Goosemoose Pet Portal

Paying too much for a homeless Gecko shouldn't be one of them! (Sound like a car insurance ad? ;D)

I have had these 4 leopard geckos at the shelter for several week but was un-sure if we could adopt them without a special license plus I wanted time to research their care and whatnot so as not to adopt them out blindly. I found out last week that we do not need a license and was given the green light to find them forever homes!

I can't remember their names because my co-workers gave them African names, which are pretty cool, and I am typing this from home.

They were abandoned in an apartment when their owner moved. They arrived in a gigantic aquarium, all 4 living together and seemingly healthy. After doing some research, I figured out that we have 2 males and 2 females. That explained the bloody marks on the one males tail. I quickly separated them into two tanks, male and female pairs. (They will not breed unless the temp and setting is just right) We have been feeding them crickets, meal worms and wax worms as well as vitamin suppliments and keeping their daylight tank temp at a perfect 85 degrees.

So now that the Geckos are living happily and healthy and I know a little bit about them, they are ready to find their forever homes.  They are pretty tame, though the girls are similar to female rats, very energetic and squirmy, they never bite and are really very cute once you get to know them  ;)

Male #1
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/kimmyizme/MaleGecko1b.jpg)
This guy is my favorite!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/kimmyizme/MaleGecko1a.jpg)

Female #1
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/kimmyizme/FemaleGecko1a.jpg)
These two are currently living together and will be adopted together to the right person who has no intention of breeding them.

Male #2
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/kimmyizme/MaleGecko2b.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/kimmyizme/MaleGecko2a.jpg)

Female #2
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/kimmyizme/FEmaleGecko2a.jpg)
Again, this is a bonded pair and will be required to stay as such, but no funny business!

Transportation to most New England states can usually be arranged.

An approved adoption application and adoption fee (unspecified amount at this time) will be required.

Thanks for reading!

Wow... so pretty!  I was expecting rats, what a surprise! :P

I would LOVE to have female 1 and her cagemate, or any of them.   I think Leopard Geckos are adorable.  I live in western KY though.  If there is anyone going this way though I will gladly take the cuties, and of course pay adoption cost. I have a couple lizards now as does my BF so I know the basics.  Also I work at a hotel now and could get someone delivering a free room if needed.

I've been wracking my brain but can't think of a way to get them to KY :(

Wow, that albino is so cute. He is worth some money you know. Around like $200.00 I think, be careful who you adopt him to. They may just adopt him to make a little bit of a profit.

Thanks Kelly, I'll keep that in mind but he is a she, does that make her any less desirable? It doesn't matter, I will screen people really well and try to find the best home possible. I may end up taking them to a herp show the end of the month and try to find a home for them there.

Wow they're all gorgeous! I thought about getting them at one point, but now if I do decide to get a reptile it'll most likely be a bearded dragon. Wish I had more room tho, I love that albino girl!

No it doesn't matter on the sex. Marissa worked with N.E.R.D. though, (New England Reptile Distributors) they are big breeders of all kinds of reptiles and have celebrities and rich people from around the world come to buy their animals. Marissa said they used to sell those at a pretty expensive price. Around $200.00 maybe more depending on the coloring and intensity of the albino gene.  Just wanted to let you know.  ;)

That albino female WILL be bred, especially if you take her to a herp show to be adopted.. I've had to place a few herps, and if you're serious about not wanting the reptiles bred, I have found that the best owner is a kid with good parents who aren't "reptile people", but will help with the herp's care if needed. You know? Because that way no one has a vested interest in disobeying what you say-- as Kelly said, albinos are worth money, and we all know how people are about money!

I'd take the females in a heartbeat if I were closer. I love my geckos, and my one female is getting on in age.

Don't I feel like an idiot! I read that temp and conditions had to be perfect before they would breed. Gues what? That article was wrong! We found 2 eggs in one of the tanks this morning, luckily they do not appear to be fertile. Now I don't know what to do, I hate the idea of the boys having to live alone. :sad2:

Yeah, I was going to mention that to you. They'll breed if they're in good health; the only concern is with the female having enough calcium and good body condition (which they do, the fat little things!). You can give them a little dish of calcium supplement to keep their Ca good.

If put the eggs in water or let them dry out, the eggs will "die", so to speak.

I'm going to regret this but...
Kimmy, can you send me more info on them? Tracy is convincing me to take a pair. I'll be boarding them for her permanently  :cheeky: i wannnnnnnnnnnnt them. can you tell me more about their care? i handled a few last year and i fell in love but never pursued it.... and now.....

ack! i dont need more!

