Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my buddy since he was three months old. He's six months old now. For the past couple of days, I've noticed he's looking like he's starting to shed (turning whitish) and hasn't eaten. Surely he has shed before this? I've never noticed it, though.

Anyway, I have a moist hide for him, but he is still hanging out in his favorite dry old coconut shell. How long after he starts to get white will he shed? He has always had such a voracious appetite that it worries me when he doesn't even glance at a wiggly mealworm.

I never thought I'd go so crazy over a lizard. I usually let him crawl all over me, but my neighbor said not to pick him up when he's about to shed, because it will hurt him. Is that true?

Also . . . if I post a picture of him "underneath", can someone here tell me if he's a "he"?

Usually from the time you notice your gecko being pale to when you notice him being brightly colored post-shed should be about a day or maybe two at the outside. Handling him during this period may annoy him, but shouldn't do any actual harm unless you're tightly gripping him or something. As far as care goes, make sure his humid hide is humid and his water bowl is full. Other than that, nothing special during shed. It is common for them to refuse food for that day or two. Don't worry about it though, he'll start eating again immediately afterward.

As far as sexing him goes, if "he" is 6 months old, it might not be completely clear. You're of course welcome to post pics and we'll see if we can tell, but at that age, there are no guarantees. If you do post a pic, try to get it in as good of focus as possible; one of the signs of a gecko being male is a v-shaped row of pores near the vent, and those can be very hard to see in a blurry photo. If your camera has a macro mode, use it.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

It is normal for them to not eat during this time so don't worry. If you don't see him going in the moist hide during shedding maybe you could moistion the substrate under the coconut so that he don't lose his toes. I personally mist mine with water and then put them in the moist hide.

I forgot about sexing you can't tell by looking at it from the top you have to check between it's legs and see if there are 2 buldges below his vent and if theres a line of pores that looks to be an upside down V above the vent between the hind legs. The pores maybe very light due to its age but will darken with age. If you google sexing leopard geckos the first site has a great picture