Chrisson

My friend went on a vacation and gave me his leopard gecko to take care of but it escaped! the first two days it was acting normal, calm, eating his crickets and meal worms but when I woke up and was going to give it's breakfast it was gone! The tank had no lid, I guess my friend was reading some false information. All I know is that they like warm dark places which is a pretty good place to hide... The Gecko tank was setup in my room but I was sleeping in the basement which is much colder during the summer so I couldn't see it escaping. I placed the heat lamp on the ground with his cave, water bowl and a meal worm.

Are there any traps I can make to lure the gecko in? Please reply quick! I have to find it before sunday because that's when my friend is coming back!

Shawnie

wow as you said, warm places but they like light....at least mine does....just keep a lamp on the floor with his food and water and im sure he will come out to lay under it and eat...hopefully you catch him!

Chrisson

Really? I checked numerous webpages saying they like dark places. Anyways thanks for the advice. I just hope he's still in the same room he escaped from. I pretty much searched and moved around every blanket, bed mattress, closets, the whole bed, everything! I'm going to go check if he's there right now.

EDIT: Still no sign. Didn't eat the worm either.

EDIT: I forgot to add, the gecko is 4.5 inches long I think from head to tail.

Amanda

Oh my!! Best of luck in finding him!

Tony G.

hmm, at night somtimes they make like a chirping sound, you could try and listen and maybe you could locate him. what shawnie suggested sounds good. I would also seal the door and windows with like playdo in case he is in the room he cant get out. he is pretty small so make sure he didnt crawl behind a dresser or something

Chrisson

sealing the door may be a good or a bad thing. If it's not in the room then it can be bad but if it is then it can be good. If they do make chirping sounds I'll listen for them. Also are they nocturnal?

EDIT: Okay I read there nocturnal so I'm going to search the whole house at night. There natural temperature at night is 21 to 24 C or 70 to 75 F so I think they would go out of there warm hiding places and scurry around the house more.

Tony G.

you could also try this kinda weird tho)
put a heat lamp in every room and just wait for the little buddy i once had to catch a green tree frog in my laundry room so i have little experience with catching animals... its fun chasing chikens in a barn
ps i dont live in a barn, its just a very bad joke

Chrisson

Thanks for the advice but I only have one heat lamp and can't afford more.

Tony G.

hmm..if you find him i would suggest putting on top of the tank like plastic tub lid or something to prevent it from getting out again

Chrisson

still no sign of him.

Chrisson

I think I figured out the motive to the reason why the leopard gecko escaped. My friend told me to leave the heat lamp the whole time, night and day which you are not suppose to do because they are nocturnal and need the dark and instead the heat is supplied with a heat mat since in nature the sun's rays are absorb by the sand heating the ground so the heat should rise. It would have likely wanted to escape because it didn't like the light so it took advantage of the new piece of driftwood I gave him to add it in, climbed it since it's not a 90 degree angle making it climbable and jumped out.

rileyrk190

Do you have any appliances in the basement? Chances are he is near their exhaust/motor because of the warmth.

Chrisson

the only appliances that would produce heat would be the computer and TV but the gecko tank was on the 3rd floor.

Chrisson

I FOUND IT!!!!!! I'm so happy! It was in my brothers closet. He found a gecko poop in there so we search through it and it was behind a box. I searched the closet before but the only place I didn't search was behind the box since it was against the wall... Don't under estimate the size of your small pets.

aquarist48

Wow! Glad to hear that you found him.

Shawnie

whahoooooooooo so glad you found him! and mine is NOT nocturnal and likes his lamp on all the time too... but they are great escape artists

Chris123

That's a story to tell to your friend

Chrisson

I'll tell him this: "I lost your gecko... but then I found him so here ya go!"

It seems like people have different lighting choices. I saw one where a person has both red and white light on different sides. The white one being turned on 12 hours a day and the red one on the whole time. Some people don't have lighting at all, instead they have a bulb that doesn't give light but only heat. I'm sorta confused... There are so many different information involving the same topic.

My friend's always hides in his cave all the time except when I feed him. But he moves more at night. It's a baby so I guess it just gotta get use to day instead of there usual night.

Also do you know why they wag there tail when there about to lunge for the prey?

Tony G.

hehe he´s probably happy thats why he wags his tail. Glad you found him, ii thought yoru friend came back hahaha

rileyrk190

oops, i dont know where i got basement from..i thought that was where you kept him.

Lucy

I'm so glad you found him. Maybe you better do your friend a favor and buy a screened lid. )

Tony G.

good idea lucy theyre like $15 at walmart

Chrisson

I would but I got no money lol! He's coming back from his vacation tomorrow and I covered the cage with books with a space for the light to go though and give ventilation.

To people who have Leopard geckos I have a question. I know the gecko just shed because he became pale and suddenly turned back to it's original colours but part of the skin is still on one of his toes. I read that sprays of water can help it fall off. If I'm going to spray it, can I use tap water? Also should I even remove it? My friend is coming back from his vacation tomorrow as said before so should I just let him do it? I'm afraid I might pull his toe off...

Tony G.

you should make him a moist box. you basically grab a small plastic box with a lid, cut a whole on the side and put in a moist paper towel. this will def make his shedding easier on him and you i would go ahead and do it yourself cuz lets jsut say your friend didnt even mind getting hima screen lid

Chrisson

Yeah I heard of those. My mom probably wouldn't like one of her Tupperware cut thought. Is it alright if I use a jar or some other container?

Tony G.

i would use like a butter container like this one

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_h_ODywF0ukY/Rk...E/IMG_0832.JPG

just make sure the lid is on it and its upside down (the lid is on the bottom)

at the end it should look like this :
http://www.lireptiles.com/files/caresheets/leo03.gif

then you just add the moistened paper towel to the inside. Make sure its on the opposit side of the heat lamp since it is also for cooling down your reptile freind

Ga-rr-ett

haha im the friend and my light is inf red so the gecko cant see it at all

Tony G.

hmm... Hello chrisson´s friend!
I have recently began studying up on Leopard Geckos, and from what ive read they dont need infrared bulbs. Since they are nocturnal, the wont come out and bask during the day. They DO however need a heatmat, as they absorb heat through their belly just like any other desert animal.

Hows the gecko doing now?