First Leopard Gecko

Just got her Thursday. She looks to be going into shed today. How long does that usually take for them? Anxious to get her eating as she hasn’t yet since we’ve had her.! You can see in the last pic her color is very dull similar to what my Ball Pythons go through.

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She definitely looks like she’s going into shed. Make sure she has a humid hide in her enclosure, a hide with some form of substrate (paper towels or sphagnum moss) that you keep wet and where they go to shed and lay eggs. It usually takes 1-2 sometimes 3 days for them to start shedding once they start to dull in color, then it can take up to a day for them to shed and then for 1-2 days after they will be very bright and vibrant in color. How often they shed depends on their age, do you know how old she is, I’m going to guess she’s about 6-9 months in which she’ll probably shed about once every 2-3 months, reptiles never stop growing which is why they always shed to grow into their new skin. When they’re young they might shed up to a couple times per month and when they’re older they might shed only once or twice per year.

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What a lovely wee one! I wouldn’t worry too much about not eating, so long as you’re not leaving uneaten prey in the tank. She’s just come to a new home, and almost all my leos won’t eat the day or so before shedding. I presume it’s just so that they have space in their tummies when they go to eat their shed skin.

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Thanks for your reply’s! I’m not sure of her age but I do know the breeder just listed her the day or day before I bought her. And of course I found her here on MM! I will give her a couple days and check on her again. I don’t want to disturb her too much.

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I just got my first one too. And mine was no where near that receptive to being handled. We working on that

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My leopard gecko doesn’t like the humid hide. It’s a transparent humid hide. I used a transparent humid hide because I thought she’d be scared of her surroundings so that’s why I used a transparent hide. I’m not sure if she is scared of the wet paper towels. I put some house crickets inside but nothing seemed to work. Please help Venus :frowning:

I suggest posting your request for advice as it’s own, separate thread. Since this thread is concerning first-time leopard gecko ownership, you are unlikely to get much advice here and it’s off-topic. But if you have your own thread, you can post there with updates and any other questions about Venus.

As an aside- a humid hide should not be transparent, it should have solid walls. You should also never leave loose, uneaten crickets in an enclosure after feeding time, as they can eat your gecko.

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Posting a new topic will get better responses. A picture would also help. Each gecko is different and some might not like the hide while other will. But, solid walls will help the gecko feel more secure (you can do this with paint or a new hide, not tape). If solid walls don’t work then she might not like the material, you could try using moss instead. Neither of my two females used their humid hide. One spread the moss throughout the entire cage and laid eggs in the food dish, twice. The other only used it as a bathroom.