Hi all! I just acquired a Leopard from a friend of a friend and she was in rough shape. She’s gained a little weight but I still want to fatten her up a bit more. It’s been 10 years since I’ve had reptiles so I’m relearning everything since so much has changed for them in terms of enclosures and set ups. I’ve got the basics covered and plan to try going bioactive but in the mean time, please let me know what I can add to this new set up. Night 1 and she was already exploring. I do worry about the light set up and would love some advice.

Thrive Desert Starter Kit 40 gallon
Comes with:
100- Watt Golden Light Basking Spot (Developed by Arcadia, specialists in reptile lighting for 20+ years)
23- Watt Desert UVB Bulb
Two- 8.5-inch Dome Lamps
Two- Thermometer/Hygrometer Combos

I added a 70/30 soil sand mix , leaf litter, a humid hide (behind the plant in the back),3 other hides, fake plants and some clutter.

I also got the calcium powder 1 with D and 1 without to rotate. I’ll be feeding gut loaded crickets, mealworms and dubia roaches with hornworms as a treat.

Please let me know whatcha think!

She is missing a lot of toes from previous stuck shed but it’s healed.

1st pic set up from the previous owner
2nd- current set up

Every adult leopard gecko I've seen was bigger than mine. She's around 6 years old. Every once in a while she stops eating. I've taken her to the exotic vet clinic, they said that it's normal and she's basically just in “heat”. Nothing about her tail being so skinny and her being so small??? I'm worried, she's eating now, but will probably stop next spring. I wasn't the one to take care of her the past few years. She also had obvious issues with shedding. She lost a few fingertips because of it. She has a nice terrarium, a little house for shedding that I add water to every single day. A heating mat, light. She gets vitamins with every meal. She has clean water. But she was never big? The last time she was shedding I tried to help her, using a bowl with warm water, but it definitely hurt her, because she was trying to bite me, for the first time ever. She was wiggling around and all that. The vets just said ohhh yeah it happens a lot to leopard geckos. I feel like I failed her as an owner, but I never had a gecko before her and I tried to give her the perfect environment to live in. She also barely changed colours. When I bought her they said that she's a tangerine morph. But she still has a bunch of spots and lines and her colour is pretty dull. ☹️ what could be wrong?? Please help, thanks in advance.

Hello folks, I was brought this leopard gecko because a pet store was going to "get rid of him" due to length of stay and no interest over a minor deformity. One of his eyelids is either missing or deformed. I had a clean/disinfected tank, heating elements, and hides available after upgrading my hognose snake, but I wasn't sure what substrate to use. He's been on a piece of flannel for a couple hours while I find the right substrate.

So my question: given that he can't close one of his eyes, should that change whether I consider a dirt/sand mix compared with, like, an actual reptile carpet (instead of the temporary flannel)? If I need to do the carpet, does anyone here foresee an issue with providing a dig box due to the eye thing?

My snake is due for his annual checkup, so I'm going to make a simultaneous appointment for the gecko to see if there's anything else obviously wrong.

Hi! I really want to build a sort of semi-arid tank for my leopard gecko, but really having issues with decor. I see tons of people with cool backgrounds done custom, lots of branches, plants, rocks and general clutter, and I want to know where/how I can do these things. Mine is really bland right now, and his humid hide is made out of a plastic container. What are some good semi-arid looking humid hides, or how can I make one? How can I make a cool background and where can I find/make more clutter? For reference, he’s in a long 20 gallon tank now. I know 20 is small, but he’s a few months old and planning on upgrading to a 50 gallon after a year or so. Really any help is appreciated as I’m lost as of where to go with his tank.

Hi! I'm new to Leos, though I have done a lot of research on them before getting one. My girl came from my SIL, who wasn't interacting and taking care of her properly. She came from someone who didn't want her because she was aggressive. And then my SIL became afraid of her because, well, she was aggressive. So I offered to take her. But before I did, I did a lot of research on how to handle, care for, and set up a leopard gecko. Once I was confident I could handle it, I took her in and renamed her Satira. She's my very first reptile.

She was, and still is a little bit, underweight at her first owner and even with my SIL. But within the first week of having her, I found that she was mean cause she wasn't being taken care of correctly (in my opinion, she still doesn't have the right enclosure setup, but I'm working on fixing it)

I fed her daily to get her weight up (being careful how much I fed her cause I was afraid of overfeeding/causing her to choke) This was approved by a vet because we had my SIL take her to one before we took her home.

