New leo setup

[reptilemike]

Hey everyone,

I just got a normal leo on monday. She is about 6-7 inches and doing good. The tank she is in has silica play sand mixed with a pure calcium carbonate thingy. there is a 100W red light on one end and i feed her crix 3 times a week. there is also some succulant cactus things in there also. I was wondering how many leos i can fit in this tank, it is 5ft long by 9.5" from front to back.

thanks

I will also try to post a pic of her.

[golfsk8er]

Hello
You are going to hear this alot but take her off the sand right away! Impaction happens way to offten and will kill your new leo.
IMO I would put a trio in that tank. hope you have a great time with your new leo
matt

[Reptiles4ever]

I Would put 4 maybe 5 at the most in the tank

[JeffT]

Actually I use sand for all my adults. I have had them on it for some time and have had no sand impactions, but maybe you should just watch out for those with small leos. Also if your leo is prone to just diving in and taking a mouth full of sand then thats a good reason to change too.

[sketchy4]

my uncle has used calcli-sand ever since he first got into leos which has been quite a few years and he has had no problems with it whatsoever. i dont use it myself but JeffT could be right with te fact that it may be most harmful to small and young leos. just my 2 cents.

[Dark_Angel_25]

I have to disagree with the sand from personal experience. I bought an Adult AFT last Saturday, the shop had him on calci sand less than a week. I got him home, and he ate Sat. Sun. and Mon. but only pooped Tuesday, when I picked out the poop, it was FULL of calci sand Crystals. NOT GOOD. Also, just FYI, if you read whats in Calci Sand, it is the same stuff as TUMS and ROLAIDS, which neutralises stomach acid and this is why it does not digest.

[reptilemike]

Ok, i also have a question about heat. Is it okay for the warm side to be 89-90 degrees?

[sketchy4]

sounds about right to me. should be anywhere from 87-90 degrees.

[reptilemike]

Here is a picture of her. Hop it works

Pic 1http://P2010019

[reptilemike]

Oh no, how do you put up a pic?

[Bartman]

Upload it to your ssnakess gallary...then right click on the image after its uploaded and copy and paste the url in between these tags:
(img) URL (/img)
but replace the )( with ][...i didnt do that so you could see how it works with them thinking im tryign to post a pic :D good luck!

[DragnDrop]

If your tank is just 9.5" deep (front to back), that's not a lot of elbow room for an adult leo. The length is great, but the short depth would make me wonder if I'd use it for adults. I'm not saying you can't, but some adults get as long as that or longer.

[reptilemike]

http://ssnakess.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=18228&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

[reptilemike]

aahh, i just put a link to it.

Pic 1http://ssnakess.com/photopost/showgallery.php?ppuser=4077 (http://)

:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Dark_Angel_25]

here is your leo:

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/4077geco-med.jpg

[Gregg M]

If you want it to live, get it off the sand....... That is not just an opinion it is a fact........ Sand is a known killer of leos...... Small and adult......

[C_Ellenzweig]

I agree on the substrate issue. Get rid of the sand. I recommend paper towel. It may not look the best, but it is cheap, sanitary and easy to change. This is the best choice for the health of your animal.

If you want something that looks nicer, you can try the softer types of indoor/outdoor carpet. (Not astroturf, as I've had some animals rip the loose pieces off the edges.) The only problem with this is that it is a pain to clean.

As far as tank size goes, I think you would be ok with about 5 geckos. In my opinion, 9.5" is wide enough, especially with that length. Leo's rarely reach 9.5 inches

[reptilemike]

THANK YOU!!! hehe

[Siretsap]

Even the indoor, outdoor carpet or even the carpet they sell in petstores will eventually cause your geckos to get stuck on it either with their teeh when they hunt or their small claws which will ripp off quite easily when they struggle.

You can always put ceramic tiles, easy to clean and dispates the heat quite well.

I use newspaper, best thing when it comes to their health, but nos nice looking

[C_Ellenzweig]

Even the indoor, outdoor carpet or even the carpet they sell in petstores will eventually cause your geckos to get stuck on it either with their teeh when they hunt or their small claws which will ripp off quite easily when they struggle.

That seems like good advice to me. I've only ever used the carpet for bearded dragons. Paper towel or newspaper are the best ways to go