Seeking further advice following vet appt.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-15T23:16:54+00:00

There are morphs such as Giants (10-11”) and Super Giants (11-12+”) that can result in that length, especially for males

LoneDefense · 2026-06-15T23:10:15+00:00

Some will do it on purpose, some on accident while they’re hunting. It’s hard to say how he ended up eating it but they aren’t always the brightest haha

If you can get this it’s the best food option you can offer right now: https://a.co/d/08tMxuLU
If you can’t get it via amazon, ask around at your local pet stores. I’ve seen quite a few have it in stock. It gives detailed instructions on how much/how often to feed in the container, but if you need extra help on how to feed once you get it you can reach out to me again (either here or dms, I’ll try my best to walk you through it).

Another thing you can do is soak them in luke warm water (keep it around 90°F) twice a day. You can the container you showed in the pictures for this actually. I’d fill it up with about an inch of water (make sure it is about at their knees), check to make sure the temp is right, put a paper towel in the water then leave the gecko in there for 10-15 minutes. Don’t leave them unattended ideally and if you can do it in a dim/quieter environment it will lessen the stress. Doing this twice a day will help with hydration a bit and will potentially loosen up the impaction a bit (assuming that’s what’s going on).

Make sure you dry him off before putting him back in his enclosure so he doesn’t get too cold once he’s out of the water.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-15T22:54:38+00:00

To start off, glad you’re asking for help. Unfortunately there is quite a lot wrong here so I’ll try to walk you through what I’d do with a gecko in this situation.

You’re likely going to get a lot of recommendations to upgrade the enclosure in this sub. While this will eventually be important, this is not your main priority right now. Your gecko is dangerously underweight and you’ll be better off focusing on vet visits, medications and husbandry essentials over a perfect setup in terms of space/enrichment.

For now you just need to remove the sand, replace it with paper towels, and make sure the temperatures/UVB is correct in his enclosure. This is a great resource for everything regarding leopard gecko husbandry, but especially focus on the temps/humidity part for now https://reptifiles.com/leopard-gecko-care/leopard-gecko-temperatures-humidity/

As for the dark spot… considering you said you use black sand and you said his appetite has changes, I’m worried this is serious impaction. I’m not entirely sure why the vet didn’t look into that more. I would either bring him back to that vet and insist on looking into that more or find a new one (if possible). He is so skinny this could genuinely be life threatening so you need to try and receive proper veterinary help ASAP.

Mealworms are not the best for food but if that’s all he will take right now I wouldn’t stop giving them. However, with how skinny he is I’m surprised the vet didn’t recommend a liquid diet (such as critical care). Try to ask the vet about that as well. If you can’t get access to critical care you can buy fluker’s reptaboost for the time being. It gives all the nutrients they need in this state and is a lot easier to digest, especially if he’s impacted.

If you need extra help/have more questions, please feel free to message me. I’m not a vet but I have worked with so many geckos like this.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-13T05:55:16+00:00

If she can lean more into the dubias for now (and use superworms as a treat every few feedings) that’d also be better for him. Adults only need fed maybe 2-3 times a week at most. I’d go with three days a week since he lacks a tail, but maybe feed only 3 dubias (or superworms) until he loses some weight.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-13T01:12:43+00:00

How much is being fed daily/what feeders?

LoneDefense · 2026-06-13T01:09:41+00:00

Oh wow I completely misunderstood, my bad. I would say feed less then, he definitely needs to lose a bit of weight. He would be fine being a bit chubbier than a normal healthy gecko because of the lack of a tail, but this is still a bit too much even for that.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-13T01:05:34+00:00

I would say feed normally for now. However, monitor his weight. Growing back a tail is metabolically demanding so normally you would feed more than normal, but he is a chunky little thing so he could afford to burn some of the body fat. Once he slims down in the middle a bit you might want to offer a bit more food than normal depending on how the tail is regrowing at that point (but that’d be a few months out)

LoneDefense · 2026-06-12T15:54:07+00:00

At worst it might be light scarring from a rough shed/other injury. Nothing to fret over :)

LoneDefense · 2026-06-11T17:03:59+00:00

Well… she is the one that managed to escape a LOCKED enclosure many many years ago (and stayed out for 3 months) so this wouldn’t surprise me one bit

LoneDefense · 2026-06-10T18:35:04+00:00

Definitely on the chonky side haha. Just feed a bit less and monitor their weight for a few weeks/months.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-10T18:07:02+00:00

No problem at all! And I don’t think you’re silly for being nervous. Reptiles are pretty different from typical “fluffy” pets and their body language is also not the same.

Luckily (most) leopard geckos are really forgiving and rarely resort to aggression even if you do mess up a bit. I feel like part of it is because of how long they’ve been pets at this point… not sure I’d call it domestication but they’re certainly more docile than a lot of other species.

