leopard geckos!! :D

well, i gave in :p petco had their 50% off with pals card, so i got two adult leopard geckos. they are a pair, the male is the albino and the female is normal colored. theres a pic of the setup too its not done, i still need something for them to hide under and a bowl of supplement. a few questions first though:

1.) which calcium supplement should i use to either dust or put out in a bowl? i have phosphorus free calcium with and without d3. and will they need a multivitamin?

2.) what does it mean when the male vibrates his tail? he has done it twice when the female gets on top of him, is this agitation or breeding behavior?

Congratulations Amanda! :D They look good. Did they say what strain of albino he is? Kinda looks like a rainwater, but it's hard to say for sure.

As for the supplements, you definitely need calcium, and you definitely don't want any phosphorus in the calcium. They are going to need some D3, as they don't need or utilize any UVB. And they need a little multivitamin. Now, if you read all the gecko boards and forums, there is a pretty fierce debate on what types of calcium and when to use what types. It is a good idea to keep a small container of calcium in the tank, leos will self regulate their own calcium quite a bit. Allot of people use pure calcium carbonate in the tank, and then use calcium w/ D3 when they dust the insects. And there are people that go with about every combination from there you can imagine.

Personally, I use Repasy's LoD calcium supplement in the dish in the enclosure, as it has a small amount of D3 in it. This is actually the main calcium supplement I use on everything. I dust some of the insects going in, depending on the insects in question. Mealies and supers, I dust most of them, or drop them into the calcium dish and let them go. I have a female that doesn't like supers and mealies, she eats mostly silks and butters, so I don't dust those with calcium as often, as they have better calcium to begin with. There is also a supplement from Repashy called Calcium Plus, which is mostly calcium, with a mix of d3 and other vitamins in it. It looks like a very good idea, I haven't used it yet, I think I am going to get that the next time around. And once or twice a week I add a multivitamin. I still use the old school Rep-Cal Herptivite. I think when I run out of that I will try out Repashy's Supervite for a multivitamin. The Repashy products are getting constantly good reviews, and there is a very wide range of products to choose from to customize what you need. But at least for now you should put a dish of calcium in the tank.

As for the tail wiggling, they do that whenever they are excited, so it could definitely be a breeding behavior. You will also see it sometimes when they are stalking prey. For the hides, the best way to start is to place one on the warm side, one on the cool side, and a moist hide in the middle. You can watch them from there and adjust them to what they seem to need and like. Good luck :D

And another thought, with the calcium, I don't think the exact calcium:phosphorus (Ca:P) with leopard geckos has been studied, but with most reptiles a 2:1 Ca:P ratio seems to be optimum. So knowing what you are feeding should give you a little clue as to how much you need to dust the bugs. You are basically trying to balance the ratio of the insect back to 2:1 Ca:P. The information on this page is from a site dedicated to bearded dragon rescues, but the information is still very valid, and it has the basic nutritional info on most feeder insects. You can see that mealworms have a horrible Ca:P, butterworms are much better, silkworms are the highest in protein, etc... There are obviously variations depending on the health of the insects in question, if & how well you gutload, etc... But it gives a good base to start.

(06-03-2012, 07:39 AM)Fishbone Wrote: Congratulations Amanda! They look good. Did they say what strain of albino he is? Kinda looks like a rainwater, but it's hard to say for sure.

As for the supplements, you definitely need calcium, and you definitely don't want any phosphorus in the calcium. They are going to need some D3, as they don't need or utilize any UVB. And they need a little multivitamin. Now, if you read all the gecko boards and forums, there is a pretty fierce debate on what types of calcium and when to use what types. It is a good idea to keep a small container of calcium in the tank, leos will self regulate their own calcium quite a bit. Allot of people use pure calcium carbonate in the tank, and then use calcium w/ D3 when they dust the insects. And there are people that go with about every combination from there you can imagine.

Personally, I use Repasy's LoD calcium supplement in the dish in the enclosure, as it has a small amount of D3 in it. This is actually the main calcium supplement I use on everything. I dust some of the insects going in, depending on the insects in question. Mealies and supers, I dust most of them, or drop them into the calcium dish and let them go. I have a female that doesn't like supers and mealies, she eats mostly silks and butters, so I don't dust those with calcium as often, as they have better calcium to begin with. There is also a supplement from Repashy called Calcium Plus, which is mostly calcium, with a mix of d3 and other vitamins in it. It looks like a very good idea, I haven't used it yet, I think I am going to get that the next time around. And once or twice a week I add a multivitamin. I still use the old school Rep-Cal Herptivite. I think when I run out of that I will try out Repashy's Supervite for a multivitamin. The Repashy products are getting constantly good reviews, and there is a very wide range of products to choose from to customize what you need. But at least for now you should put a dish of calcium in the tank.

