# Leo questions



## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

Hi
I have a few questions as I am new to keeping Leos and I have four

I have been told by a local garden centre which has an extensive reptile section, to keep my Leos on groung english wulnut shells. ios this ok? I am worried about impaction. I have checked my geckos poo and most seem ok but sometimes I notice the substrade in the poo. Cant tell is it has just stuck to it or it is actually 'in' the poop? lol gross but I'drather ask what u guys use and be safe! I dont really wanna end up on kitchen towel either, my vivs are quite naturalistic looking and i wana keep them that way!

Also with regards supplementing food, I leave a bowl on neutrabol in my 3 vivs but I dont think theyr interested in it at all. I dust 90% of my crix in either neutrbol or TREX cricket dust (the one that smells like bananas!) is this ok? is there a complete calcium/ vitamin in one powder i could use instead?



Thanks

Kate:2thumb:


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

if you want natural you might as well lose the walnut shells seeing as theres probably more chance of finding them, in their natural habitat, near a bit of kitchen roll than some ground English walnut shells


if you want natural looking you can use slate tiles, or sandstone type types or lino.


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## gecko_steve (May 14, 2008)

u need to dust 2 days a week with nutrobal and 5 days a week with pure calcium dust, such as calypso. You should also have a dish of the pure calcium dust in the viv NOT the nutrobal. I have seen my leos take from the calcium dish occasionally so its important to have it in there as they will take it when they feel they need it.
Def get rid of the walnut shell imo the risk of impaction is too much on any small loose substrate. I use lino and floor tiles in mine and they come in all diff colours etc, ive got stone looking ones. They are easy to clean and safe.
Hope this helps
Steve:2thumb:


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## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

*ok*

thanks for your quik replies! I amgoing to look at some Lino today, im thinking the slate looking kind maybe.

Anyway im a little concerned about dusting. can someone please enlighten me?

From i have read on the side of the tubs the TREX dust is a complete powder to be used daily and the neutrabol is calcium? why cant i put that in the viv for them? my local place doesnt stock Calypso, are there any alternatives?

Help! 

Thanks:blush:


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## Doogerie (Jul 6, 2007)

mail order dude it's the way to go but if you can find any of this stuff in your local shop go for it

Supplements and Cricket foods, Reptiles


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## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

Thank you! but that stuff id pure calcium so I would need a vitamin dust too right? or is that me TREX stuff?

Thanks again


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## Baby_DJ (Sep 24, 2008)

Good luck with the leos


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## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

Thank you all very much. I was told by the same garden centre place to only use the complete Trex stuff as is is a complete vitamin and calci supplement. Does that sound right to you guys?

p.s swapped one of my vivs over to lino (managed to get a huuuge off cut for £5!) the other two vivs will have to wait... its a BIG job haha


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## POAGeckos (Jul 11, 2008)

Well, with the lino, are you just placing it in, or using plaster to hold it down? If so, it is easiest to just lay it out. For dusting, use 3 parts pure calcium and 1 part vitamins. You should place a small dish of this mix in each viv, as they will go ahead and eat it on there own. This doesn't mean you dont dust there food daily, you should dust it everyday. If you are going to not do the cages right aweay, takeout the walnut shell, and place the kitchen roll in. It will only be temperary, so they sooner the walnut shell is out, the better.


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## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

*oki*

ok will : victory:do it first thing tomorrow mornin. Thank you for your advice, I feed every other day and I do dust 90% of the crix that i feed. I always make sure each gecko eats at least 2 crix every other day that have been dusted. 

Here is a link to theT Rex stuff I used:
Pet Supplies: Underworld Products - T.rex Sandfire Super Foods - Leopard Gecko Dust Icb 50g, Reptile Foods</

Is this a complete dust? as in Calcium AND vits?

cheers


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## Fraggle (Feb 24, 2008)

if u want calcium u can get bags of limestone flour (calcium supplement) from some petstores for about 50p  we use that to dust ALL livefoods 5 days a week and nutrobal at weekends. Also the calcium is in a plastic milkbottle top at all times in case they need a little extra


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## linda60 (Jan 14, 2008)

You can get limedtone flour from blondesarah a member of RFUK http://www.shelledwarriorsshop.co.uk/ or on ebay,and as everyone else advises get rid of the walnut shells and go for lino,slate or tiles.I use sandstone tiles from wicks DIY,and welcome to the forum.


