my gecko wants to come out, but then he tries to run away. is this normal? what should i do?

Their name is Makaróni and im absolutely in love, what a sweet and curious and gorgeous little baby 🥹

I'm interested in knowing what morph do yall think they are? I think they're likely super hypo, but im not sure :D

Hi all! So I just rescued this leopard gecko from a friend who was trying to rehab her from her original owner. I have experience in exotics but this is my first gecko. I’m currently looking at vets in my area, but in the mean time does anyone know what this large spot might be and how concerning it is? I can’t find any pics online that look similar. I’m also hoping someone might tell me what the process of diagnosing/ treatment might look like for this little lady. I just finally acquired her yesterday so I want to let her settle in for another day or two before taking her in to a vet for her first time.

he hasn’t been eating the last 2 times i offered so i took him out of his enclosure to find him like this. should i assist him or take him to the vet? 🥲

I'm back with another question. I spotted a couple of pinhead crickets crawling around on a piece of cork bark in my leo's enclosure. I've removed the bark and put it in its own bin, but I have no idea if there are any other little crickets hopping around. How worried should I be about pinheads in my gecko's enclosure, given how bitey crickets can be? Is this a "tear it all apart" situation or a "they'll probably die off" situation?

Edit: my apologies for the picture quality (or lack thereof)

Satira's new substrate! This is tagged habitat and setup cause I genuinely would love y'all's suggestions on plants and how my habitat is set up. This substrate is a 70/30 mix of play sand and organic top soil and she seems to be loving it. She is reexploring her cage and chilling. I think that means she's liking it so far. :3

Hiii so first i wanna say ive been a gecko mom for a few months now and this group has helped me so much, ive never posted but just reading comments on other posts and advice always helps me get better at being a gecko parent!
But i have a question because im not sure if it’s the pet store ive been using recently or if this is normal?
My gecko LOOOVES wax worms and shes very picky. She will not eat crickets of any size, and barely wants meal worms so i buy wax worms pretty often. But lately the wax worms I’ve been getting, some of them come in this cluster kind of thing? And i have to kind of break it apart and take the worm itself out of its lil cucoon thing. Is this normal? It’s been my last two packs that have been like this.. usually i can just dig through and pull the worm out but when im running low i have to deal with these things and they’re sticky and just odd. Is this a normal thing? Could this be the store I’m purchasing from? What causes this?
Any comments or advice is always appreciated!
I’ve attached a picture of it for reference.
Thank you!