I have a five month old giant day gecko that’s been having trouble “sticking” over the last week or so. In particular she can’t seem to stick to the glass too well anymore, and has been sliding a little on her big bamboo tube if she rests on it. I moved her to a new large enclosure about three weeks ago at this point with Josh’s Frogs’ bioactive substrate mix w/ a drainage layer. I don’t have a full bioactive setup–I use fake plants–but have thriving springtails and isopods in the substrate. The heat levels have been perfect with a nice basking spot at about 95F while the humidity HAS had some fluctuations as I currently manually mist but isn’t ever out of range for long.
She’s been eating her dubia roaches and pangea well and pooping fine. I dust all her insects (gutloaded dubias with an occasional mealworm as a treat) with Repashy Calcium Plus before feeding.
Humidity variation is definitely one of my concerns, but I also have been using tapwater for the moment as I’m under quarantine and haven’t been able to get a large amount of distilled water. I have some water spots on the front glass; is it possible that hard water deposits are stopping her from “sticking” as well?
Trouble sticking in geckos is usually from stuck shed on their toe pads. The basking spot also doesn’t need to be over 90°F. Lower the basking temps via a thermostat and that should help with humidity. What has humidity been btw?
Here is a care sheet on them. It says to keep the temps lower than you have them.
https://www.joshsfrogs.com/catalog/blog/2018/07/giant-day-gecko-husbandry/
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I’ll definitely lower the temp; it shouldn’t affect the rest of the enclosure temperature too much. I did over-estimate with 95, I temp-gunned the branch under the lamp and it’s around 91-92. I’ll make some adjustments to lower it and move my thermometer to get a more accurate read.
Humidity has been averaging about 65%, though I mist a few times a day–first thing in the morning, right when I get home from work, and then another mist in the late evening a few hours before bed. When I mist I bring it up into the 80-90+ range to ensure there’s a good amount of droplets on the leaves and sides of the glass so she can stay hydrated.
I’m not sure the last time she shed since she tends to do it secretively (I’ve caught her mid shed ONCE, a few months back, and given her growth know she’s had to have shed since then), but I’ve been watching her closely and I don’t see any evidence of bits of shed stuck to her toes.
I don’t know enough to contribute (would a soak help this species, if it is a shed issue?), but I just had to say that I am very interested to hear how this situation evolves. Fascinating!
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Day geckos are best not to be handled. They are extremely quick, tiny, and delicate. They also have a rather unpleasant way of escaping. They not only drop their tail, but they also tear their skin off. 
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Ok they really need to rethink that. There’s no way that’s pleasant.
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OUCH!!! What in the world!
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Yeah, unfortunately soaking is not an option if it is stuck shed on the toes. That said, I’m still not seeing any evidence of it. My gecko is most definitely NOT handleable, but I’m able to put my hand near her without her fleeing and was able to very gently lift up a couple toepads before she started to look too stressed by the contact. Still, it seems like a good idea to treat the situation as if she has stuck shed.
Without being able to directly handle her, is there a good way to help with this? I’ve been making sure to get her in the mist as I mist down the enclosure, which she seems to like anyway. Without being able to give her a “gecko sauna” would increasing the humidity for a bit help?
How are day geckos normally transported?
I don’t know enough about the species, so I don’t know if more humidity could be harmful. Could it be a general humidity issue- would an automated fogger/mister help, one that goes off at intervals? Or a nutritional one? Or is the basking lamp too close?
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Quick update, I went ahead and corrected a few things (heat light temp and made some modifications to regulate humidity a bit better), but the big thing is that she shed PERFECTLY yesterday and she’s back to her sticky self again.
So I’m glad I made the adjustments, but I think I got too worried too quick!
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I’m glad to hear 
Now it’s time to pay your picture taxes…
Let’s see the little lady
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Isnt this day gecko the geico gecko species…I think geico gecko is one of the day gecko species anyway…
Of course, the photo tax! My most recent picture was about mid-shed, and I also got some good video of it, too! She had the courtesy to wait until I had gotten home from work to start shedding, so I got to watch the entire process.
https://youtu.be/tSumqDL_c58 <-- video of her pulling off one of her gloves
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