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New baby leo- need some help

Hypancistrus

Hypancistrus

New member
This is my new baby leopard gecko, a present from my GF.

I am wondering about that "skin" on his tail. He is very, very small, so small that I really couldn't tell that that was skin up until I saw these pics (close ups). So... is that old skin on there? He was kept in with a humid hide at the store, but before that, who knows. And second... is that his original tail? At first when I saw him he looked as though he had lost and was regrowing his tail... it just wasn't as long as the others in the cage. But he was fat and sassy, very active and took to chasing crickets when roused in the cage. I think he was a good pick.

But what should I do about that skin? And does his tank look okay? (Edit to add: the rock in the center is his humid hide. Right now it is filled with moist paper toweling, I plan on replacing that with moss but I got the wrong type and have to return it!)
 
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Yup it's definitely a regenerating tail, and that does seem to be retained skin on it, give him a soak in warm/tepid water like you would for a corn abd it should loosen up a bit, and he'll pull it off himself.
Looks like a nice tank, are you using a UTH or is that light just for illumination? Is the dish in the middle a water dish or a calcium dish?
 
The center dish is calcium- I was feeding him while taking those pics so I removed the water dish. It is a small cat dish, with an "inner circle" under it that doubles as a hide, and he loves it there. But the crickets get under it and hide and he cannot get them, so I take it out when I feed him.

I will try soaking him tomorrow to get that skin off of his tail. Will the tail look normal when it grows back or will it be very obvious that it's not the original?
 
Hypancistrus said:
The center dish is calcium- I was feeding him while taking those pics so I removed the water dish. It is a small cat dish, with an "inner circle" under it that doubles as a hide, and he loves it there. But the crickets get under it and hide and he cannot get them, so I take it out when I feed him.

I will try soaking him tomorrow to get that skin off of his tail. Will the tail look normal when it grows back or will it be very obvious that it's not the original?
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When I was younger I had tons of Leopards...here is a pic of one of my older ones with original tail

crystal.jpg



You'll notice it, but I've seen some that are obvious and some that unless you owned Leopards yourself you wouldn't be able to tell...it will look more or less like a African Fat Tailed Tail
 
Now that I saw the pic I also want to remind you, when he/she sheds, make sure you get the skin off the feet...all of mine had trouble with it...in her case (girl pictured above) I bought her when she was older and already lost the tips of her feet...so she didnt really move around well...but she was 11 when I gave her to someone else (I will admit I was a wuss and noticed she was deteriotating and didn't want to talk in and find her dead one day)
 
kev1144 said:
Now that I saw the pic I also want to remind you, when he/she sheds, make sure you get the skin off the feet...all of mine had trouble with it...in her case (girl pictured above) I bought her when she was older and already lost the tips of her feet...so she didnt really move around well...but she was 11 when I gave her to someone else (I will admit I was a wuss and noticed she was deteriotating and didn't want to talk in and find her dead one day)
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How should I do that? He is so tiny, I don't want to hurt him.
 
Hypancistrus said:
How should I do that? He is so tiny, I don't want to hurt him.
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Wet his feets and this sometimes works, if not wet the feets take a wet paper towel and gentley try and get it off.

The feet on yours looks good right now
 
I'd recommend having a moist hide available for him at all times, even something as simple as a tupperware container with a hole cut in the lid filled with damp paper towel/sphagnum moss.
 
I do have a moist hide in there... it's the rock, stuffed with damp shredded paper towel. I am going to get proper moss- I just picked up the wrong kind at the store the other day and need to return it.

I soaked him in tepid water yesterday. The skin loosened but I didn't want to force it off, so I will try again Monday.

And when I picked him up, he made this LOUD squeak/honk noise. Is that normal? I had no idea leos make noise...! :shrugs:
 
Well my first question would be where did you get him? I know the Leo's at Petco and the like aren't in the best shape in general. How is his appetite? Is he showing any interest in the crickets/mealworms. I'd start him off on a meal of mealworms to build up his bulk size and then feed him/her on a normal diet of crickets with mealworms/wax worms thrown in every now and then as a treat.

(Wax worms are great for bulk and protein but are also very fatty)
 
I got him from Petsmart. I am very careful about buying from chain stores in general, but Petsmart seems to have decent animals and this particular store cares for them well. The only negative is that they appear very skinny for the most part, tail-wise.

This one, however, is fat and sassy as you can see from the pics below. He was actively hunting crickets in the tanks at Petsmart, and is eating extremely well at home, too. I started feeding pinheads, but they are way too small, so I am getting 1/4" to 1/2" crickets which are just right. All are gut loaded and dusted with Repti-Cal. I also have a dish of calcium available for him. I do have some meal worms, but I keep forgetting they are in my fridge. I will try and offer some of those this week... and a waxworm treat as well?? :shrugs:

I knew in the store that his tail we regrowing, but besides that "battle wound" he was by far the fattest, sassiest and healthiest of the lot... so I picked him.

Here are some pics:
 
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I'm sure he wouldn't mind a waxworm :) but I think of them as 'Twinkies' and feed sparingly, but all of mine at home and at the store go nuts for them!
 
Yes, baby leopard geckos scream :) It's funny as heck when you've got one just out of the egg leaping at your finger shrieking at you while you try to get it out of the egg tub.

Aside from the regrow, he looks like a healthy little thing.
 
I remember vividly when our leo, Blossom was a baby, I picked her up and she screamed. I had no idea they could make a noise like that and I don't know how I didn't drop her. At around a year old she suddenly changed her attitude to handling and climbs out of the viv into our hands
 
diamondlil said:
I remember vividly when our leo, Blossom was a baby, I picked her up and she screamed. I had no idea they could make a noise like that and I don't know how I didn't drop her.
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I know, I am not sure why I did not drop him as well. I had him cupped in my hands and he made a really loud shriek! It was quite a shock.
 
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