My first leo

Ok so I got "Lady" as the girlfriend has christened her today, she seemed fine earlier checking out her new surroundings and I seen her in the save and basking on the heat, however now for the past few hours, since ive turned the lights out, she has done nothing but sit perfectly still under a log in the middle of the viv, just worried as it seems strange a nocturnal lizard wouldnt be moving about, the rooms pitch black, is this too dark even for her?

also i aware they do take some time settling in, just seems strange she isnt moving about, guess being my first lizard im worried :P

I'd say leave her alone. Some of mine will do similar for ages after lights out. They don't spend the entire time exploring and they can get into what could be considered a lazy routine. If you have seen her active and basking and she appeared healthy and normal I wouldn't say you've anything to worry about.

I imported two from the states a few years ago and they had a huge trip across Europe before getting here. One climbed the walls at all times of day or night for seemed like months but it was probably a week looking back and the other was as happy as they come from day one.

Yeah she seemed content and happy, the fella polsh pete definitely had her well fed, shes a nice healthy thick tail and she seemed to have a varied diet, he said her favourite wa locusts so when she comes around ill give her a few

I think ill take your advice and just be patient, be honest its my first night with her so havent a clue what she will be like :P ive her water and calcium in so she can have whatever she wants of each

I think that's the best to do. I know it's hard to leave a new animal alone due to a mix of worry and excitement but in the long run it is more rewarding as they generally settle quicker.

By the sounds of things you knew what you wanted too, a nice fat tail is always a good sign.

Done an awful lot of reading beforehand, been doing so for over a month :P

Hi Greeko
Sent you a PM
John

So how is she doing after her first night in her new home?

Still under the log and doesnt seem to have moved much, slightly strange, no?

Yes it is, very and even with stress from a move that it not normal at all. Is there any sign of activity at all during the night?

not a big pile though itd be hard to tell really, very tempted to lift the log and see what shes doing, im a touch worried, though nothing happened that really spooked her

All I can think of is if she isn't shedding (as some of mine seem to camp out a little when they are about to) and all temps ect..are fine is, she is just settling but it is kind of weird. It is possible, if you cannot really tell if she has been active or not, that she has been, you just don't know.

You could add a damp hide (if you don't have one already) for her and see if she ends up residing there for a bit if she's coming into shed.

Apart from that and the lack of any obvious illness, limb deformity, wobbling or lack or complete motor skills, I cannot think what else it could be.

What should I do?:( Im afraid she will sit and get too cold then not be able to move to the warm side, shes currently in the cooler end

Thanks tan, I do already have a damp hide in there but may try and make my own that will be easier for her to manouvere around, im also going to add another hide incase she feels vulnerable just

I may ring the fella and ask when she last shed and she if she will be coming up to it then, as for temps its 21c in the cooler end and 32 in the warm end above the mat, that ok?

as for health she was alert yesterday raising her body and watching my hand and keeping an eye on me so knew my presense but in general she seems very quiet, shed been handled well

Ok lifted the log and for one she is alive, she is sitting there with her eyes open and is breathing, nothing strange or irregular, just still cant help and feel that somethings up with her not wanting to move to the warm hide, or maybe she had warmed up through the night

My advice is, if you are worried then check on her. She should be sleeping and will be lethargic and sluggish at the start. Let her wake up and get her moving in the tank, if anything seems off or you are still not 100% happy then get her to a vet.

It is probably not necessary, but we cannot advise otherwise as it would be a silly call to make without seeing the animal or knowing her history. As much as we will try help you with whatever we can, we can never ever replace a vet but make sure you go to a reptile knowledgeable one.

I can tell you however, they are hardier then you would think and sometimes time can make many things right. I had a break in over a year ago and most of mine stolen. What we didn't know was they had dropped one of the tanks and the geckos lay in the garden amongst their broken home, lifeless and had been there in the cold for hours. I thought they were all dead as I didn't even see breathing signs and had them all sitting together in the house when we took them inside and within a short while of being indoors, one kind of moved it's head. I couldn't believe it. Not only were they all alive, it took the day to come round and I still have this group alive and well today.

Greecko wrote:Ok lifted the log and for one she is alive, she is sitting there with her eyes open and is breathing, nothing strange or irregular, just still cant help and feel that somethings up with her not wanting to move to the warm hide, or maybe she had warmed up through the night

It is perfectly normal for them to opt for cooler temps. If I told you the habits of all of mine they are all a little different to each other. One of the big lads only sleeps under this one part of a branch feature I have in the tank for him. He has nice hides and always goes for this one spot and he will not move till dusk. One of the girlies will only ever sleep in a hide, a cool one, and she tends to be the first one out later in the evening.

