Hi guys,

My mother bought my son a leopard gecko over the weekend. Have the tank setup and everything seems to be working out fine. Gecko seems happy and adjusted, doesn't even seem to mind being picked up. I've read countless times that you need to have a hide with some moist moss or something in it to help with shedding. My son's gecko (aka Godzilla) doesn't seem to want anything to do with it. He has a couple hides in his tank (one warm and one on the cool side). He loves them, however anytime I try putting some moist moss in one of them he won't have anything to do with it. He will curl up on the side of the tank rather than go into the moist hide. I noticed this morning his skin was a little grey so I'm thinking he might be getting ready to shed. What should I do? Put the moist moss in the hides and force him to choose to either go in or do without, or leave it out and let him shed without it?

Welcome Herpcenter.

I would leave the moist hide in the tank. They dont use it all the time but will eventually go in to help shed. He may go in when no one is looking. If you notice he is having issues with shedding, try misting the tank with warm water a couple times this will help him out.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Rather than moss you could try using moistened paper towels, he might be having texture issues with the moss. The towels have ot be sprayed more often, but as long as you stay on it they work just as well and can be less messy.

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"What is now proven was once only imagined." - William Blake

~*~Lacey~*~

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I agree. leave the moist hide in there. Geckos are very active at night and it may very well be using it when you don't realize it.
Also it takes reptiles a bit to get settled in to a new environment. It may just not have felt comfortable with things yet.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

My leo's do that sometimes I have a mister and mist the leo's them also I sometimes use shed ease which you can buy at the pet store it works well. i also put some shed ease in warm water and put my leo in the water to soak.

I agree, leave the moist hide in there but try a change of moist of substrate. I either use paper towels or moist bead-a-beast. I think my geckos stay in their moist hide more than their dry hides.

Two weeks ago, I got 2 African Fat-tails. Of course I included a moist hide in their enclosure. Today is the very first time I saw either of them go in there, and they've each shed at least once in the interim. It's been hard to count their sheds because they were hiding almost 24/7 up until now. When I would go in at night and check on them, the braver of the two might have his head peaking out of some protected little place in there, but they almost never came out fully. Now they're exploring, hanging out on the surface sometimes, etc. The point is that it took surprisingly long for these guys to feel comfortable, and only then did they start using the moist hide. So, there's hope for your little guy yet. During the time I knew they weren't using the moist hide, I just poured a little water down to where they were hiding every day. Then again, AFTs need more moisture than Leopard Geckos, so I don't know if that's a good idea for you. Well, there's my 2 cents worth. And I concede that it really is worth only two cents.

Jennifer

p.s. now they're both in the moist hide, and I can hardly believe they both fit! It is certainly the smallest possible place in which they both could be at the same time. Well, they are good friends.

J

My leo hated the moss too. Refused to go into the hide when it was in there. So I switched to paper towels and she spends most of her time in there.

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Kelly

My pets:
Leopard Gecko ~ Ducky
Rabbit ~ Chester
Kitten ~ Lil Fang
Black Bear Hamster - Charlie
Parakeet ~ Ray
Eastern Box Turtle ~ Ollie
Hermit Crab ~ Mr. Crabs
Teddy Bear Hamster ~ Poppy RIP 7/12/07