What is more lovable than a gecko? A baby gecko!Â
Lot of us would prefer to have a baby animal as a pet so we can be there to watch them grow day by day and develop strong bond from a very young age, which is something acceptable and lovely. But taking care of a baby is not an easy task. Especially if it is a baby gecko.
You can purchase a baby gecko at pet stores or breeders. If you are about to have a newborn, the treatment can be a little bit extra because hatching geckos are so small. They are typically about 3 to 4 inches long and do not have fully developed skeletal and immune system. So any inappropriate treatment will affect them a lot more than to the older gecko. But once you have a good set up, taking care of baby gecko is not that hard anymore!
To help you with that, this article will guide you on what to do to take care of baby geckos.
Step by Step to Take Care Baby Gecko at Home
1. House for the baby
Setting a proper and safe home for your baby gecko is important. Remember that they have risk of injured themselves and easily get sick because their immune system has not fully developed yet. Typically, we use 10 to 20-gallon glass aquariums is enough for a home for baby geckos. Make sure the box is at least one foot high or high enough so your gecko will not jump out of it and all of the enclosure secured with a mesh top to prevent any escape attempt and also as ventilation. You can set up a hide box and fill it with live plants or vermiculite to help maintain the humidity within the box. Your baby gecko will need the humidity to be high enough so it can shed its skin properly. They also love to climb on the plants too, you know!
2. Tiny food for tiny baby
Most of the gecko’s type are carnivores, for example, the leopard geckos. Some also eat a small amount of fruit as well like banana or mango. But the most favorite meals for baby geckos are small crickets and mealworms! The size of the insects has to be no bigger enough than you baby gecko’s head. So keep it tiny, okay? The larger insects like waxworms or super worms have to wait until your gecko is big and mature enough.Â
To keep you baby geckos maintain their balanced nutrition, you add more supplement to the insects like powder the insects with calcium powder and additional vitamin D at least two to three times a week and mineral supplement once a week. Good and healthy insects for a good and healthy baby!
Usually, you can put the food in the small dishes so your baby geckos need to climb it to eat the meal, but in some cases, the baby geckos are too small so they cannot climb the dishes. You can help the baby geckos by feeding them with your hand, at least until they big enough to do it by themselves and eat it from the dishes.Â
Don’t forget about the water! You baby geckos need freshwater in their home not only for them to drink daily but also the dish of water can help to increase the humidity as the water evaporates.
3. Keep the baby warm and moist
The aquarium of the gecko should have a proper temperature from heat bulb or heat mat. The ideal temperature range for them depends on the type of geckos. For example, the crested gecko needs the warm zone in the upper 70s to low 80s degree Fahrenheit while the leopard geckos –another popular type of gecko as a pet– need higher warm zone temperature, which is 90s degree. On the other hand, you have to maintain the humidity level about 50 to 70 percent so your geckos can stay hydrated and shed their skin. Baby geckos, especially the newly hatched ones, are so small that they can lose moisture rapidly. If the humidity is not high enough, your baby geckos can suffer from shedding skin problem because their dead skin gets thicker. So you need to spray frequently and keep your eye on the humidity level
Both temperature and humidity need to be monitored daily. For better maintenance, you may need extra equipment, like temperature guns or strips, or just standard thermometers that stick on the inner wall work as well.Â
4. How to hold baby gecko properly
Baby geckos are so fragile. Until the baby geckos are at least three inches long, you may do not want to hold them because they can be injured easily. So take your time and let your baby grow big enough to be handled regularly. If your baby geckos have already adjusted with their new home (and with you, also!), you can hold them in your hand for 5 to 15 minutes a day to help them get used to being held. Just make sure you do it gently because they can get scared and stressed by being picked up a lot.
5. Be cautious from illnesses
Baby geckos that pet at home or indoor room can develop the metabolic bone disease because of lack of vitamin D3 from UV light. Other diseases that occur commonly in baby geckos are a gastrointestinal problem from sand that they are accidentally ingested from their meal and retention of shedding skin from lack of humidity. If you find the sign that your baby geckos easily get tired, weak, rarely moving and eating, you probably want to bring them to pet immediately. Remember that they have not fully developed, therefore even a small infection or intestinal problem can lead to serious and bigger health issues.Â
That is all about taking care of a baby gecko at home. Hope it helps you somehow. Good luck!