Hi, I had my gecko for a bit more than half a year, and I noticed that one of the hides I bought for him, specificly the hot hide, he never goes into. Its pretty much the same as the cool hide, which is actually his favorite one to hang out. And if he does want to hide close to the hot side, there are 2 stones which he prefers to rest under. Since it takes up space he could use to enrich himself, I was wondering if there are ways to make it more attractive to him.
#Making a hide more attractive.
upbeat veldt
drifting island
Hi! Could you maybe send a picture of his hot hide and also of his other hides he has, so we can have a look at them and compare them?
marble cradle
i have the same type of hide (coconut hide) for both the cool & hot one and mine only hangs out in the hot one too, never in the cool one
drifting island
Because you mentioned that he likes to hide under the stones: Leopard geckos like small hides, so if the warm hide is too big he won't go into it if he does have a better option.
upbeat veldt
This is the hot hide he doesnt hang out in
Usually its also under a piece of bark
these are the 2 stones he hangs out in when on the hot side
this is a hide in the middle he also goes in usually
And under all of this is his favorite hide
Looks the same as the hot hide
drifting island
Yes the stones are smaller and more attractive to him. Try to change the hide to a smaller one or even better, change them to stone caves. That is the best thing you can do. Most of the hides I use in the enclosure are natural stones. They look good, are small and cozy.
I don't have a prebuilt hide in the enclosure (besides the humid hide) because they are much better than bought ones.
upbeat veldt
Alright Ill try to find some stones small enough to make a cave in that corner
drifting island
If you don't find them, you can change it to a smaller hide, that will work too.
upbeat veldt
I actually have a very small hide in the cold corner I hope he would change his pooping spot to, tho he also avoids that
drifting island
Of course the hide should not be too small, but since they even sqeeze between rocks... Maybe he doesn't like the place the hide is standing. (Temperature etc.) My leopard gecko also prefers 2 specific hides. Mine for example doesn't go often in the cold hide but sometimes he is there. It really depends on their needs.
#enclosure-building message
upbeat veldt
honestly that kinda place looks awesome but no clue how id manage to build that
Without it being unstable and dangerous
drifting island
Well you can ether include it in the background or staple the stones. If you want to be extra save you can glue them together.
upbeat veldt
the background for me is just plywood because the enclosure was made by someone Else that I got for free
Not the most well built or good looking but it does its job
drifting island
#enclosure-building message A back panel like this is made out of regular styrofoam, the protrusions were just carved into it and then painted.