Come home and leopard gecko's tail= GONE!?!

[TranceZ]

So I come home today to find out my 2 month old leos tail is gone. only 1/3 of it left. I searched the tank and there wasn't a tail to be found. She lives with another 2 month old female. Why did this happen? How long will it take to grow back?

 

[Jellybean]

She will grow it back, but may I ask do you ever feed your geckos large meal worms?

 

[TranceZ]

She will grow it back, but may I ask do you ever feed your geckos large meal worms?

I know she will grow it back it's just frustrating because she was starting to get a nice fat tail. They eat large mealworms but not supers

 

[GeckoGathering]

"Tail Of Two Geckos"

So I come home today to find out my 2 month old leos tail is gone. only 1/3 of it left. I searched the tank and there wasn't a tail to be found. She lives with another 2 month old female. Why did this happen? How long will it take to grow back?

Anything that wiggles can look like
Prey Food, even to a not so hungry gecko.
Tail is designed to come off to deter a predator.
2/3 probably found in the other female's belly.
Only the gecko's system will tell how long it will
take to regenerate it.
And if they remain together it may do a
pay back time. Who could blame it?
Take care. HJ​

 

[Jellybean]

Sounds like one of your geckos may be a psychopath, best to seek treatment early on to avoid the inevitable.....

 

[PaladinGirl]

Sounds like one of your geckos may be a psychopath, best to seek treatment early on to avoid the inevitable.....

LMAO--this person is quite the jokester! :main_laugh:

My guess is that the other leo bit it off. Must've ate it too if you can't find it. Gross. I'm glad I read this because it's just another reason for me not to get another leo.

 

[Dog Shrink]

So sorry to hear your leo got hurt, but reasons like this (and many others) are why leos shouldn't be housed together. They are solitary creatures and obviously quite dim if one can't discern another leos tail from proper food. There are plenty of threads in here regarding dropped tails, the best I've seen advises to keep the tail tip moisturized with something like bag balm or A&D ointment (don't repeatedly use neosporin as that is an antibiotic cream and your leo could develop antibiotic resistance from prolonged use of such a topical agent. After the wound has healed (in about a week or so I wouldn't suggest any more neosporin beyond that first week). The reasoning is that the tail will grow back better, and more normal, if kept hydrated.

 

[Spots]

I would definately seperate them. Fast.

I had two girls that I bought at the same time and they were the same age. They slept inthe same hides together, shared the feeding bowl, etc. but then I fed them crickets and my one girl (Flash) did not like it when the other one (Dots) caught a cricket so she would follow Dots around the cage and whenever Dots would jump for a cricket, Flash would grab onto her tail and keep holding onto it. Dots never dropped her tail but it was very strange. I keep an eye on them and fed them seperately from then on, but as they grew, I noticed bite marks on the one girl so I knew I had to seperate them. If they already have started to fight at 2 months and one ate the other's tail already, they that is an immediate sign to seperate them. I had a hard time seperating mine because they were so cute together but you may be running the risk of the more aggresive one going for more than just the tail of the other next time.

As for the tail, there are plenty of posts about it. I don't know much about it since it hasn't happened to mine yet. I believe you are to increase her calcium intake as well? Don't quote me on that though lol

 

[ks7777]

It seems like everyone thinks it's the other leopard gecko but maybe it ate it's own tail? Weirder things have happened...

 

[TranceZ]

Well, one of them ate it for sure. She's not really eating but that could be due to stress, I'll have to let her be for a while to relax about it all but I will keep checking that tail to make sure it doesn't get infected.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Chances are if you have two or more geckos housed together they got into a squabble and one bit the others tail causing it to autonomize. The dropped portion of the tail continues to wiggle, which triggers a feeding response. It was probably eaten. Keep the gecko housed individually on paper towel, and put Neopsorin on the stub until you see a little pink nub starting to regenerate.

 

[Pinky81]

+1 Marcia! Thats what I was just about to type!

 

[Spots]

It seems like everyone thinks it's the other leopard gecko but maybe it ate it's own tail? Weirder things have happened...

Yes. It could have been startled by something, dropped the tail and then ate it. One of the member's posts had pictures of a gecko who had dropped it somehow (it was just alone in it's tank when it happen) and there are other posts about geckos who have dropped their tail and go on to eat it. But since there are two in the tank, chances are they got into a "fight" and one bit the other.