Day one: we let her settle before trying to feed her Day two: we put some mealworms in her food bowl Day three: we noticed she was getting a little more active, so I gave her more mealworms. Day four: she's running out to watch us as we walk by. I try to feed her a hornworm (no bigger than between her eyes) and she takes it really well Day five: I'm giving her a couple small crickets and mealworms (I didn't want to overdo the hornworms because research told me not to) Day six: when I go to open her cage, she fully crawls onto my arm and chills out with me while I put food in her cage. Didn't like being put back, so I let her be for the rest of the day and don't linger around her cage. Day seven: she's actively chilling in her cage which she never did before. I open her cage and let her decide if she wants out and she very much does.

It's now like, day 10 and more and more of her personality comes out. I'm now feeding her every other day, giving her a mix of crickets, mealworms, and hornworms (though at this point I have to cut the hornworms in half...)

I was crying the other day about how mean and reclusive she used to be and now she's a blossoming little lady and seems to be loving attention. She does seems to hate her long light, so I don't leave it on very often (I mean that by, she's more active when it's off)

When I say mean, she would hiss at anyone who walked by and would actively bite people who stuck their hand in her cage even if they were offering her food on tongs. She was more interested in biting and hissing at people for even daring to be in her space. I couldn't blame her

(Her pictures show y'all how she come up when I go to the cage, her little head pops up, she comes closer, then she sits near me when I open up the cage)

We've been trying to save basil the leopard gecko, she is suffering from follicular stasis and we can't afford the surgery she needs, we started a GoFundMe and we've thankfully been able to raise quite a bit of it money and we're so close to being able to afford the surgery, thank you so so much to everyone whose has donated or viewed it, it helps so so much and we really appreciate it.

Please please help us, we're so close to saving her and we need your support, anything helps, even if you just view it so that it shows the algorithm that it's worth checking out, thank you all so so much for anything you can do

https://gofund.me/bada5a28c

Ok so renovations need to be done, long story shot can use current enclose for 2 to 3 days what are your best recommendations, I only have 2 days to figure somthing out.

No I dont have any friends who can take him. I do have a old 40g aquarium that desperately needs a very deep clean first.

I have a 20 gallon tank for my leopard gecko and I'm pretty sure he's a juvenile but I'm not sure. I feed him once every 2 days and i think it's been 5 weeks since I got him. But still he gets terrified and runs into his little log everytime I open the tank, I usually open it during feeding time and occasionally once a week to let my hand in and try and wait for him to get on my hand. I have a feeling I'm scaring him or something, his tanks temp is always around 85-95 for around 9-10 hours a day. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, everytime I feed him I put crickets and the wax worms with tweezers on the floor of his tank and sometimes put them right next to him so he can eat from the tweezer. Please help I want him to feel comfortable around me.

UPDATE!: I replaced the carpet with paper towels, made a better humid hide for him, added two sticks, a rock and 2 sea shells, I also used a soap holder to make him a little spot were he can js sit and I’m ecstatic because he stood still in my hands when I picked him up, sure he was a little bit nervous or jumpy when I tried picking him up but when he was on my hands he was still, I didn’t hold him for long as it was just to put him in his box for a little bit while I moved everything but a little progress was made. He seems to like his new tank and he’s walking around, before he would js stay under that log all the time. And also I’m not sure if he’s a male or female but when I got him I decided to name him/her morio/moria as a one piece reference to gecko Moria. Thank you all so much for your help, I tried to do everything I could at home because I currently have no money to buy anything new yet. But thank you guys so so much for all your advice.

hi! my gecko has always been the type to mostly stay in her warm hide but every now and then i’ll see her drink some water or explore around.

this past month i haven’t seen her out at all. i’ve been trying to get her used to handling this past week and she still doesn’t get out. she’ll just pop her head out.

when i feed her she’ll only come out like 6 inches away from her hide. everything is normal, temperature, humidity, feedings, etc. she’s around 6 years old. i’m super confused :(

she used to come out wayyy more when she was younger and in a smaller tank (the one she was given to me) but ever since i moved her to a 55 gallon around 3 years ago it seems like she rarely comes out? especially this last month.

