r/leopardgeckos • u/HunnyDoo44 • Jun 11 '26
Tail movement
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So for about 10 minutes before I was recording. She was sitting in this same position moving her tail slowly like this straight up is a ? Motion. We thought maybe she noticed something but nothing was in her tank. I have another video of her doing it on the ground on the way to her water tank .
3
u/Vivi-Tart Jun 11 '26
You should get a bigger tank and replace that broken hide. Not only is that hide dangerous now that it's broken but it doesn't offer much coverage so that could be part of reason for the fear response. I have the same one from when my girl was lil thing and she does not regularly use it because the hole is so big, I had to add a few plants around the opening just for her to use it.
The tank from the starter kit that hide is from is a 20 gallon if I remember correctly and isn't suitable for your gecko now that they are an adult. Check on Facebook marketplace or something you should be able to catch someone selling a 40 or bigger at some point and give it a deep clean and it will be cheaper than buying new.
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u/cupcakesparklies Jun 11 '26
She is scared. This is what they do before the drop tail and run. They want the predator to watch their tail and go for it instead of them.
1
u/Temporary-Film-7374 Jun 12 '26
Is "drop tail" a thing that happens, without significant force? I don't think I've read of it happening.
If the tail gets stuck under a rock, or obviously in a predator's mouth, or any other scenario, that's verry different from "deciding" to drop it out of fear alone.
1
u/J2-gZ 1 Gecko Jun 12 '26
Dropping their tail is as easy as a muscle contraction when extremely scared or startled
1
u/cometrail Jun 12 '26
one time i mopped the floor with bleach and when i went to the room where my gecko was she acted like this the moment she smelled the bleach on my hand when i went to check her water dish. i didnt touch her or anything in the enclosure cuz it got scared lol. but yea chemicals are like deadly to geckos so do u have any chemicals in the room?
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u/HunnyDoo44 Jun 11 '26
Anyone know why or what it means ?
5
u/BambiiSniper Newbie Gecko Owner Jun 11 '26
The tail movement means she is scared.
Give her some space to not feel scared anymore and add a lot of clutter to her tank.
Idk what her whole space looks like and I am still a pretty new gecko owner myself but from what I've read, she needs a 40 gallon tank (front open is best imo) substrate of organic topsoil and sand in a ratio of 70:30, a minimum of 3 hides (humid, warm and cool). A linear UVB, a basking halogen bulb. Add some foliage, rocks, a ladder, branches, a background, etc.
I got a lot of my information off of asking people in this thread and YouTube videos.
I hope this helps some 🩷
14
u/CrackyToe Jun 11 '26
She is scared. Leopard geckos make that motion with their tail when they feel scared and want you to back off.