As for the tail wiggling, they do that whenever they are excited, so it could definitely be a breeding behavior. You will also see it sometimes when they are stalking prey. For the hides, the best way to start is to place one on the warm side, one on the cool side, and a moist hide in the middle. You can watch them from there and adjust them to what they seem to need and like. Good luck

And another thought, with the calcium, I don't think the exact calcium:phosphorus (Ca) with leopard geckos has been studied, but with most reptiles a 2:1 Ca ratio seems to be optimum. So knowing what you are feeding should give you a little clue as to how much you need to dust the bugs. You are basically trying to balance the ratio of the insect back to 2:1 Ca. The information on this page is from a site dedicated to bearded dragon rescues, but the information is still very valid, and it has the basic nutritional info on most feeder insects. You can see that mealworms have a horrible Ca, butterworms are much better, silkworms are the highest in protein, etc... There are obviously variations depending on the health of the insects in question, if & how well you gutload, etc... But it gives a good base to start.

i use stickytongue farms brand, im not sure if your familiar with it, i have the outdoor formula which is d3 free, and the indoor which contains d3, but im not sure how much. should i put a little bit of both in the bowl with the worms? and i feed the crickets miner-all once a month so my chameleons get the vitamins through them, would the same work for the geckos? and how much should each be eating? all i have are superworms and crickets, ill be stopping at the bait store to get mealworms tomorrow

Beautiful leopard geckos you just got.
Wouldn't the albino have trouble with UV light?


Vibrating tail. The other creature I've seen doing that is male silkworm moth in front of a female one. Sounds like at least he was excited in front of a female.

Leopard geckos don't need UVB Ram. They are almost completely nocturnal in the wild, and can do fine with D3 through their diet.

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(06-03-2012, 11:44 AM)amanda509 Wrote: i use stickytongue farms brand, im not sure if your familiar with it, i have the outdoor formula which is d3 free, and the indoor which contains d3, but im not sure how much. should i put a little bit of both in the bowl with the worms? and i feed the crickets miner-all once a month so my chameleons get the vitamins through them, would the same work for the geckos? and how much should each be eating? all i have are superworms and crickets, ill be stopping at the bait store to get mealworms tomorrow

I would put the one with the D3 in a dish inside the tank. I had never heard of that brand. I just looked it up, and the indoor formula says it has 4,400 iu of D3, I assume that means 4,400 iu/lb, that is not high, and it has a higher percentage of calcium, so it looks like a very good product. They do need some D3, if you use a multivitamin, they can get it from that, or they can get it from the calcium supplement. So I would use the indoor formula with them for everything.

I would still get some form of multi vitamin to add once a week or so. That Vit All they make looks like a good product. Is that what you feed the crickets? You only gutload the crickets once a month? Is that good for chameleons?

They don't look thin, but they look like they could use a little weight. I would feed them daily for a while. Or maybe 5 times a week. It may take them a few days to settle in like anything, but they may eat. If they will eat crickets and supers, I wouldn't worry with the mealworms unless you really want to. Those are both fine. Supers will fatten 'em up quickly. Crickets can be a pain, if they try to hide in places the geckos can't get them, but nutritionally are probably the best of the three feeders, especially if gutloaded.

(06-03-2012, 01:28 PM)Fishbone Wrote: Leopard geckos don't need UVB Ram. They are almost completely nocturnal in the wild, and can do fine with D3 through their diet.

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(06-03-2012, 11:44 AM)amanda509 Wrote: i use stickytongue farms brand, im not sure if your familiar with it, i have the outdoor formula which is d3 free, and the indoor which contains d3, but im not sure how much. should i put a little bit of both in the bowl with the worms? and i feed the crickets miner-all once a month so my chameleons get the vitamins through them, would the same work for the geckos? and how much should each be eating? all i have are superworms and crickets, ill be stopping at the bait store to get mealworms tomorrow

I would put the one with the D3 in a dish inside the tank. I had never heard of that brand. I just looked it up, and the indoor formula says it has 4,400 iu of D3, I assume that means 4,400 iu/lb, that is not high, and it has a higher percentage of calcium, so it looks like a very good product. They do need some D3, if you use a multivitamin, they can get it from that, or they can get it from the calcium supplement. So I would use the indoor formula with them for everything.

