new leopard gecko

[djc3674]

Well, today we got our first leopard gecko. It was my son's 6th b-day on 6/2 and today was the party. His cousins bought him one, not sure of the sex yet. It's still pretty small. It's set up in a 10 gal w/ newspaper and paper towel, hide spot, & water dish. For heat, I am using a dome light, I believe w/ a 60 watt reptile night light, ya know the purple bulb. I put two dusted crickets in, but so far no interest in eating. I was wondering if other people's ate right at first or do they usually take a few days to settle in?

Also, any suggetions would be appreciated. I've read care sheets, but still looking for other tips. I'm not totally done yet, tomorrow I'll pick up the calcium to put in a little dish. As soon as I get some pics I'll post them, he/she is a cute little devil. :)

[buffalo_dragons]

Good luck with him/her... :thumbsup: It was a good birthday gift.
There is nothing to worry about the fact he did not eat for his first day.

Please give us some news and absolutely SOME PICS :bounce:

[Slannesh]

Depends on the lizard but usually a couple days to acclimate isn't unusual before they'll eat.

I've had leos eat right away and others that don't eat for a few days. I would imagine being surrounded by a group of exhuberant 6 year olds would definately be a bit stressful on the average leo :) If it's a young juvenile just make sure that the crickets you are offering are on the smallish size, no longer than the Leo's head is wide.

I've read several things that say belly heat is especially important to leos so I use UTH's on all of mine with a light on a timer in the room just to give a day/night cycle

I'm sort of assuming that this is a young or juvenile Leo, so if it is an adult the 10 gal should be fine but that's a bit big of an area for a very young leo to hunt effectively. Perhaps feeding in a shoebox sized rubbermaid for the first little while if it's a small guy? If it's an adult a 10 gal should be fine. Offer at least two hides, one on the warm side and one on the cool side.

For the most part it sounds like you have things well in hand. Enjoy!