Two new family members

[Nighsliv]

We decided to get something easier to take care of that the kids could help with the care of, we named them Pox and Bandit.

Here is a picture of their new home:


Here are two pictures of them together. Their heads look really cool from the front and they have really nice colors.



Here is a close up of Pox, you can see the spot just below the head that contributed to the name.


Here is one of bandit, you can see how he has a band instead of a spot below the head.


And here is a size reference of bandit, he is the slightly bigger of the two.
They are about 3-4 months old.


They are very curious little lizards and are quite active.

[lowcountryfire]

They look beautiful.. If you dont mind me asking, how old are your kids? I have a 4 year old son that loves reptiles as much as I do (much to the disdain of his mother who is petrified by all but my Beardies).. Please keep us posted on how your kids interact with them and how well it works out.. I am looking to get him something a little less "lethal" than my snakes, and my beardies seem to be a bit much for a 4 yr old to take on... Although he loves handling them...

[Nickoli93]

my younger brother is 4 and he absolutly lovesmy lizards and always wants to help feed them and will also stroke them.

although i would never leave him alone with them just in case he played with the electrics or let one go by mistake.

[Nighsliv]

My kids are 4 and 6, my 6 year old gets to help by manning the pooper scooper (plastic spoon with poop scoop writte on it in brown sharpie) and my 4 year old gets the honor of housing the lizards in his room on his dresser. They both do really good with them but already had some practice handling our baby CWD from time to time.

They mostly just let them sit on their hand/arms and try to keep them from falling off when they are starting to nose around. (They are supervised and sitting on the bed so that a fall would not be fatal to the geckos.)
They can help with the feeding if they want but since we don't have any separate baby cricket tank it's a lengthy process separating out about 8-10 baby crickets from the tank that had about 250 in them. (Ordered from flukers and they seem to do a little breeding on the side)

[lowcountryfire]

OK, cool, yeah my son handles the beardies regularly as well, supervised, usually sitting on the floor. He does "help" me bathe and clean the cage out, but I am looking for something that can be "his" and in his room etc. How do the lizards like being handled?

[herpmad_boi]

Originally Posted by lowcountryfire

OK, cool, yeah my son handles the beardies regularly as well, supervised, usually sitting on the floor. He does "help" me bathe and clean the cage out, but I am looking for something that can be "his" and in his room etc. How do the lizards like being handled?

maybe some stick insects?

[Futurehabitatcreator]

I have 2 leopard geckos, and one of the two seems to enjoy be handled, the other is a bit more skittish.

To the OP.

I would hate to have your kids devestated by the impacton killing your geckos. So its important that you take out the sand and change it to paper towel, tile, or reptile carpet.

Also, how old are they? If there old enough, check there gender. Males should have v shaped pours and 2 bulges on his underside by his tail. but, DO NOT lift up his tail to check, theres a big possibility that he'll drop it.

If you have 2 males, then they need to be seperated before they hurt or possibly kill eachother.

I'm not sure how much of this you already knew, but just wanted to help you.

I hope you understand I'm not trying to be harsh, I say all this so your geckos and your kids(and you) can have the best experience with your geckos. =-)

[herpmad_boi]

Is that a hot rock?.

As futurehabitatcreater has said, remove the calci-sand as it will cause impaction (i thought it was paper towels to start with).

Hot rocks, will burn you leo's and wont give them the proper temperature gradient.
I recommend you use a heat mat set to a mat stat thermostat.

[Nighsliv]

No its not a hot rock, on the right hand side is a piece of driftwood for them to hide in, and on the left side is another hide with damp moss inside to help with shedding. As far as the sand goes we have the special fine sand with spherical grains that prevents impaction. They have been on this same substrate since they were about 7 weeks at the pet store. The sand has been featured in Reptiles Magazine where it was listed as a highly recommended substrate for all lizards.

We are using an under tank heater in combination with a black light bulb to provide proper temperature gradient.

[Futurehabitatcreator]

Just because the package says its digestible,doesn't mean it is.