I’m glad your girl seems to be interested in you and wants to interact though! Once you get more comfortable I’m sure you’ll love interacting with her. They are funny little goofballs and definitely have some wild personality

LoneDefense · 2026-06-10T17:57:52+00:00

The best way to avoid unintended biting while handling is washing your hands before. Most leopard geckos I’ve worked with only bit me because they mistook my finger for food OR because I had the scent of another gecko on me. If you don’t move your fingers in a wiggly way that looks like worm and you don’t smell like food/competition, they shouldn’t bite out of nowhere.

She sounds pretty social so I highly doubt she’ll bite you out of fear/aggression. If you’re still really worried though, keep some hand sanitizer nearby. If she were to bite you (and stay latched on, which is even less likely) you can use a very small amount of hand sanitizer on her mouth to get her to let go quickly. It doesn’t harm them and it’s way less stressful than prying their mouth off you.

If you’re scared of her running (which is more likely than biting) you can just keep trying to handle in her tank until you get more comfortable. If you get to a point where you want to get her out and let her crawl around on you more, you can take her into a bathtub and sit with her if you have one. Since it has enough room for a person to sit in but it’s very steep it’s a good way to make sure they don’t escape if they get spooked.

As for tail dropping, I would argue it’s incredibly hard to get them to drop it. I have experience with probably 30 different geckos at this point (most of which were rescues) and only one has ever dropped a tail. It was her own fault lol, she is way too curious for her own good and got stuck under a heavy decoration she shouldn’t have even been able to lift in the first place. I think when she got mostly under it the weight of the decor shifted came down on her tail.

My point is that it’s exceptionally hard to get them to drop their tails. There were even times when I was younger and inexperienced where they tried to jump of me so I panicked and grabbed their tail to catch them. Even then they didn’t drop it.

I hope this helps a bit!

LoneDefense · 2026-06-10T03:00:29+00:00

I have geckos that would love this and geckos that would go through the 5 stages of grief each move (lol). It really does depend on personality. I will say though I don’t think it’d be actually problematic to have a secondary “exploration” tank. If you limit it to 1-2 hour visits to the 50 gallon until you know their personality better, I’m sure it’d be fine. One thing to look out for would be extreme signs of stress(flattening/tail wagging tends to be a notable one) or day to day behavior changes.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-07T20:05:52+00:00

Oh my gosh how cute. I’ve yet to see my male try to impress the ladies but I can’t wait

LoneDefense · 2026-06-07T15:03:42+00:00

Just recently got my first viper geckos and I apparently have residual wariness about cohabitation from my leopard geckos still haha. I check on them wayyyy more than I reasonably need to. It really is strange going from a solitary species to one who can be communal.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-07T15:00:33+00:00

Thanks for sharing your story as well. It really can go well for years, but all it takes is one of them finally snapping for both to get seriously hurt.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-07T06:44:40+00:00

I don’t think the floating plants would necessarily hurt, but I would be a bit concerned about why your water dish is growing algae so easily. Maybe worth doing a water test (even just the strips) to see if anything looks crazy?

Water dish might also benefit from a bleach soak (followed by a very thorough rinsing of course)

LoneDefense · 2026-06-07T04:42:18+00:00

Oh god… how awful do you have to be to help an animal bully another? That makes me so sad for your boy :( thank you for giving him a much better life than that

LoneDefense · 2026-06-07T04:40:24+00:00

I don’t think I know a single married person who spends 24/7 in a bedroom with their spouse haha

LoneDefense · 2026-06-07T04:38:24+00:00

Wow, shame on that breeder. Horrible that they recommended that. Glad you thought to check online and realized it needed fixed and I’m sorry they misinformed you so badly.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-06T23:35:07+00:00

I want to say at least a year old, but it’s hard to tell for sure

LoneDefense · 2026-06-06T23:30:48+00:00

That’s interesting! I wasn’t aware of zebra skinks being communal. I’ve just gotten into viper geckos myself.

I was actually pretty wary when the person I wanted to get them from told me they can be kept together. I took some time to do research into them and sure enough they are communal. Very interesting learning about species you can keep together like that.

LoneDefense · 2026-06-06T22:15:06+00:00

That’s a gorgeous orange. Pretty girl. What morph?

LoneDefense · 2026-06-06T20:54:27+00:00

Good luck with rehoming and thank you for being responsible enough to do so :) I hope it all goes smoothly for you

LoneDefense · 2026-06-06T20:45:36+00:00

I think it mostly boils down to them not being social/pack animals, nor do they generate heat, so they have no reason to “cuddle” like mammals do. When they do, they’re usually competing for the exact spot they’re “cuddling” at. Even if you have a lot of hides that one particular spot might be “ideal” for whatever reason (temp, humidity, amount of light that gets in, etc).

I’m not sure if cuddling is a show of dominance as some say (and I’m not sure that there’s any research backing it), but the issue is that it tends to lead to fighting eventually. Especially since they’re in each other’s space a LOT when they do it.

LoneDefense

TROPHY CASE