Hi Guys,

I'm expecting a new arrival in a few days. Its a SHTCT juvenile. I've had a Leopard gecko for the last 5 months who's great and very easy to look after..as I do take great care of him.

With this new juvenile who's only a few months old I've a few questions to ask as they can be quite fragile if they are not looked after in the correct manner. So I'd like some advice if you can spare the time, it would be greatly appreciated. I believe he's eating size 3 crickets at the moment

What substrate should I use? Paper towels or sand?
What size Vivarium?
Should he have much human interaction...as my other leo (Arnie, image below)is so social, he loves to hangout, but I don't want to stress the juvenile.

Regards
Rob

I realize that this is an old post but i believe that it is a very valid question and one asked often by people that are brand new to the world of Leo keeping as well as people that may have started out with keeping adult Leos
I personally keep all of my Leos on paper towels-whether they are in tanks or tubs
I have used sand (play sand)with my adults in the past) but i decided that it was just too much work and I felt that it was never 100% clean no matter how often that it is scooped
Tiles are another popular option and are easy to keep clean-look nice and do not have a risk of as a particle substrate does of being ingested

I don't handle my Leos a ll that much but I especially leave my babies/young juvies pretty much to themselves with the exception of checking on them and feeding/cleaning etc.

I believe that babies stress much easier than older juvies and adults and I honestly do not believe that Leos are all that much of a "hands on "pet
Some Leos hang out with their keepers and tolerate prolonged handling and some just never take to it at all

As for the size of a starter tank/tub-
I like to use 10 gal tanks for my babies
I use glass tanks so that I can easily keep a good eye on them -peeking in on the whenever I am passing by their tank without disturbing them

I use small and very low hides mostly made out of small margarine containers for both dry and wet hides and toilet paper rolls actually make excellent extra hides and take up very little space in a 10 gal. tank

I hope that this has been of help to some one and BTW-Arnie is a very handsome Leo