Leopard Gecko digging?

[Gecko801]

Hi I keep my leopard geckos on kitchen roll and one of the three, who is in her own tank like to dig in it. and then when she gets underneath it she tries dig the glass. She is not carrying eggs. She is 6 inches head to tail.

Anyone know why she does this?

 

[nats]

It's their nature to dig.
In the wild, they do this to find cool and damp areas as protection from
the hot daytime sun.

It's normal leo behavior.

P.S. BTW, welcome to the forum!

 

[thekooliest]

yup. if you dont like this (it isnt a problem) you can put them on repticarpet or tile.

 

[fallen_angel]

We have one female that digs underneath the paper towel and literally lays underneath of it all day everyday, lol.. she only comes out when she wants to eat/drink/poop. We hardly ever see her out from underneath the paper towel :main_rolleyes:

 

[nats]

We have one female that digs underneath the paper towel and literally lays underneath of it all day everyday, lol.. she only comes out when she wants to eat/drink/poop. We hardly ever see her out from underneath the paper towel :main_rolleyes:

LOL! thats funny :main_laugh:
I had one that did the same thing. She loved to dig! so I put a Xlarge humid hide with lots of moss in it. She would dig down to the bottom and sleep all day. At feeding time, I would have to dig her up under 3 inches of moss! :main_laugh: Good thing was, never a shed problem!

 

[nats]

yup. if you dont like this (it isnt a problem) you can put them on repticarpet or tile.

LOL!! if you have a "digger", they will find a way! :main_laugh:

P.S. If you do have a digger, why not make them happy and put something in there for them to dig!!??

 

[eyelids]

One these is true...

I give all of my ''diggers'' cool whip containers filled with the appropriate amount of peat moss... This will be their humid hide as well so it should be sprayed several times per week... Mine almost always end the habit after a while, but some just can't seem to kick it...

Ovulating females and ''turned on'' males are usually very active... Quite often I'll see mine ''digging'' in the corners of their bins searching for an escape route... It's pretty simple to curb that behavior... Give them what they want!

If you don't have a gecko of the opposite sex that's ''in the mood'' you can try giving them some active prey items followed by a twenty minute ''bath'' in slightly above room temp water... I do this in a large 32oz deli cup with pre-punched holes... Put just enough water in so that their bellies are barely submerged and then put on the lid leaving one side cracked (you don't want to see condensation forming on the sides)... Then you put the deli/gecko back in it's bin and into the rack... After about twenty minutes the gecko is very relaxed and can be removed from the ''bath''... To finish off the experience they are offered a few wax worms and their hides are filled with fresh peat moss...

If you repeat these steps three times per week for anywhere from 1-12 months your gecko will become much happier, will look dazzling and will feel like finest Vicuna money can buy!

 

[fallen_angel]

LOL! thats funny :main_laugh:
I had one that did the same thing. She loved to dig! so I put a Xlarge humid hide with lots of moss in it. She would dig down to the bottom and sleep all day. At feeding time, I would have to dig her up under 3 inches of moss! :main_laugh: Good thing was, never a shed problem!

That's hilarious :main_laugh:

We have two humid hides filled with bed-a-beast, and our little digger doesn't care for it, she just really loves laying under her paper towels :main_yes:

 

[eyelids]

Ahhh... The problem may be the paper towels then... I only use paper towels in my baby racks... Been bare bottoms here for two years now...

 

[fallen_angel]

Hmmm very interesting..

 

[Gecko801]

Thank-you everyone for the replies. I asked on another forum and 3 days on still no replies. Hopefully I will be sticking around!

I do not want to breed my Gecko's as that would be too much hassle. This Gecko is in her own tank as she did not get along with one of the two new ones. She does have a humid hide with kitchen roll as well which is sprayed daily.

 

[Stevie]

The digging is indeed just natural behaviour; leopardgeckos tend to dig tunnels and lairs to spend the day in. I have no reason to make my geckos stop digging. It's what they want and as all animals, the do what they want!

Ovulating females and ''turned on'' males are usually very active... Quite often I'll see mine ''digging'' in the corners of their bins searching for an escape route... It's pretty simple to curb that behavior... Give them what they want!

I agree!

If you don't have a gecko of the opposite sex that's ''in the mood'' you can try giving them some active prey items followed by a twenty minute ''bath'' in slightly above room temp water... I do this in a large 32oz deli cup with pre-punched holes... Put just enough water in so that their bellies are barely submerged and then put on the lid leaving one side cracked (you don't want to see condensation forming on the sides)... Then you put the deli/gecko back in it's bin and into the rack... After about twenty minutes the gecko is very relaxed and can be removed from the ''bath''... To finish off the experience they are offered a few wax worms and their hides are filled with fresh peat moss...

