New leopard gecko mom questions!!!

[compassrose26]

Hey y'all!
I added to the "Hannah's Dorm Room Zoo" again I picked up an adult leopard gecko yesterday from a lady on craigslist that couldn't take care of him anymore. She gave me what she said was everything he needed but I definitely have a few questions.
She sad she's had him four years and got him from someone before that. I'm assuming he's been living on Sand the entire time, which I know isn't ideal. Is just the tank with no substrate OK?
He also looks like he has a problem with his foot
I also included a picture of the things she gave me. Not sure if they are good or not!
The enclosure definitely needs some work. I have a heating pad under one side that I turn on at night and a light on the other side for the day. I'm also assuming he needs a water dish? Idk!
Lastly, I can't decide on a name. Right now I like Smeagle (golem), Kevin, Atlas, Leonardo, and Thaddeus.

 

[lisa127]

Well, he looks pretty healthy. But his toes need some help. Let me first address the husbandry issues. Get rid of that heat lamp with the white light. You don't need it. He needs an undertank heater that covers about 1/3 of the floor space and that is it for heat (24 hours a day) . No lighting at all. You want his floor temps (check with temperature gun) to be around 90 degrees. No higher than 93 and no lower than 88. That is on the warm side obviously. Cool side somewhere in the 70's. Get rid of the sand and use paper towels or newspaper to line the floor. Oh, and I do not personally like the UTH's from the pet store as they get so hot. If you go with one of those use a thermostat. I use ultratherm heat pads from reptile basics and they don't run sooo hot. I do use a rheostat though to turn it up or down as needed. He needs a cool side hide, a warm side hide, and a humid hide which I personally keep in the middle of the enclosure. I dust every time I feed with Repashy calcium plus for leopard geckos. That is all that is needed if you use the repashy. Which I see you do have. As for the toes, soak him in enough tepid water to just cover his feet for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then use a q tip to try to gently rub that off his toes. If that doesn't work you can use blunt tweezers to help get it off. He will lose his toes if they get constricted. Feel free to ask any other questions.

Oh, he has trouble shedding because it looks like he has no humid hide. Make sure to make him one. If you like, I can post a pic of my enclosure though it is pretty basic...nothing fancy.

 

[compassrose26]

Re: RE: New leopard gecko mom questions!!!

Well, he looks pretty healthy. But his toes need some help. Let me first address the husbandry issues. Get rid of that heat lamp with the white light. You don't need it. He needs an undertank heater that covers about 1/3 of the floor space and that is it for heat (24 hours a day) . No lighting at all. You want his floor temps (check with temperature gun) to be around 90 degrees. No higher than 93 and no lower than 88. That is on the warm side obviously. Cool side somewhere in the 70's. Get rid of the sand and use paper towels or newspaper to line the floor. Oh, and I do not personally like the UTH's from the pet store as they get so hot. If you go with one of those use a thermostat. I use ultratherm heat pads from reptile basics and they don't run sooo hot. I do use a rheostat though to turn it up or down as needed. He needs a cool side hide, a warm side hide, and a humid hide which I personally keep in the middle of the enclosure. I dust every time I feed with Repashy calcium plus for leopard geckos. That is all that is needed if you use the repashy. Which I see you do have. As for the toes, soak him in enough tepid water to just cover his feet for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then use a q tip to try to gently rub that off his toes. If that doesn't work you can use blunt tweezers to help get it off. He will lose his toes if they get constricted. Feel free to ask any other questions.

Oh, he has trouble shedding because it looks like he has no humid hide. Make sure to make him one. If you like, I can post a pic of my enclosure though it is pretty basic...nothing fancy.

Awesome, thank you so much!!

 

[lisa127]

You are welcome!

A great forum is geckoforums.net

 

[Amanda1]

You could use slate tile for the floor as well. It looks more natural (if you're in to that sort of thing) and holds heat really nicely. Lisa covered everything else.

 

[T33's Torts]

Their feet do that when their 'shed' doesn't come completely off their toes..

 

[compassrose26]

So nobody is answering me on the gecko forum and I still have a question. He has a little ball of dead skin on the end of his tail, too. I've been soaking it just like his toes but it hasn't helped much. Today I noticed a little bit of an open wound, too just a little one on the end of his tail but it was bleeding a little. I soaked it for 10 minutes and put some topical ointment on it then covered it with a little part of a bandaid that I cut to fit. I don't know what else to do! I really don't want him to drop his tail. I don't have a lot of pictures but you can kind of see the dead skin.

---

He fell asleep on me in the car

 

[james1974]

Re: RE: New leopard gecko mom questions!!!

Well, he looks pretty healthy. But his toes need some help. Let me first address the husbandry issues. Get rid of that heat lamp with the white light. You don't need it. He needs an undertank heater that covers about 1/3 of the floor space and that is it for heat (24 hours a day) . No lighting at all. You want his floor temps (check with temperature gun) to be around 90 degrees. No higher than 93 and no lower than 88. That is on the warm side obviously. Cool side somewhere in the 70's. Get rid of the sand and use paper towels or newspaper to line the floor. Oh, and I do not personally like the UTH's from the pet store as they get so hot. If you go with one of those use a thermostat. I use ultratherm heat pads from reptile basics and they don't run sooo hot. I do use a rheostat though to turn it up or down as needed. He needs a cool side hide, a warm side hide, and a humid hide which I personally keep in the middle of the enclosure. I dust every time I feed with Repashy calcium plus for leopard geckos. That is all that is needed if you use the repashy. Which I see you do have. As for the toes, soak him in enough tepid water to just cover his feet for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then use a q tip to try to gently rub that off his toes. If that doesn't work you can use blunt tweezers to help get it off. He will lose his toes if they get constricted. Feel free to ask any other questions.

Oh, he has trouble shedding because it looks like he has no humid hide. Make sure to make him one. If you like, I can post a pic of my enclosure though it is pretty basic...nothing fancy.

Well said lisa,that is absolutely perfect and what I would recommend as well I use newspaper for the bottom but paper towels work to..I also keep a water dish to very shallow dish like from a plastic jar or something similar maybe 1/4 to 1/2 deep at most...

 

[Randi]

You must assist in removing the skin once it's moist. When it dries, it tightens. The more it does this, the less circulation in these areas and they tend to fall off.
Don't cover the area as this can allow for bacteria to grow. You must let it dry out or you risk infection.

You can purchase aids at pet stores to help ease the skin off while they soak. Like Repti-Aid Shedding Spray or ExoTerras bath time soak. Don't pull on the shed at the end of the tail. The tail will likely remain, that little retained shed will come off with proper humidity. The gecko may be biting at this to remove it and that could be the little wound you are seeing.
I use tupperware containers, cut a hole for them to walk in, fill it with paper towels and mist inside. Keep it over a heating pad to create humidity inside the box. Inexpensive and can be replaced easily. Hope to have helped.