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## bboy1982 (Sep 30, 2008)

I use stone
at the moment b and q are selling 25 small 10x10 natural stone tiles for 11 quid
you can get them in sanstone colour,slate kinda colour, white or just a general creamy grey stone colour which is what I've got. and ive found that if you wash and dry the tiles and then use a glue gun to attatch them to the viv you dont even really have to grout if you dont want to, my heat mat is on the back of my tank though so im not sure if a glue gun would work if the mat was underneath, the stone is good though cos at the warm end of your tank it stays warm for ages and at the cool end it stays cool and it also spreads the heat more evenly


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## Fraggle (Feb 24, 2008)

bboy1982 said:


> I use stone
> at the moment b and q are selling 25 small 10x10 natural stone tiles for 11 quid
> you can get them in sanstone colour,slate kinda colour, white or just a general creamy grey stone colour which is what I've got. and ive found that if you wash and dry the tiles and then use a glue gun to attatch them to the viv you dont even really have to grout if you dont want to, my heat mat is on the back of my tank though so im not sure if a glue gun would work if the mat was underneath, the stone is good though cos at the warm end of your tank it stays warm for ages and at the cool end it stays cool and it also spreads the heat more evenly


oooh, may have to go take a sneaky peak in b&q then!


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## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

Thank you all for your advice, like I said I managed to get some cheap lino (but its lovely, like a pale sandy colour) I have switched all my vivs over now (goodbye crappy ground Wulnut!)


Can someone clarify for me if the stuff I'm using to dust is a complete Calcium and vit suppliment? Trex Leopard gecko cricket dust. and can I leave it in a dish in the vivs?

Thanks

(its just obv theres no point me rushing out to buy that lime stuff etc if the stuff im already using is just as good)

:mf_dribble:


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## Fraggle (Feb 24, 2008)

the stuff with vits aswell as calcium is only supposed to be used twice weekly or so. the rest of the week _and_ the dish left in all the time should be just calcium, nothing else.


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## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

ooh ok thanks  is it bad to give them too many vits then?


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Hi katie, did you go to the hollybush? They should have told you what to dust your crickets with - I know they told me and gave me extensive info!!!


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## Fraggle (Feb 24, 2008)

KatiePearce said:


> ooh ok thanks  is it bad to give them too many vits then?


yeah, the supplements are quite strong with some brands. dont wana overdose and make 'em poorly!! some people use them all the time, most advise not to.


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## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

yeah good guess! haha last weekend I went back to buy some stuff and check about dusting. they told me to forget about Neutrobol all together and not to bother leaving Calcium in a bowl in the vivs and they asked me how often I fed (every other day) and they said that was fine and to just dust everything I feed them with TREX leopard gecko dust. This is because it is a complete multi vit and calci dust. tbh im gonna stick with that but I have left some in my vivs in a bowl with mealies in it anyway.

your thoughts please?

X Kate X


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## Fraggle (Feb 24, 2008)

KatiePearce said:


> yeah good guess! haha last weekend I went back to buy some stuff and check about dusting. they told me to forget about Neutrobol all together and not to bother leaving Calcium in a bowl in the vivs and they asked me how often I fed (every other day) and they said that was fine and to just dust everything I feed them with TREX leopard gecko dust. This is because it is a complete multi vit and calci dust. tbh im gonna stick with that but I have left some in my vivs in a bowl with mealies in it anyway.
> 
> your thoughts please?
> 
> X Kate X


my thoughts are that most of rfuk with leos will tell u that u need a bowl of calcium in there at all times, hehe! 

my _guess_ is that t-rex costs a fair bit for a small bottle. just like the calci-sand that rep shops "recommend" cos its around 8-9quid for a teeny bag (even tho its bad for reps). a lot of stores recommend what makes their budget, NOT what is best for your animals.

theres a lot of threads about this kinda stuff on here- have a lil' read thru if u get chance, everyone has a diff opinion


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## KatiePearce (Aug 15, 2008)

Thanks Fraggle, I understand about shops wanting to make as much money as possible. The lady did say that she had kept leos for a number of years and only ever used the Trex stuff (and no UV or anything else) but obviously that could be a tactic  lol 

I just wonder what everyone else does?

and what to other people think about me only using the Trex stuff (and leaving a bowl of it in the viv?

or should i dust with Trex and leave Neutrobol in the vivs?

hmmmm....

Your comments most appreciated

xxx


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