Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my gecko since March 2010. He did great up until a few months ago when I noticed he wasn't getting his skin off anymore. When he had dead skin on him, he wouldn't move to eat. So I have been "helping" him shed by using a warm wash cloth. I notice that he won't eat the skin that I peel off. He has also lost a lot of weight. I do not have a reptile vet near me so that is not an option. I have read through these forums and I know one thing I must correct immediately, I have a screen lid with a heating lamp sitting to one side and UVB lamp across the back so no humidity staying in the tank. Also, will someone explain this moist hide to me. I am not familiar with that. Please offer any advice to help my Bob, the whole family loves him. He is very friendly and likes to be held.
Thanks for any help.

we need a little more history on your animal, but a humid hide is a must in my opinion. it is as simple as buying the little sterelite sandwich containers and cutting an entry hole into it. fold up three papertowels and pour water on them untill they are satruated. put it on the hot side and thats it. i would also reccomend an under tank heating element also. has anything else changed?

Please tell me what else you need to know. I mean this sincerely b/c I think I am losing him quickly. Nothing has changed. I do have a screen lid where I sit the heating lamp to one side and there is a UVB lamp across the back, these are set on a 12 hour timer. He has two rocks that he can hide in, one larger with moss in it, the other smaller. He has a water bowl. I try and alternate crickets and meal worms. He was pooping in one corner until about a month ago and now he is pooping all over his cage. Oh yeah, there is that lizard carpet in the bottom of his 10 gallon glass tank. I have been trying to give him something that PetSmart sold me called Reptile Boost.
I am freaking out about what to do!! He is going downhill very quickly. Anything at all you can tell me to give him a fighting chance I will do it.
He was great and healthy for the first year so I felt good, now I feel like crap!
Thanks in advance for anything.

i would set it up with tile or something like paper towels as bedding. under tank heater instead of the light for heat. i dont know why he would suddenly go down hill so fast unless he got parasites from crickets, or may have eaten the repti carpet. without knowing what he is eating, and the specifics of his care and what may have changed, its really hard to say. im sorry it took me a while to respond back to you and i hope i am not too late, but i only get on here so often. you can email me at rickmoss95@yahoo.com for quicker responces...i try to check it once a day. hopefully we can figure this out and get him back on track. anyways i wish you luck and i will do all i can to help you out. sorry more experienced leopard keepers have not chimed in, but this forum seems really slow. please email me and let me know how things are going! good luck

get rid of the heat light and use a heating pad,a moist hide is something that they hide in that is more humid than their cage. it could be as simple as a butter bowl with a lid,a hole cut in the side and damp paper towle.
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PetCo always sets up their geckos as desert animals with no humidity. Yes they are arid-dwelling animals, but they stay underground so much of the time where humidity is more constant and more moderate rather than low.

They also get heat from the ground absorbing it and radiating it up at night.

Use a plastic food container, hole in the lid, and place in moist sphagnum moss or moist paper towels. Let it dry out somewhat periodically before misting it again. Place one end of this container over a heat pad (use a lamp dimmer to control the heat) or partially under your overhead heater. But UTH's are probably best for these geckos. I've used ceramic heat emitters with success, but I think UTH is the way to go for leopard geckos.

Plastic boxes with reduced ventilation are better than full screen tops. A simple plastic storage box with some holes poked in (soldering iron works nicely) is super. I quit doing that recently and use a hole saw to cut a 2" hole in the lid, then a glue on a piece of aluminum screen over the hole using clear silicon adhesive smeared around the edge of the screen. Works really well.

Good luck. They are amazingly hardy when they have the right conditions most of the time. Also dust the food with vitamins, makes a big difference.
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Mark