12 year ancient. Leopard Gecko?
My daughter is 12 years old.
If i were to get her a Leopard Gecko would she know how to maintain it all on her own?
And what are some basic supervision?
Hey, here is some basic assistance for them but a kids can do most of the things but a parent is needed just in case she loses interest or cannot cope but its nice to be here for her.
This species needs a temperature of 28-32C (82-90F) at the warm run out of the viv, the cool end should be around room temperature. Heating the viv can be maintained near a heat mat or a basking lamp connected to a thermostat. The humidity requirements to be dry within the viv, with an exception of a humidity hide. This cast a shadow on will help the geckos to shed their old skin and must be kept humid at all times.
Geckos can be kept on their own or will live gladly together - this being one male to several females. Males will fight to the release and should always be kept separate!
Geckos are terrestrial, meaning they want more floor space rather then height. UV lights can be used, but some ancestors choose not too, due to this species being nocturnal. Use a heat mat or basking kerosene lamp for heat, as described above connected to a thermostat. The best substrate to use for adult leopard geckos is children's play sand. If you have a immature gecko, it's best to place these on paper towel to prevent impaction, until they are approx. 6 inches long. Impaction means that the gecko has eat the substrate and cannot pass it - causing illness! Plenty of hide should be placed throughout the viv and depending on how many geckos are housed together, at least 1 humidity hide.
A assorted diet of insects should be offered, with the odd pinkie (baby mouse). For young and juvenile Geckos, nurture approx. 5-15 crickets every day with the appropriate sized food. Adults can be fed every other light of day on 2-8 crickets, once a month try feeding a small pinkie. Any uneaten food should be removed, crickets can injury your Gecko while sleeping. You will find that your Gecko loves wax worms, only feed as treats as these are illustrious in fat.
Hope this helps and apt luck.
:P
Maintain it - certainly.
BUT
What i think you enjoy to remember is that reptiles are not good children's pets...
I have a perfectly majority and healthy leopard gecko - he doesn't wake up until 9pm.
Then he stays hidden.
He is remarkably tame, but only shows an interest for maybe 1 hour per week.
Do you infer your daughter is going to be interested in a pet she can only see for 1 hour per week when she has to verbs it out every day.
She won't be able to handle it for the first year - i be going to you can, but until they are a year old they will just be very skittish and a skittish pet as a rule gets hurt by over enthusiastic children.
Also - you have to have bugs within your house. Crickets make noise and smell and run quickly and hop everywhere - they escape and get under the floorboards.
Then you have to consider the certainty they are know to live well into their 20's... so you are expecting your child to maintain and interest in a pet that like to hide away through her phase of liking boys, doing her GCSEs, going to college, going to uni - it is a long permanent status commitment.
I don't think it is fair on the child or on the leopard gecko.
If you buy one - you have to buy it for yourself. You own to accept that it is YOUR pet and YOUR responsibility.
Sure, let your daughter think it is hers but you have need of to accept that at some point it it going to become your pet. If you yourself do not want a pet leopard gecko, do not buy one at all.
Ya, I'm sure she could maintain it. When I be that age, I had lots of animals, but it also depends... is she responsible? Visit this website. Hope it helps...
www.leopardgecko.com
www.reptilehelp.com
i got my geckos when i was 12 :)
i had to look after after coz nobody else would haha - they are still going good now 4 years later :D
as long as she can verbs out the poop when she sees them, and doesnt mind bugs it'll be fine!
paper towels are a virtuous substrate to use - they cant swallow it and become ill, and its easy and cheap to replace as it gets dirty.
they should get through crickets and grasshoppers, and mealworms and waxworms, and really any sort of non-posionous bugs that you can get from pesticide free areas.
dont feed anything bigger than the gap between the geckos eyes and dust the bugs beside calcium powder twice a week, or every other day or something, depending on the calcium powder you get.
make certain the tank is big enough and the heat is right :)
they are smooth and low mantience really
good luck!
Answers: yes but..
kids get bored of pets, and will forget to feed, change marine, clean out etc etc and may just loose interest and not bother doing the things that need doing.
does the kid want a leopard gecko, do they know what they want to do, feed livefood (and dust and gut load), do thye know how to care for, and do u know how to exactness for it as its likely at some point you'll need to.
basically for me kids and reps arent a accurate idea if the parent isnt prepared, if they are equipped to look after it if they kid looses interest or forget to do something u have to be ready to overrun the gap.
