First of all, if you’re a beginner and haven’t had a reptile yet, there are species that are easier to care for than others. You should think about what you’re looking for in your new pet, but also how much time, energy and money you can afford to spend.
Leopard and crested geckos make amazing first time pets. Both of them are nocturnal (active at night) and hardy enough to survive small mistakes.
Leopard geckos are insectivorous (which means they eat live insects such as mealworms, crickets or roaches). If you’re squeamish and can’t imagine buying live food for your gecko, they may not be the best choice for you.
Crested geckos, on the other hand, do well on instant diets like Repashy, Pangea or Arcadia. These are powders you mix with water and offer in a dish. The geckos then lick it up with their tongues. Crested geckos sadly don’t really like drinking from bowls and require a daily or bi-daily misting of the enclosure instead. This can be done with a simple plastic bottle that has a spray nozzle.
If you enjoy the looks or personalities of day geckos, then they may still make a good pet for you - but mostly only if you don’t expect to handle them frequently or at all. They can be very fast and skittish and their skin may be damaged if you grab them.
Mourning geckos make for an interesting watch as they are very social and make colonies in the wild. They talk to each other and interact with one another.
Every time there is a big change of scenery such as moving a reptile to a new home, re-decorating the tank or a major clean up, the animal can get stressed and refuse to eat for a few days (up to two weeks!).
This is a pretty normal thing. The gecko will still need some water to drink though.
This is most likely due to your pet preparing for a shed!
Unlike humans who shed their old skin in tiny scales reptiles shed everything all at once. They may then eat the old skin.
The whole process can take a couple of days and your pet will appreciate having a moist cave nearby they can retreat to to make the old skin easier to remove.
I highly recommend checking up on your gecko after they’ve shed - look at places like toe-tips, around the eyes and nose and on the tail.
Both decor and hides can be bought (online, at a local pet store, hobby market or a reptile show) or made at home.
If you come across a nice rock, piece of bark or a branch, it should be cleaned properly and disinfected. For marbles, stones and other similar items, simply washing them in lukewarm water with some dish soap should be enough.
Wood and bark should be baked in the oven, but even then there is a risk of bacteria and mold later. Buying a bamboo stick in a nearby store and cutting it into smaller pieces is a better idea.
In the menu above this text you can find different sections of the website - a gallery of my breeders, caresheets for the different species, animals currently for sale or contact info.