I would still get some form of multi vitamin to add once a week or so. That Vit All they make looks like a good product. Is that what you feed the crickets? You only gutload the crickets once a month? Is that good for chameleons?

They don't look thin, but they look like they could use a little weight. I would feed them daily for a while. Or maybe 5 times a week. It may take them a few days to settle in like anything, but they may eat. If they will eat crickets and supers, I wouldn't worry with the mealworms unless you really want to. Those are both fine. Supers will fatten 'em up quickly. Crickets can be a pain, if they try to hide in places the geckos can't get them, but nutritionally are probably the best of the three feeders, especially if gutloaded.

i gutload constantly because my chameleons eat every other day, but i change the formula up every week, and the last week of the month i add the vitamin to it because jackson's chameleons are prone to over supplementation. but i can put a special batch aside for the geckos every week i had a bowl of superworms in there, but they all escaped their bowl -.- so im not sure if they ate any...about how many superworms or crickets should each be eating?

im also pretty sure she has two eggs in her belly too

(06-03-2012, 12:54 PM)Ram8349 Wrote: Beautiful leopard geckos you just got.
Wouldn't the albino have trouble with UV light?


Vibrating tail. The other creature I've seen doing that is male silkworm moth in front of a female one. Sounds like at least he was excited in front of a female.

thanks! im not sure about the male and the uv, leopard geckos do not need uvb light, but it also doesnt hurt them either, i currently dont have an extra bulb laying around to try, i need to order some more for the chameleons anyways :p and the female does in fact have two eggs in her belly, so maybe he was just trying to see if she would respond and be receptive? but she is not..was just an idea :p

I wouldn't worry about gutloading them separately then. But I would add a little bit of multivitamin to the dusting mix once a week, and you should be fine. And I would just use that indoor formula you mentioned for all of their calcium, especially the possibly gravid female.

As for how many, if they are 2" supers or so, anywhere from 1-4. Crickets will probably be about the same, maybe a few more depending on the size. Hard to say for sure, especially since they came from petco, who are not renowned for their care and feeding of animals. Once you have them established, and eating well, they may skip a day, that's normal. Most people with healthy adults feed them every 2-3 days. I aim at every other day, except with my breeding females. I feed them whenever they will eat. They will go off of food for a few days before laying, sometimes as many as 4 or 5, sometimes only 1 or 2.

(06-04-2012, 03:30 AM)Fishbone Wrote: I wouldn't worry about gutloading them separately then. But I would add a little bit of multivitamin to the dusting mix once a week, and you should be fine. And I would just use that indoor formula you mentioned for all of their calcium, especially the possibly gravid female.

As for how many, if they are 2" supers or so, anywhere from 1-4. Crickets will probably be about the same, maybe a few more depending on the size. Hard to say for sure, especially since they came from petco, who are not renowned for their care and feeding of animals. Once you have them established, and eating well, they may skip a day, that's normal. Most people with healthy adults feed them every 2-3 days. I aim at every other day, except with my breeding females. I feed them whenever they will eat. They will go off of food for a few days before laying, sometimes as many as 4 or 5, sometimes only 1 or 2.

okay, i put about 5 supers in there yesterday, but they crawled out of the bowl and scattered, so im not sure if they ate. i put ten dusted crix in there today, they are about medium/small sized for my chameleons, they havent eaten any yet, ill take whatever i can find back out before bed so the crickets dont injure them, is that okay? i know they might not eat for a few days until they adjust...the female looks like an okay weight, but im sure she'll lighten up when she lays, the male needs some weight...they have probably never seen crickets before, all they were ever fed was mealworms at the pet store -.- tiny ones at that...and they had to compete for them...

(06-04-2012, 03:22 AM)amanda509 Wrote:

(06-03-2012, 12:54 PM)Ram8349 Wrote: Beautiful leopard geckos you just got.
Wouldn't the albino have trouble with UV light?