I keep leopard geckos, I've had my oldest for over a year now. The geckos would be better off separated from the male they will breed otherwise. I sent you a pm to help you find more info about leopard gecko care. Oh, and the albinos aren't as rare as they used to  be although that is a very nice looking one. They all look good and healthy:) You can find decent albinos now for around 30 dollars for a juvenile and 60 for an adult. Anyone wanting to know more about leos, check out http://www.kingsnake.com there are links to caresheets and there is even a downloadable ebook on leos:) Here is my boy Geico just for fun:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v39/savigeckolvr/geicosidecute.jpg)

Oh no! I just commited to sending them to a rescue in Michigan. I will talk to them and see if they mind only taking 2 or 3. Please read the link Heather posted before you commit to this. I just found out that males and females really shouldn't live together or they will breed. Sounds obvious but not from what I had read earlier or maybe I just mis-read it.

I can tell you that the initial set up was a bit costly, tank, heater, hidey places, live food and vitamins and they eat a lot more than I anticipated and need a variety of "bugs". If it were me, I would consider adopting one male as they are the calmer and friendler of these 4. Male #1 is my favorite little guy. I believe we have been feeding them each 4 crickets and 2 or 3 meal or wax worms each day. That can add up quickly! and you have to coat the worms in the vitamin powder, that's what we were told and how we have been doing it.

All you herp people please correct me if I'm doing things wrong :)

Read the link and let me know what you want to do Kim, in the meantime, I will talk to the rescue group I have been dealing with.

ive already spoken to tracy and researched it and it seems very doable- I already researched them last year when we considered getting a beardie- tracy has taken care of them before and so has my vet (obviously) - tracy said I should take either 2 females or 1 lone male, which i agree with. i have an aquarium already *obviously* :) , and tracy has decided to name whicever one(s) i took, and the roommate is ok with it. so if the rescue is ok with sending 1-2 to me, let me know.....

Great! I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from rescue  :hyper:

kim & tracy --

are you sure you guys don't want a nice male beardie named strider who does not get nearly the care he needs when living in new jersey all by himself while his mom is in college in CT? comes with tank, lights, food... everything  ;D


lydia

*bops Lydia*
Don't listen to her Kim and Tracy, Gecko's are the way to go, especially Male #1, he's a real sweet heart!
*bops Lydia again for good measure* ;D

ha ha male # 1 was the one that caught my eye :)

lydia, strider HATES me!
he wont even eat for me!!!!!!!

Yep, he's the one that had all the bloody bite marks on his tail before we realized there we 2 males in the tank. He's been my favorite ever since! He is the calmest one and seems content when he's climbing all over me. He stands out in a croud because his tail is a complete different color than his body. The other gecko's bright colors seem to run down part of their tail but not his, his yellow color stops right where his tail begins. He's so cool.
I'll try to get more pictures tomorrow if time allows.

soo... are they still for adoption? or are they going to michigan?

ahem, boy # 1 - adopted :)


i think im gonna call him wicked :) tracy can think up her own name.

Kim is adopting one of the boys and the rest are going to a rescue in Michigan.

Well, the rescue mission fell through  :( BUT! both of the females were adopted today  ;D and Male #1 is reserved for Kim.

Male #2 is still available and the adoption fee has been set at $25.  More pics next week.

Well, they are definitely not the type of rat that I'm used to seeing for adoption  ;) LOL. Anyhow, I have a leo and she looks like the one in the first picture. Whoever has one of these or is thinking about it also should realize that they can live for 25-30 years if taken care of properly. Mine is a total sweetheart and is only a year old. They are wonderful pets and  are very gentle.  :)

I would say that in practice (since most are completely random-bred, or bred for "prettiness") you're more likely to have them live 10-15 years. I have one nearing 10 y/o (I'm her 3rd owner). They're such wonderful animals.

I just wanted to pop in and say a few things. I didnt have time to read all the posts, so I am sorry if someone has already mentioned them. But they are just a few comments I wanted to add because of a few things I did get to read. I have been breeding leopard geckos for years.

It would be best for their interests, for the males to live alone. The females could live together, but it honestly doesn't matter. They aren't social creatures like rats, and couldn't care less weither or not they have cage mates.