Wow thats crazy man, yeah the fact im new probably making me worry more than anything and worried incase somethings wrong, but she looks fine and no outer signs of anything wrong, the logs in a position she can hide so ive a feeling shes using it as a hiding place as she knows nobody can see her there

thanks for the reassurance tan! im sure if she were cold shed move, i seen her on the warm spot basking (lieing totally flat on it?) so she knows where it is, and from the looks of things her last enclosure was clean too and she had it to herself

meh i worry and of course will about my leo :P

It's totally normal to worry. I always do and find it reassuring to speak to other owners but many of us have different experiences with the same animal so it is possible someone will never have dealt with something you notice and someone else will.

I know John and Lisa both keep Leos so maybe they can share some of their experiences with you too and it does make for good reading hearing others take on things.

These little guys are almost crepuscular , being active at dusk and dawn when there is still a minimum light to see their prey.....not unusual for them to be inactive in complete darkness.
Also they will go to where the temps feel most comfortable for themselves and not where we would necessarily think they should be, lol...
I'd say she is still settling in and in a weeks time will be roaming the viv as the queen of her new domain

well ive just come home after sorting out my livefood and found her moved, to her warm hide im now putting a similar hide in on the cool end so she has somewhere more secure to live, since she seems to actually like it, and ill be making me a moist hide soon too

now to start the long road of how to rear and keep locusts :P btw yes they are dearer and im aware they like crickets too, but shes my only girl so shes getting the full works, money isnt a factor

btw shes 7/8 months old and only 5th locusts, guy said she was eating them before and she likes them, so im assuming shell be fine

Hi there,
Most likely you've been worrying about nothing...we've all been there, done that. I'm the very same whenever I start out with a new species. Back at square one with my new hedgehog at the moment!

What sort of set-up is your gecko in now, compared to how she was being kept at the shop? Sometimes when geckos become used to a small environment, they seem to feel very exposed when moved into a nice spacious viv, regardless of how many hides you put in.

I've had a good experience of this with a supergiant leo female who was imported by another member on here from Ron Tremper in the states. While the other forum member had her, she was a problematic feeder. Then she came into my possession and was a poor feeder also, to the point where I was seriously worried about her weight loss and lack of growth, esp. onsidering she is a supergiant! I recently moved her from her viv into a rack system and she is pounding back as much food as I give her all of a sudden. I guess this was how she was kept back in the states (she was about 8 months old when exported) and never settled into another way of being housed. She never liked much activitity around her either, although she is perfectly tame to handle.

Like Tan says, they are VERY hardy. I had a male go missing for a month at one point, during winter. He came out from his hiding place when a corn snake ventured into it, and he was a little deydrated but absolutely fine.

I would give your gecko plenty of coverage with a hide at cool and warmer ends, perhaps some foliage and just leave her well alone for a week or so to let her settle in, see how she is then!

as for breeding locusts...I looked into it at one point, but it proved much handier to breed dubia roaches. They have live births, don't stink like locusts do and are nutritious. They are VERY easy to breed, whereas locusts seem to be more time consuming and require more effort from what I have been told.For just one gecko it may be cheaper to just buy what you need on a weekly basis. sometimes it's about the enjoyment of the process though, so whatever you think works for yourself!

Good advice from Tan there

Thanks for taking time out to write that lisa! well she is in a vivexotic lx36 however looked again today at her old home and it was more taller than mine, however about have the length and slightly deeper, had a rocky outcrop background which I dont

she seems much happier now, did notice that she isnt aggressive in the slightest nor is she too concerned with human contact, though of course im new to her shes naturally weary of me

just got her a new cooler end hide and she has moved from her warm one into it, so seems happy enough

I plan on just keeping the locusts until I need mre as you said, yet to try and catch them but mine are flighty enough, bigger than expected too :P

No probs! Very glad she's settling in for you.

I'm a total girl when it comes to bugs. I hate catching locusts, they hop too much. I use a feeding tongs to catch them and the roaches!

Also, you probably know this already, but don't leave any locusts in with the leo overnight. They can cause some horrific damage when the leo isn't interested :(

Yeah I may use my fingers it seems :P

wow wasnt aware that locusts also caused damage, I thought it was mostly the crickets, as ive seen them in some shops and they seem to have zero fear of the lizards and just sit on the back of their heads, safe enough i suppose :P

thanks though for the heads up on the locusts!

They sure can, and will sit on the geckos also, persecute and bite them! We had a rescue case a couple of years ago with chunks of flesh missing due to locusts being left in with her, poor girl.