Vibrating tail. The other creature I've seen doing that is male silkworm moth in front of a female one. Sounds like at least he was excited in front of a female.

thanks! im not sure about the male and the uv, leopard geckos do not need uvb light, but it also doesnt hurt them either, i currently dont have an extra bulb laying around to try, i need to order some more for the chameleons anyways :p and the female does in fact have two eggs in her belly, so maybe he was just trying to see if she would respond and be receptive? but she is not..was just an idea :p

Well, boys will be boys If they get along you should be able to leave them together, and his mind may be on, well, you know . If you do use any UVB on them, don't use anything more than like a reptisun 2.0, unless it is over 12" away. And just an idea, what I use on the few I have in tanks, is a black heat light, and just leave it on 24/7. They get daylight from the room their in, and the black bulb just provides heat.

If she is gravid, You would be best off to make her a lay box. You can also use that for the moist hide. I have both in my breeding tub, and they all use the lay box for a moist hide. I don't have a picture of the actual box in my leo tub, but here is the exact same thing I use with my small boas for a moist hide.



It's a ziplock box, about 3" tall, with about 2" of moist coconut fiber in it, and a hole cut in the top. Those are 11"x7", whatever size you can find should work, just make sure she has enough room to crawl around and dig around a little. I put them on the warmer side of the tub. And since you can see through the bottom, you can normally see the eggs on the bottom of the tub without digging around.

I like the coconut fiber quite a bit actually, but you can use moist sphagnum, anything they can dig in and keep moist.

(06-04-2012, 03:51 AM)Fishbone Wrote: Well, boys will be boys If they get along you should be able to leave them together, and his mind may be on, well, you know . If you do use any UVB on them, don't use anything more than like a reptisun 2.0, unless it is over 12" away. And just an idea, what I use on the few I have in tanks, is a black heat light, and just leave it on 24/7. They get daylight from the room their in, and the black bulb just provides heat.

If she is gravid, You would be best off to make her a lay box. You can also use that for the moist hide. I have both in my breeding tub, and they all use the lay box for a moist hide. I don't have a picture of the actual box in my leo tub, but here is the exact same thing I use with my small boas for a moist hide.

It's a ziplock box, about 3" tall, with about 2" of moist coconut fiber in it, and a hole cut in the top. Those are 11"x7", whatever size you can find should work, just make sure she has enough room to crawl around and dig around a little. I put them on the warmer side of the tub. And since you can see through the bottom, you can normally see the eggs on the bottom of the tub without digging around.

I like the coconut fiber quite a bit actually, but you can use moist sphagnum, anything they can dig in and keep moist.

like i said , i have two moist hides right now because the male is hogging the one >.> they are made from those large reptile display containers that you would find at an expo:
i turn them upside down and cut a little doorway and fill with moist paper towels, the male loves it, the female, she sticks her head in, then backs out and continues to crawl under the carpet -.- she has no interest..ill have to try adding a medium for egg laying though, i really hope she takes an interest when it comes time for her to lay...

(06-04-2012, 03:36 AM)amanda509 Wrote: okay, i put about 5 supers in there yesterday, but they crawled out of the bowl and scattered, so im not sure if they ate. i put ten dusted crix in there today, they are about medium/small sized for my chameleons, they havent eaten any yet, ill take whatever i can find back out before bed so the crickets dont injure them, is that okay? i know they might not eat for a few days until they adjust...the female looks like an okay weight, but im sure she'll lighten up when she lays, the male needs some weight...they have probably never seen crickets before, all they were ever fed was mealworms at the pet store -.- tiny ones at that...and they had to compete for them...

If they aren't eating them yet, IMO, I would just take the crickets out. I really don't know if they will stress them out, but if they aren't inducing a feeding response, they are more likely to stress them than anything else. That's just my line of logic. The supers I would leave. I use to try to keep supers and mealies in a dish they couldn't get out of, but one crawling around randomly and surprising them seems to get them to eat sometimes.

And if they have never seen them before, you may very well be right on that. The other thing you could do if you are motivated enough is pull the back legs off the crickets, so they can't hop as much. It's ever so fun On a side note, the "godfather" of all captive bred leos, Ron Tremper, says he has rarely ever fed any of his leos anything but mealies for over 30 years, and some of those lived for over 10 years. Who knows. I am still learning at feeding the leos myself. After my 3 adults settled in, I have basically been hand feeding them individually, once a day,depending on who needs to eat,no crickets though. It's actually easier for me.

