Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Was feeding my son's brand new leopard gecko. They are ground dwelling from what I understand, he crawled from my hand to my shoulder while I was cleaning his tank and putting cricks in. When I was done, (perhaps 30 seconds) he was not on my shoulder. I took my sweater off...carefully.... Not THERE!!! GONE!!! I tore up the entire room last night...Didn't sleep.

1) How long can he last without his habitate?!?!?!

2) How can I lure him out from where he is?!?!?!

3) Where else should I look?!?!?!

HELP HELP!!! My son comes home today from the hospital. He has been recovering from cancer therapy and this was his new best friend.

they will climb but i guess you found that out. As long as your house is above 70 he should be fine for a few days. At that point dehydration is the enemy. Look for low dark places. whenever i get escapes they always crawl in my closet because it's dark and looks like a small cave. Try under dressers, cabinets, the bed. any low dark place first. be careful when lifting things so that you do not crush the little guy if you lift from the corner. Hope this helps. -phillip

p.s. it's chameleonphill@hotmail.com if you ever need to talk cancer, it gets rough sometimes.

Can't say I've ever lost one. 90% or more of the time he is going to be on the floor, or relatively low. Not saying there isn't possibility that he isn't somewhere high, but that is unlikely. Good luck and keep us posted.

Hopefully he didn't scurry underneath a refrigerator or something difficult to move. I can see them attracted to that area because it is dark and warm. So maybe try to block off access to the refrigerator right away.

I heard of somebody using tin foil to help find an escaped gecko. I think that tin foil was placed in areas that a gecko may have to walk across to get around - such as in doorways and hallways. Eventually you may hear a crinkling sound as the gecko walks across the tin foil and you may locate him.

What I would do is close all the doors (put towels under them if there is a large gap that a gecko could squeeze under. I would go room by room, carefully lifting furniture and checking closets. If your house is fairly clean it shouldn't be hard to find him. If one of mine escaped into my house, it would take HOURS to find it because our house is so cluttered.

Good luck - I hope you find the little guy. Let us know if things turn out.
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-Kristin

0.2.2 Leopard Geckos
(Kumquat, Tamale, Jujube, and Nougat)

I sure hope you don't have any predatory animals..

My cats tear fence lizards to shreds, i'd hate to see what they'd do to a Leo. They've even had a go at my 5' corn on my shoulder once!

I had my son's disappear on me twice. Once I found it the next day UNDER the back edge of the couch cushion IN THE CRACK. Boy was he happy when I found him that time. The next time was in my son's room and it was hiding in the bed covers. Anyplace big enough for it to get into is a definite possibility. They may be ground dwelling but I can tell you from experience they can climb anything that has texture (bed clothes, sofas, curtains, anything fabric or at an angle) remember it did climb up your arm to your shoulder. They don't usually jump very far, but they can fall, and they're quick little things when they want to be.
Good Luck
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**Kenn**

thois is a really bad week for moms and geckos...I was cleaning out the tank fo my sons and lifted the hide to get him out and dropped it on his tail! (yes it does look like hes gonna loose it) now i have to tell him when he comes home from school today... I really hope you find hom our beardie got out once and he went straight for the refridgerator beacause it was warm and dark I got a flashlight and shone it under wehre i could see him and slid a fly swatter under it kinda beside him and pulled it out when he climbed on it it took a lot of patience though both waiting for him to came out and pulling it out because i didnt want to startle him.
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Mike & Wendy

2.0.0 Siberian husky, Jackrussel/schitzu
0.0.1 Ball Python
1.0.1 Leopard Gecko
1.0.0 Beardie
4.0.0 Beta's
3.1.0 Future Herper's