Also, the albino female is probably worth about $50 on todays market. Its ture they sold for higher prices when the albinos first came out ($1000+ each), but there is so many out there now-a-days that they are fairly cheap now. The others are probably worth about $20 each for the males, and $25 for the female. This is on the breeding market of course.

:o $1000?! Wow!

Thanks Neond, I did learn all of that from the herp society and herp rescue I have been working with. Luckily none of these wonderful beasts will be used for breeding. The 2 females went home with a wonderful lady who is a middle school teacher and keeps her Geckos at school when she is there and home on holidays. One of the males is going to Kim who runs a rat rescue, no gecko breeding there.

I must say though, I find it hard to believe that they could care less if they had a cage mate. I have observed them sleeping under logs together and basking in the glow of the heat lamp together. I don't doubt what you say, it just seems like they enjoy each others company. I did seperate them after they laid eggs though  ;) Luckily, the eggs were not fertile.

Thanks for the info.

I've kept leopard geckos for 2 years and the only thing that worries me is that you said they get crickets, mealworms and waxworms.  Waxworms should rarely be given as they are very fatty and highly addictive and if given too often, leopard geckos will sometimes refuse to eat anything else.  Waxworms are the Twinkies of gecko world.  My geckos have a staple diet of mealworms because they're too...unintelligent to catch crickets.  Make sure you take out any uneaten crickets after a while because they tend to annoy and bite the geckos.
I'm sorry if you already mentioned this, but what substrate are you keeping them on?  And I noticed in one picture there's a bit of unshed skin on the end of the one gecko's tail.  You can and should remove this by wetting a q-tip and trying to get it off that way.  It could cut off circulation and I've had a gecko lose a toe that way before.   :(  If you have any questions about them feel free to ask.  The only thing I don't know about leopard geckos is breeding.

You're right, they LOVE the waxworm! They don't get them at every meal though, maybe once or twice a week. The Herp Society guy I was talking to told me that they should have more than just one type of bug so that they get all the different nutrients.

That little bit of skin shed on his tail came off shortly after that photo was taken. He had shed earlier that day.

We have been keeping them on newspaper. We read that was OK, at least temporarily. They also have half logs and store bought branches in their tanks.

I must say I disagree with the superworms chewing through gecko's stomachs.  Do you have a website for this?  Because of a gecko's stomach acid, the superworms wouldn't be alive long enough to chew a hole.  If you did read this, perhaps it was a very sickly/lethargic gecko?
Also, you said your favorite substrate was calcium sand.  I'm against calcium sand.  Leopard geckos may see it as their source of calcium, but the particles don't dissolve completely, and have been known to cause impaction.  The safest substrate is paper towel, but slate tiles look nicer.
I'm not sure about a 15 minute soak in lukewarm water.  If the water was too warm, with high humidity, it could cause respiratory problems, but because water cools so quickly, it could end up lowering a gecko's body temperature.  IMO this isn't necessary.  For my humid hide I use a cool-whip container with a door cut out, and I keep paper towels on the bottom.  If I see my gecko is getting ready to shed, I spray the humid hide.
Again, these are my opinions, and things I have gathered on forums and from herptologists (sp?) so I'm not saying you're wrong! 

Hmmm...  I think Star2 or Priestess should adopt the last Gecko!!!

The Calcium Phosporus ratio can be "modified" by including a calcium/phosphorus powder both to the "insect's" food and sprinkling onto the insect itself before feeding.

NEVER has there been evidence of a healthy gecko being consumed from the inside (or outside for that matter) by a mealworm, superworm or otherwise.  This should only be an issue for an unhealthy animal.  If you've ever watched a healthy gecko eat, the insect never makes it to the stomach alive.

I feed: Mealworms, superworms and silk worms (when I can steal them from my hubby's silk worm farm).

Kimmyizme- Would you be willing to ship the little guy?  We just got a new kitten, but hubby may be willing to take him in to add to our 1.1 geckos.

***My female has a genetic deformity that makes her infertile (I haven't established if this means she can't lay eggs, or the eggs she lays are infertile).  My geckos live in separate tanks, but near each other (since they won't eat otherwise).  I have NO interest in breeding.

I'm sorry but no, we won't ship. We tried it once and it was a fiasco, the post office couldn't promise 24 hour delivery and when we unpacked the geckos they were covered in feces and completely freaked out. They were only packed up for about 20 minutes.
I won't put them through that again, I'm sure you can understand.

NP.

It can be done, but of course, it always depends on the "Carrier" which can be a problem dependng on where you live.

Here's hoping he finds a GREAT home.