We have two leopard geckos, Toto (who was born on April 3, 2018) and Cleo (who was born on June 26, 2016).
Toto
We adopted Toto in 2018 from a lady who was concerned he wasn’t developing the way he should be. The lady didn’t know her geckos mated and laid eggs so she didn’t keep the humidity in their tank at the proper level for hatching. Toto got stuck in his egg when he hatched which caused physical problems. The lady didn’t know how to help him so Tabitha took him in. Tabitha has struggled to keep weight on Toto since she brought him home. He’s energetic, but he just doesn’t seem to keep weight on his tail. Leopard geckos store fat in their tails. When they go through periods when they can’t find food, they’re hurt, or they’re stressed, their body uses the tail fat to help keep them alive. We were told that in Toto’s case, as long as he’s eating, he doesn’t have to rely on his tail fat and he’ll be okay. Toto is a social and adventurous gecko who loves to open his cage door, run across the room, and hide in the bedroom closet in the middle of the night.
Cleo
Cleo came to us in 2019 from the Humane Society. She was surrendered as a healthy gecko when her owners had to move and couldn’t take her with them. During her stay at the Humane Society, something happened to her. The workers at the Humane Society said Cleo’s hiding rock “might” have been set on her tail which “might” have caused her to drop her tail. When geckos are stressed or hurt they will drop their tails. This happens when the rings of muscles around their tails tighten. The tightening breaks the tail bones and causes the tail to fall off. It’s a defense mechanism to help them get away if they are trapped and in danger. They will also stop eating when they get stressed or hurt. Geckos need extra care and nutrition when they drop their tails so their body can regrow a new tail. Without their tails to pull fat from, it becomes dangerous when they won’t eat.
As soon as Tabitha saw Cleo’s profile online, she rushed to the Humane Society and tried to adopt her. The shelter staff told Tabitha she was welcome to put a deposit on Cleo to hold her until she was medically ready to be adopted. Tabitha was warned that if Cleo’s tail didn’t start to heal and she didn’t start to eat, she would be euthanized and the deposit would be kept as a donation to the shelter. Tabitha was worried because she knew she could help Cleo if she got the chance. After a week of pleading with the staff at the shelter, they reluctantly let Tabitha take Cleo home with the warning that she probably wouldn’t survive. At home, Tabitha gave her a heat lamp and a humid hiding place (things she didn’t have at the Humane Society). Cleo starting eating almost immediately. It took some time, but her tail grew back too. Thanks to Tabitha’s persistence, Cleo is now an energetic and social gecko with a new tail!
Food
Toto and Cleo are fed waxworms, hornworms, and superworms. Tabitha offers dubia roaches to them, but they never eat them. Toto and Cleo also have bowls of reptile calcium that they dig around in and eat. It’s so cute seeing their little footprints in the calcium and all over their enclosures!
Housing
The geckos are housed separately in glass aquariums that Tabitha turned into terrariums. The tanks have live plants and lots of hiding places. The geckos have heat mats under the outside of one side of their tank that are controlled with a thermostat. If heat mats get too hot under a glass tank, they will crack the glass and the heat will basically cook a reptile. Needless to say, we constantly monitor the thermostat to make sure it’s working.