(06-04-2012, 04:18 AM)Fishbone Wrote:

(06-04-2012, 03:36 AM)amanda509 Wrote: okay, i put about 5 supers in there yesterday, but they crawled out of the bowl and scattered, so im not sure if they ate. i put ten dusted crix in there today, they are about medium/small sized for my chameleons, they havent eaten any yet, ill take whatever i can find back out before bed so the crickets dont injure them, is that okay? i know they might not eat for a few days until they adjust...the female looks like an okay weight, but im sure she'll lighten up when she lays, the male needs some weight...they have probably never seen crickets before, all they were ever fed was mealworms at the pet store -.- tiny ones at that...and they had to compete for them...

If they aren't eating them yet, IMO, I would just take the crickets out. I really don't know if they will stress them out, but if they aren't inducing a feeding response, they are more likely to stress them than anything else. That's just my line of logic. The supers I would leave. I use to try to keep supers and mealies in a dish they couldn't get out of, but one crawling around randomly and surprising them seems to get them to eat sometimes.

And if they have never seen them before, you may very well be right on that. The other thing you could do if you are motivated enough is pull the back legs off the crickets, so they can't hop as much. It's ever so fun On a side note, the "godfather" of all captive bred leos, Ron Tremper, says he has rarely ever fed any of his leos anything but mealies for over 30 years, and some of those lived for over 10 years. Who knows. I am still learning at feeding the leos myself. After my 3 adults settled in, I have basically been hand feeding them individually, once a day,depending on who needs to eat,no crickets though. It's actually easier for me.

lol i break their legs when i cup feed certain chameleons to make sure they are eating and the crickets stay in until they are eaten :p i also have another question, there is quite a debate whether leos are nocturnal or not, some people say they are, some say they are not, regardless, mine have been sleeping 2 days straight, including through most of the night..is that normal?

In the wild, they are mostly nocturnal, in captivity, from what I've seen, it depends on the gecko. If they are sleeping in a hide, they are still acclimating probably. Also, check the temperatures. If it is hot, they will sleep more. I try to keep the warm side around 86-88 degrees, and the cooler side 78-80. They seem to like that, and come out at night and roam around a bit, and roam around a bit during the day as well. I don't keep any bright lights on mine during the day though, just indirect light, so that may make a difference.

(06-04-2012, 06:06 AM)Fishbone Wrote: In the wild, they are mostly nocturnal, in captivity, from what I've seen, it depends on the gecko. If they are sleeping in a hide, they are still acclimating probably. Also, check the temperatures. If it is hot, they will sleep more. I try to keep the warm side around 86-88 degrees, and the cooler side 78-80. They seem to like that, and come out at night and roam around a bit, and roam around a bit during the day as well. I don't keep any bright lights on mine during the day though, just indirect light, so that may make a difference.

ahh, i have a low wattage light on one side of the enclosure about 8 inches above, and the cool side is reading 75....but the temp gauge could be off, do you think i should change to a lower wattage? i also have a red infrared heat light bulb ive never used, should i use that? the male is in the moist cave, the female is under the carpet >.> theyve stayed like that most of the day and last night, except for the time i took them out this morning to get a feel for their personalities..which are very sweet by the way

Your leos are cute, Amanda Do they have names?

I love leos, they are such pretty lizards. Someday I want a tangerine carrot-tail giant leo, and maybe another morph also but I haven't quite decided what my second favorite would be. The albino you have is a different shade than ones I've seen; lovely!

75 is alright for the cool side. Sounds like you have enough animals that a tempgun might be a good investment. Its hard to give an opinion on the wattage without an exact temp. Are either of them spending time on the warm side? You can always use the old fashioned rule of thumb, if they spend all the time on the cool side, its too hot, all the time on the warm side, it's too cold. You could try the infrared, do you have any heat on them at night?

(06-05-2012, 12:29 PM)Fishbone Wrote: 75 is alright for the cool side. Sounds like you have enough animals that a tempgun might be a good investment. Its hard to give an opinion on the wattage without an exact temp. Are either of them spending time on the warm side? You can always use the old fashioned rule of thumb, if they spend all the time on the cool side, its too hot, all the time on the warm side, it's too cold. You could try the infrared, do you have any heat on them at night?

i had an extra infrared light laying around, so i put that in yesterday, didnt really make a diffrence. the male is always in the moist hide in the middle..he rarely leaves, and when he does, he walks around for a few minutes, probably to defecate, and then returns. the female, unless i move her, she does not leave under the carpet..i even check on them lastnight and they were like this, i moved her before bed, but she quickly returned. :/ she is all over the place under there, so i dont think the temps are too hot.