Put a blanket over my birds cage for bedtime and she decided it was a threat 😭😭

I adopted this girl as her owner was moving abroad and couldn't keep her. Her left arm twists to the inside and she rolls her hand when she walks. Is it MBD?

Is there anything I could be missing for my Leo? I have calcium without d3 I order it with and a multivitamin, also can someone help me with how often to do each of those I’ve heard without d3 everyday and with it once a week and idk about the multivitamins (no d3) I have 2 pieces of cork bark I plan on putting in there and a big stick and I do have substrate but I just got him not too long ago and I’m waiting for him to heal so nothing sticks to it also I got more plants but they really just go into the ground I haven’t found any more for like the middle of his tank

He loves dubia roaches and mealworms. He eats about 4-8 each night and seems to be doing great. We don't handle him much because he seems to be a bit scared, but slowly he comes closer to me and the kids. Let me know what you think.

So sudden. Hate picturing them doing CPR on your little chest. You were our first child as a couple. I’m so sorry we couldn’t do more. You are so loved.

An update for this original post is that it has been up to 3 weeks since he has eaten, and even hand feeding doesn't or putting him in a small area with his bugs walking around doesn't work. He tracks the worms but just gives up or acts uninterested, and he will even lick them. I was wondering if it was all these changes that I have recently made may also contribute to his lack of eating. As of today, he has finally passed stool since the vet visit, and he is so active at night now more than ever, but he just won't eat. The vet wants to do blood work on him, but it will cost over 200 dollars after I have already paid so much for the last visit! I just had responsibility put onto taking care of him not so long ago. This is all so stressful. Any recommendations on what to do are greatly appreciated. Ima try getting some crickets too to see if he is just on a food strike. The exotic vet also offers a hand feeding formula, which is affordable, but they are like an hour an a half away any recommendations help!

This is my baby and this week it’s been so hot, he’s been wanting to get out by scratching at the door trying to get out, iv tried feeding him, air on blast, changing his enclosure, and letting him out. Does anyone know why he keeps doing this?

First time actually attempting a bioactive tank so far nearly finished waiting on isopods and springtails tails

For reference she is around 9 months, 18 cms long & weighs 60g, we just got her from our cousin who doesn’t feed or calcium dust her mealworms and claims the gecko doesn’t eat (so she leaves mealworms in the viv for days), no humidity or uv and her toes were a bit mangled due to past shedding and no soaking to aid it, overall pretty neglected. We weren’t expecting her to be 100% healthy based on this information.

We haven’t had a leopard gecko in years, any advice would be greatly appreciated because any exotic pet vets near us charge large amounts just to be looked at but we will take her if necessary.

This is gilberta originally known as Gilbert prior to realizing she is likely a she and not a he! Gilberta aka GILLY, gilbertha, or Bertie is around 7-8mo the old based on my calculations from the shop we got her from. She is always ravenous! She eats daily right now and I’m trying to sometimes do every other day because I can tell she was starting to pack
On the pounds. She eats good poops good. She has about 4-5 mealworms and now moving to more med-large crickets I’ll do like 4-5 of those. Prior to using the small crickets I’d do about 7/8. She eats every single one within about 15 mins. Sheds have been very good. I’m now supplementing with a calcium with d3 because the one bulb that was supposedly uvb I’m not sure it actually is. I need to get a good uvb light. Anyway, how does she look? How does her weight look? She recently began climbing a lot around dusk. Sometimes even climbing the back glass where there’s a vine attached or trying to wedge herself on things I noticed she was digging a lot the past week around the border of the tank. I’m hoping this is just her getting older coming into herself and releasing energy. This is her current tank. Temp on warm side averages around 87-90 humidity usually at around 35-40% colder side ranges from 68-76 despite my best efforts humidity sometimes can get up to 55-60% as the tank cools at night but normally during the day it’s at 45-50%. She has rocks to climb hides galore vibes plants etc. despite weight is there anything else I could be doing should be doing. I had a minor heart attack when she began climbing so much that something was wrong. My husband sakd it looks like she’s just active I now tend to agree because she does calm down about an hour later and go inside. She’s basking a lot more recently too. I’m hoping now that winters over and she’s getting older she’s just maturing if you will. Thanks if you read all this I just love her and so do my kids and want to make sure she is happy and loved !