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HELP! I don't know what happened but basically I didn't do anything to my gecko(it's a female albino leopard gecko); I put some of it's food in a little early so I could go to a friends house and it wouldn't miss it's meal; When I came back one of it's toes on it's front left leg was missing! I don't know what happened becasue before I left it was perfectly fine and when I came back the toe was gone! In place of it a black scab-type thing which is hard to the touch...would it have anything to do with the fact that I had 3 crickets & about 5 mealworms in the cage at the same time?! Please help!

P.S. Do you think I should take it back to petsmart since my guaranty is not yet up?

Im not so sure that a cricket could eat a whole toe that quickly.
Im not even sure if it would try..someone else may be able to answer that.
But did the gecko have any shed skin on its toe that didnt come off?
I doubt PetSmart would replace it unless that is what happened and the shed skin was there when you bought it.
But you could try. I personally wouldnt, a leo can function fine with the loss of one toe, unless infection sets in.
So im not sure what to tell you, but you could try taking it back to PetSmart if that is what you want to do.
Good luck

Crystal

No, it completely shed a few days ago and I made sure all of it's skin came off. Personally I doubted that a cricket would do that to her also but I wasn't sure because this is my first gecko. Do you think it might have gotten caught on a part of the wood I have in her cage? It is like bark in the shape of a half circle with the darkest part on the outside. I know often times, if it gets a bit cool; she will climb on top of it and 'sun' (because the heating lamp is on that side of the cage). Do you think it could have caught on the bark and ripped off or something of that sort?

Hard to say, couldve been anything.
check your enclosure..see if you find a toe..other than that, im not sure.
Sometimes it is hard to see the shed skin on their toes.
Do some inspecting..maybe you'll figure it out and it wont happen again.

Good luck.
Crystal

I'm not sure how it happened, but I know I bought a baby patternless about a week ago, and it is missing a toe, and was missing on when I got it...she is still very beautiful, and it does not effect her in any way. i think your gecko will be fine...mine is. I would doubt it was a cricket, I've had like 6 or 7 crickets in with mine, and she is fine. It might have got caught like you said, but as for taking her back, I personally wouldn't because they are fine missing a toe...I asked this same question awhile ago...that is what everybody told me.

I hve a question though....Will the toe grow back? i have heard of other types of lizards being able to grow back body parts but I am not sure about geckos.

PS Is there a way I can check for infection or keep it from bing infected?

No...the toe will not grow back.
Tails will grow back, but not toes.

about how the toe came off, if there wasnt any shed left on it. A word of advice though, dont leave any crickets around, for one they annoy the hell out of the gecko and second they can and will get hungry and munch on your gecko, doesnt seem realistic but it does happen.

Are you sure about that?! I've never heard of that happeneing before but I guess it would make sense....most of the time though I keep my mealworms in their cage with a slice of apple and a bit of 'mealworm chow' and if the crickets get hungry they normally eat the mealworm's food.

And besides, crickets make a mess and annoy the geckos. I was talking about crickets not mealworms, if you thought i ment mealies.

It doesn't seem right but they tried to on mine. And I'v heard that leaving them in can be VERY dangerous with a sick/young/old gecko.

Well, my gecko is only a few months old; and thanks for telling me not to leave the crickets in her cage! I just removed them and before she had been acting jumpy and stressed and she seems to have calmed down. Although I have to ask, since I feed her at about 6 or 6:30 PM should I leave the crickets in overnight or when should I take them out? In a few hours?

Also, does anyone know if about 80 to 85 degrees on the hot side is warm enough for the gecko? That is what it's temperature is and I was wondering if I should also get a heatpad...

try to boost the temp up to atleast 85 prefferably 88-90. When you feed her, just give her whats she'll eat then, and then take them out. Dont leave them in, she'll hate them crawling all over her and making a mess. If the reason you wanna leave em in is becuase you want her to have something to eat at night, buy some mealworms and leave em in a bowl for her. These wont annoy or hurt her and most geckos will take them. Good Luck
MaC