I don't see any advantage in this 'gecko spa' or what good it would do. I can imagine that the gecko will be very 'relaxed' and easy to handle; it's stressed and cooled down to the max!! How would you feel if you were an animal that is build to life on (semi dry) savannahs and you wouldn't be able to dig your own hole because someone makes up it is better and more natural to put you in a tank without any (suitable) substrate to portay your natural behaviour. And on top of it all you're put in a closed container with your feet and belly in the water... Water (especially the temperature you recommend) is known for it's 'body-cooling' capacities. For a coldblooded animal thus not the optimal environment and besides, the animal isn't able to thermoregulate. It isn't quite the environment the animal is build to life in. I can accept that people keep their animals on the wrong kind of substrate (paper towel, carpet, and who knows what you guys think off), but I would never recommend anyone to treat these animals this way. It's just one step to far!

Greets,

Stevie

 

[eyelids]

The digging is indeed just natural behaviour; leopardgeckos tend to dig tunnels and lairs to spend the day in. I have no reason to make my geckos stop digging. It's what they want and as all animals, the do what they want!



I agree!



I don't see any advantage in this 'gecko spa' or what good it would do. I can imagine that the gecko will be very 'relaxed' and easy to handle; it's stressed and cooled down to the max!! How would you feel if you were an animal that is build to life on (semi dry) savannahs and you wouldn't be able to dig your own hole because someone makes up it is better and more natural to put you in a tank without any (suitable) substrate to portay your natural behaviour. And on top of it all you're put in a closed container with your feet and belly in the water... Water (especially the temperature you recommend) is known for it's 'body-cooling' capacities. For a coldblooded animal thus not the optimal environment and besides, the animal isn't able to thermoregulate. It isn't quite the environment the animal is build to life in. I can accept that people keep their animals on the wrong kind of substrate (paper towel, carpet, and who knows what you guys think off), but I would never recommend anyone to treat these animals this way. It's just one step to far!

Greets,

Stevie

LOL... Stevie, that was a joke... :main_laugh:

 

[Stevie]

Ok, good you say this, because I was really questioning your mental health...hahaha. You may think it's a bit stupid for me not to see this was a joke, but believe me...I hear people do these kinds of ridiculous things! Haha! Thanks for restoring my faith in this forum again!

Greets,

Stevie

 

[nats]

I like to have some sort of absorbent substrate, and paper towels do work well. Only now I tape the edges down
Of course, if determined, they can still tear it up and get under there
I figure, it's their house, let them do what they want (except pooping in the water dish!!).

 

[nats]

The digging is indeed just natural behaviour; leopardgeckos tend to dig tunnels and lairs to spend the day in. I have no reason to make my geckos stop digging. It's what they want and as all animals, the do what they want!



I agree!



I don't see any advantage in this 'gecko spa' or what good it would do. I can imagine that the gecko will be very 'relaxed' and easy to handle; it's stressed and cooled down to the max!! How would you feel if you were an animal that is build to life on (semi dry) savannahs and you wouldn't be able to dig your own hole because someone makes up it is better and more natural to put you in a tank without any (suitable) substrate to portay your natural behaviour. And on top of it all you're put in a closed container with your feet and belly in the water... Water (especially the temperature you recommend) is known for it's 'body-cooling' capacities. For a coldblooded animal thus not the optimal environment and besides, the animal isn't able to thermoregulate. It isn't quite the environment the animal is build to life in. I can accept that people keep their animals on the wrong kind of substrate (paper towel, carpet, and who knows what you guys think off), but I would never recommend anyone to treat these animals this way. It's just one step to far!

Greets,

Stevie

Please "correct" us misguided leo owners and tell us what we should be using as a substrate :main_rolleyes:
We better alert all the breeders out there who have been raising healthy and happy leo's for many years that they are doing it all wrong!

 

[nats]

One other off topic thing!

Leos are not indiginus to savannahs.

They are from the rocky deserts of Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan.
There is very little (if any) vegetation, and even less rainfall where they come from.

 

[Stevie]

Please "correct" us misguided leo owners and tell us what we should be using as a substrate :main_rolleyes:
We better alert all the breeders out there who have been raising healthy and happy leo's for many years that they are doing it all wrong!

It's not wrong, because it works. I don't want to start an entire debate here, I was just expressing my anger about the post. I think we all know what I'm talking about. If not, please search for other posts of my hand, my opinion about the use of substrate is known. All I say: Substrate choice depends on wich side of the big pool you live; you think we do it wrong in Europe (impaction, etc, etc) and we think you do it wrong in the US (not natural, etc, etc). So lets agree to disagree on this thing...

Greets,

Stevie

 

[Stevie]

And futhermore...according to me there's no need for sarcasm.

Greets,

Stevie

 

[nats]

And futhermore...according to me there's no need for sarcasm.

Greets,

Stevie

Sorry Stevie if I sounded sarcastic, but I never mean it in a nasty way
Its just my nature I guess

Yes, your right, the substrate debate will continue forever, but I am always willing to learn new things and admit when I'm wrong or when something can be done better. We all put our animals before our egos.

So, if you can tell me your ideas for the proper substrate, I will certainly try it (within reason of course).