The geckos got the baths

[Chewbecca]

This is my girl. She's mine. I have deemed her mine.
She's the only one that officially has a name.
She's the one that got me interested in geckos.
I love her.
And this is why: She ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS looks directly at me. She follows me in her cage. She is always the one to greet me. She LOVES to be handled. She's just different than the others.
This is Ursula.

This is our male. I really must name him. I'm thinking since he has the "C" on his head that I should name him Captain something-or-other. I cannot figure out what should come after Captain.

I love this one because she's looking at her own reflection (not really, but it's still cool).

And our last female.

This was my first time assisting in the bathing of them. It wasn't too bad. I would have preferred to bathe them one at a time, but the husband insisted that we bathe all of them at once.

 

[Haligren]

You've got some nice animals there but why are you bathing them? Generally leos don't need baths unless they're having problems shedding or defecating.

 

[Lovey]

Aww too cute! I love the reflection one

 

[Chewbecca]

You've got some nice animals there but why are you bathing them? Generally leos don't need baths unless they're having problems shedding or defecating.

They had some dry skin on their toes.

Is there a problem with us bathing them?
I mean, is it going to hurt them?
Because they didn't seem to mind it.

 

[acpart]

People do soak their leos when they have stuck shed on their toes, as you're doing, though generally people don't bathe leos regularly, possibly because of worries about high humidity and respiratory infections.

However, I do wonder about 2 things loosely connected to leos and humidity:

--people generally bathe their bearded dragons (as do I), which are also desert creatures

--I have read much on another forum about providing humid enclosures (not just hides) for SW banded geckos (coleonyx) with the reasoning that these guys spend much of their lives in crevices which have more humid micro-climates than one would expect in the desert. I did house my coleonyx in a fairly high humidity environment for awhile due to circumstances beyond my control at the time (stacked tanks without adequate venting for humidity) and they seemed to do so well, that when I moved them, I set them up for higher humidity than I had been planning.

Aliza

 

[Chewbecca]

Oh!
No, the geckos most definitely do NOT get baths regularly.

Sorry if that's how I made it sound.

I may be new to geckos, but I know they do not need baths all the time.
In fact, we didn't pour water over the tops of their bodies, we just let their feet and legs soak.

 

[EchoPet]

They're all very cute, but Ursula definitely has extra personality in front of the camera.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

Do you have humid hides for them?

 

[Stitchex]

They're all very beautiful, I LOVE Ursula's coloring, your last female looks much skinnier than the normal weight, maybe you and your husband could work on beefing them up a bit? A little extra weight never hurts. Great pics, as always, keep it up!

 

[Haligren]

It seems to me that bathing them stresses them out. I know when I tried to bathe Tiamat once because she was constipated (ate too many mealies) she was gurgling the whole time.

Mandarin might not mind it though. You can stand him on his head and he wouldn't care. lol

 

[Ian S.]

I soak mine when ever they get stuck shed. They don't seem to mind it as long as it's nice and warm.

 

[Baoh]

--I have read much on another forum about providing humid enclosures (not just hides) for SW banded geckos (coleonyx) with the reasoning that these guys spend much of their lives in crevices which have more humid micro-climates than one would expect in the desert. I did house my coleonyx in a fairly high humidity environment for awhile due to circumstances beyond my control at the time (stacked tanks without adequate venting for humidity) and they seemed to do so well, that when I moved them, I set them up for higher humidity than I had been planning.

Aliza

Likely correct. This goes for a number of reptiles that live in burrows or hides, many of them desert dwellers. A humid hide should be adequate, though, as that lets them get exposure to both extremes of microclimate. I keep my humid hides packed with moss and I will literally soak it and leave excess water, which the geckos lap up. To help prevent microbial overgrowth and infection of any mating wounds, I microwave the entire hide for twenty-five to thirty seconds post-replenishment, allow it to cool to ~90F (it will otherwise burn both me and the geckos), and then put it back on the cooler side of the tub. If a female is suspected or confirmed to be gravid, I make sure the moss is very moist, but do not add extra water until some is standing. That way, if she deposits eggs while I am not there, they will not drown.

Anyway, I have experimented with entirely humid enclosures, and will use this more with low-weight animals, such as hatchlings, but I think it best to provide the humid-to-dry continuum when they are robust. Like some, I have also had good results from a humid-only enclosure, but those were for temporary housing conditions in somewhat confined quarters and temperatures and airflow were both well controlled, minimizing drafts of overly cool air.

I have never had any of my animals, save for two tortoises that came to me with preexisting conditions, exhibit any signs of respiratory infections. As a plus, in those warm, moist mini-enclosures, I can more readily detect parasites. Never had any in my geckos, save for one DOA, but I use this regularly to help deworm some box turtles that hang out each year outside of my lab.

 

[Chewbecca]

Yes, they are a little thinner than we'd like, so we're feeding them daily to beef them up.
I've said this before, but I know not everyone has read my intro.


Thanks for the comments.