how much a week will it cost me for the maintanence of my leopard gecko.?

Question

i also need to know what i need to dust my crickets with to keep it healthy. HELP

Answer 1

We had a gecko for the purpose of insect control, we let him loose in the house and would hear him screech out in the middle of the night, he eventually escaped, but did his job for over three years.

Every once and a while we would see him resting his fat self on the tv screen.

Oh, sorry I don't know crap about your answer, those things are noisy when they feed.

Answer 2

Once you have the tank set up, all you'll need are insects (crickets/mealworms), gutload, and vitamin dust. The crickets and mealworms are about $2 a week, and the vitamin dust is about $5, lasts for months. Gutloading products depend on whether you're gutloading crickets or mealies, they eat different things, but I'm going to say about $10 for a gutload product, which also lasts for months. For the vitamin dust, I use the T-Rex brand for leopard geckos:
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441809891&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030047&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023694&bmUID=1177102007018&itemNo=17&In=Reptile&N=2030047&Ne=2

You do NOT need calcium sand or any type of sand. Leos can ingest the sand and become compacted. Yes, even the sand that says it's fine if swallowed can cause major problems. (No, it doesn't *always* cause problems, but I'd personally rather not take that risk, I've heard too many horror stories about sand and calcium sand.) I use paper towels for the substrate in my leo's cage, they're cheap and it makes it easy to clean. Other safe substrates are natural tiles and reptile carpets. (Speaking of safety, also stay away from heat rocks. They can burn reptiles quite easily. Lights and undertank heaters are the way to go. Leos don't need lights though, since they are nocturnal, so just get the undertank heater.)

If you're wanting to make sure your leo has enough calcium, this is what I do: get a cuttlebone for birds, rub a knife along it to make dust, and put it in a small bowl in the cage once or twice a week for a day.

The initial tank setup is the most expensive part. I think I spent around $150 initially for the tank, undertank heater, water bowl, wet and dry hides, thermometers, etc.. But once you have the initial items, leos are a pretty cheap pet to maintain.

Answer 3

Hard to give you an exact number - some will depend on the products you use and age of the gecko.

figure out the number of crickets he eats a week x price per dozen x 52

Add the cost of any other insects or other foods (here you'll have to figure out how many items you feed of each type per week and how many "servings" you get per can/cup, then divide the price by the number of servings for a weekly cost x 52)

Add about $15 yearly for calcium and multivitamin supplements

Add the cost for one replacement light and heat source (unless you use an undertank pad or ceramic heat emitter).

Add about $30 misc. supplies and electric

Your total will be a yearly estimate. Divide your total by 52 for a weekly estimate.

For dusting, I'd use a good multivitamin supplement plus a calcium supplement. I like the Repti-Cal line, but there are others. You may find if you dust the crickets too heavily, the gecko may not eat them. I would dust very lightly or buy the crickets a day ahead and gutload them by feeding them nutritious foods. Unless yours is a very young animal, it would be better to feed him more than just crickets - mealworms and waxworms (as a treat), and adults can eat pinkie mice on occassion.

Answer 4

Leos are pretty cheap to keep up, the inital set up is what might cost you a bit, you need a tank, a heat lamp/light/sorce of heat & vitamins also Calci Sand works great to help in supplement of calicum in the diet & as a base for the b ottom of your tank....I fed mine crickets they are VERY cheap in any pet or bait shop you co have to feed them but they can happily live in cat food /crackers/or popcorn if you dont wanna spend the extra on monkey chow to feed em tho its VERY cheap in all pet stores too...its only called money chow its not really for monkeys......then just buy GutLoad, its about $10-!5 and you just put a small amount in a plastic bag dump the crickets in with it & shake em up to coat em then feed drop in your Leos tank & watch em eat em up....so in total I would say......Crickets: about $2
GutLoad: $10-15
CalciSand: about $15 a bag, depends on how big a tank you have mine took about 2 bags

so thats about $32 and that bag of GutLoad should last a few months & as long as you clean you tank regular you shouldnt have to change out the sand but maybe once every 4-6 months.....the crickets as long as you feed & water them can live up to 2 weeks in a cage so yea Leos are pretty cheap to upkeep....and heat lamps n such dont add mcuh to your electirc bill either so I wouldnt worry about that.
BEST OF LUCK

Answer 5

Maybe about $30 to $50 a month.