Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my juvi leopard gecko got out of his cage....im freaking out here...he got out sometime last night, and ive been looking ALL day, i scoured EVERYWHERE in the basement!!! his cage was on the ground, so it wouldnt be much of a fall (its a 20L) the top was left open, but he never goes onto the stick thats up there, but i geuss he jumped onto it and jumped out. I really need help here! we have a split basement, a small part carpeted and a larger part that is concrete floor and cobwebs and not finished and junk everywhere...the two are seperated, but there are a few little holes that lead to it, and im afraid he went there andill never find him again. What can i do? there are crickets running around in the basement, so i dont think he wil starve (he has a huge fata tail) but i gotta find him!! he wont have any heat or water or anything!!!!!! im afraid!!! is there anything i can do!??!!?!?

very distressed, david
-----
~David - KDRKreatures
My Main Herps-
1.2 Bearded dragons (Ralph, Artemis, Cheech)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Chiquito)
1.0 Black Racer Snake (Chong)
2.2 Eastern Box Turtles (Athena, Mercury, Gizmo, Galapago)
0.0.2 Leopard Geckos (Nee, Unnamed)
1.0 Ball Python (Carson)

KDRKreatures-Home Page
My Email

putting a heat mat and a dish of water on the floor, your gecko might be attracted to the heat. I’ve had my share of escaped leos, but they have always turned up. Most times I’ve found them a few minutes later, hiding under my bed. One little hatchling was missing for about a month, and he showed up late one night near my entertainment center. Get a good flashlight, and check everywhere you see shadows. Late night, or early morning would be the best times to look. Maybe this will be a good excuse to clean the basement? I ended up doing a lot of cleaning while looking for the hatchling. Keep your eyes open, and don’t give up hope. Best of luck!

DaveCable

You might be able to lure him with heat or food. You could put a jar of adults crickets on the floor, the chirping might lure him out. You could also put a human heat pad on the floor. I know whenever my leo walks across something warm, she lays down. The place with all the stuff in it, it might be a good idea to take out all that stuff and see if hes hiding somewhere in there, just be careful when moving things. Look in blankets, under everything, any place where he would take shelter. Another thing I've read is putting a dish of corn starch or something where you could see his footprints and figure out which room hes in. I'm sure you'll find him, just keep looking and dont give up, theres been times where they've survived in basements for months. Hope this helps some,
Mac

Well since he's in the basement...this probably wont help...but my little brother recently had his baby gecko escape when he was cleaning the cage...well he was gone for a good 2 weeks or so...we cleaned his room inside out, still no gecko...well the other day I was going to take a shower and his gecko turned up in the bathtub...I don't know how he got in there...but I was sooo Thankful we found him.
I would just try putting some water and heat out like the others said, after I found my little brothers I got to thinking that the bathroom would be a good place for him to hide. It was quite a walk, but w/ all the moisture and everything in the bathroom it made sense. Sorry this was so long, and I hope it helped.

Jessica

I had a very valuable gecko lost in my house for five months in winter and found her alive and well, they are very hardy creatures. I lost one that escaped a couple months ago (and found about a week later) again last week, and just found her again tonight.

Look in places where it might be wam, like by the water heater and under the dryer. Look at night, that's when it will come out.

Put a heating pad with a hide on it in the basement, and a shallow dish of water nearby. Hopefully the gecko will find it, check it at night especially.

If it makes you feel any better people are always coming in here who have lost their gecko and I don't know of even one case where the gecko wasn't found eventually, alive.

np
-----
~David - KDRKreatures
My Main Herps-
1.2 Bearded dragons (Ralph, Artemis, Cheech)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Chiquito)
1.0 Black Racer Snake (Chong)
2.2 Eastern Box Turtles (Athena, Mercury, Gizmo, Galapago)
0.0.2 Leopard Geckos (Nee, Unnamed)
1.0 Ball Python (Carson)

KDRKreatures-Home Page
My Email

Hi

I had a gecko escape from me one day and I hunted high and low for it for weeks that turned into months, and it got to be so long that I had given up hope.

I have my tanks on the floor and slightly raised at each end and a couple of them side by side. My gecko had been missing so long that I had finally lost hope of finding her, she had been missing for 8 months and I had hunted high and low for her. One day I was cleaning out my gecko tanks and I happened to have looked between the to tanks that where next to each other and I had to do a double take and thought it might be a reflection, but it wasn't and there was this geckos head peeking out from under one of the tanks. Man I tell you, I moved those two tanks so fast and grabbed her up and cryed and loved her, she was Alive!!, but very skinny and a pencil thin tail. I nursed her back to health and I still have her today.

So you see the impossible is possible. Everyone gave you great Ideas, keep an eye out under warm things and anywhere to were you gecko could possible get any kind of water.

Sincerely, TLB