That is almost certainly laying behavior. She its looking for a safe spot to lay the eggs. I would get a dark box, with a hole in it, and some most substrate in there as soon as possible. It is possible she could become egg-bound, though normally they will just lay them. But if she's young, especially if its her first clutch, she may spend so long looking for a place that she can't pass them.

I need to clean my gecko tub out today, so I'll snap a pic of how I have mine set up. I'd give them a few more days, if it they still never go into the warm hide you could bump it down a bit, but if the male its in the middle I wouldn't worry much. Has he eaten anything yet?

(06-05-2012, 10:49 PM)Fishbone Wrote: That is almost certainly laying behavior. She its looking for a safe spot to lay the eggs. I would get a dark box, with a hole in it, and some most substrate in there as soon as possible. It is possible she could become egg-bound, though normally they will just lay them. But if she's young, especially if its her first clutch, she may spend so long looking for a place that she can't pass them.

I need to clean my gecko tub out today, so I'll snap a pic of how I have mine set up. I'd give them a few more days, if it they still never go into the warm hide you could bump it down a bit, but if the male its in the middle I wouldn't worry much. Has he eaten anything yet?

okay, ill actually move her into a tank by herself with no carpet and a lay box so she has no choice...she has seen the moist hides but has no interest in them. i havent seen the male eat, but he has been more active than the female and im sure there are a few crickets and superworms missing, i would just feel better if he passed something solid soon..

Well, you've still only had them 3 days, so no need to panic on the food yet.

And, I'm betting she wants to dig, which the hide with the moist paper towel won't allow. The most paper towels work fine for a most hide, that's what I'm using for all of my babies, but not as much for a laybox. I don't think having the carpet is it as much the problem, as it is not having a substrate to dig in.

And another thought, I use vinyl flooring for my gecko enclosures I cut it to fit, from home depot. Easy to clean, fits tight, holds heat well. I love the stuff honestly. Just make sure it doesn't have adhesive backing.

Theta a pic off a tank that has two 1 month old geckos in it. There are two hides on the right (warm) side, a most hide in the middle, and a cooler hide on the left. Bottle cap w/ calcium, viral o' mealies, and a water dish. That is my basic set up. I have the extra hide on the warm side, because I wasn't sure how they would do together.

(06-06-2012, 07:18 AM)Fishbone Wrote: Well, you've still only had them 3 days, so no need to panic on the food yet.

And, I'm betting she wants to dig, which the hide with the moist paper towel won't allow. The most paper towels work fine for a most hide, that's what I'm using for all of my babies, but not as much for a laybox. I don't think having the carpet is it as much the problem, as it is not having a substrate to dig in.

And another thought, I use vinyl flooring for my gecko enclosures I cut it to fit, from home depot. Easy to clean, fits tight, holds heat well. I love the stuff honestly. Just make sure it doesn't have adhesive backing.

okay, i seperated her into my extra 15 gallon with a container of organic soil with reptile carpet looped around it to make a tunnel, it was the quickest thing i could come up with at 10:00 pm -.- its on the warm side, is that okay? i intensified the infrared and the warm side is now reaching 90, which people on the gecko forums said is good, they said my temps were wayy too low. i also have a moist hide with paper towels on the cool side, a bowl of water, and a bowl with 3 superworms and calcium. ill be leaving the light on all night so she can properly bask. i wish i had another 15 gallon because the male does not look well. he is lethargic and finally pooped, but its all runny. i cant leave his light on all night because i only have one and the female is using it, i really dont want her to eggbind because that will be a couple hundred dollar surgery..parasites are curable. ill be making them a vet appointment hopefully tomorrow, and they will prob get me in next week, i hope the male makes it ill be running and getting another light tomorrow for him..and ill be getting heat mats on thursday.

Sounds good. Did you get a good thermometer? 86-90 is where you want the warm side. The soil should be fine. As long as she has enough room to dig. Here's the picture of my adult enclosure, the left side is the warm side. I use heat tape on this tub, no light...



I'm not sure what your room temp is at night, but definitely get some heat back on that boy. And, does he look dehydrated? Sunken eyes, wrinkly skin, etc...? It may be worth missing him in the morning if he looks that way. He may be licking water from inside the most hide too.

And another trick. I put the paper towels on the area they like to poop in, and just change them out. Saves allot of time spot cleaning.