Treating a Leopard Gecko Dropped Tail
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Leopard Gecko Tail Dropping
In my 5 years of working with leopard geckos, I have never had a leopard gecko drop its tail, until this year. While changing my leopard gecko hatchlings from my old rack to my new one, one of my tangerine leopard gecko hatchlings dropped her tail.
It startled me a bit.
When transferring the gecko from the holding container to the new rack, I picked up the gecko and it tried to jump out of my hands, but I grabbed the gecko with my other hand. Big mistake, as I grabbed the tail.
The tail quickly started shaking and wriggling, and at first my thoughts were "I'll quickly put her in tub so that she doesn't drop her tail."
Well, what I didn't notice was that the tail was already half way of, as it was torn half way through. The second I put the gecko in the tub, the tail flopped right off.
Since this was my first experience with a leopard gecko dropped tail, I was slightly worried, but I knew exactly what to do, as I have been working with reptiles for 5 years.
You may find different treatment options for your leopard gecko if it drops its tail, but the following are the basics to caring for a leopard gecko that has recently dropped its tail. Plus this is what has helped my tangerine leopard gecko hatchling heal up and recover nicely.
The tail giving out and slowing down
Why do geckos drop their tail?
Tail dropping is a defense mechanism that helps the reptile escape predators.
Many geckos and smaller lizards do not have any real defense mechanisms, such as secreting nasty oils when bitten or playing dead when harassed, so they rely on their tails to help them get away from predators in the wild.
When the bird, mammal, larger reptile, or any other predator tries to grab at the small gecko, it can drop its tail to distract the predator long enough to dart off into safety.
When the gecko, or small reptile, drops its tail, the tail continues to wriggle and flop around (as seen in the videos to the right) to distract the predator, giving the gecko enough time to find safety.
(The videos are not right after the gecko dropped its tail, so you are not seeing the full extent of the tail flopping and wriggling, which is definitely a sight, but you can see how it does move on its own before slowly loosing steam.)
In Captivity...
When caring for geckos, the gecko really doesn't have to worry about predators, unless your cat can get into the enclosure or you are inappropriately housing the small gecko with a larger reptile (which is BAD and you should separate them). But, pet geckos will still drop their tails when they are stressed or threatened.
Common reasons that a gecko will drop its tail in captivity can include:
- Bullying from cage mates
- Sick gecko with an already lowered immune system
- Grabbed by the tail
- Stress and fear
- Skin issues and retained skin on the tail
- Bacterial, fungal, or protozoan infections
- Abscess or swelling in the area
What to do if your leopard gecko drops its tail
First off, if you are housing your leopard gecko on a loose substrate such as play sand, calci- sand, dirt, and wood shavings, you want to remove it all and throw it in the trash or outside (however you want to dispose of it). If you leave the gecko on the loose substrate, it will be hard to keep the wound clean, as the substrates can get into the open wound and cause an infection.
Next, if you house the gecko with a mate, you want to set up a hospital tank with paper towels as the substrate. Make sure that you have appropriate heating and overall housing in the hospital tank. You want to enclosure to mimic the regular enclosure to reduce stress.
The key to making sure that your leopard gecko successfully regenerates its tail is to keep the area clean and keep the leopard gecko at appropriate temperatures of 90F.
You want to continue feeding the gecko as normal, removing any uneaten crickets after 15 minutes, give or take.
You also want to check on the leopard gecko daily, so that you can closely monitor the wound for signs of infection. If you think that you see signs of infection you can apply a very thin layer of Neosporin to the base of the tail. The Neosporin will also help relieve any pain as well as help fight off infection.
If the tail IS infected, and the Neosporin did not help, you want to take the leopard gecko to a qualified reptile veterinarian as soon as you can. I would watch the tail for about 3 to 5 days after you first see signs of infection and after you have started using the Neosporin before you decide to see the vet. Just make sure that you do not let it get too serious before acting on it.
Below you will find pictures of a successfully regenerated leopard gecko tail from day one to day 31.
Leopard Gecko Regenerated Tail
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Disclaimer: Please be aware that the advice in this article should in no way replace that of a licensed veterinarian. The methods outlined above may or may not work for your pet. If you have any concerns, you should consult a specialized reptile veterinarian.
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Comments
It's not a tall tail story. It's real... Hence the pictures... It grows back, but not normal. A normal leopard gecko tail is long and fat; a regenerated tail is more bulb shaped. But sometimes the color will come back. I have seen geckos that would have had a carrot tail, havea regenerated tail that showed the carrot tail.
thank you so much for this info, my sins gecko lost his tail after meeting our 2 year old neighbor boy and my son cried for days, Geiko has been his best friend for 2 years. He knows all about geckos but it shocking to see the tail off. This helped reashure him!
do the leopard geckos feel much pain when the tail is let go?
I'm sure there is some type of feeling there, but I'm not sure. It is a defense mechanism, so I would assume it not hurt too much, since its supposed to happen when frightened.
when thy lose there tail and say it doesnt get nfected, can they still die of blood loss or somthing else?
There is typically mimimal blood loss.
Hi, i have two leopard geckos both female that live together in a large 50 gallon tank my friend owned them for 8 years without using a heat lamp only a heating pad on the bottom of the tank, when she gave them to me i bought them a heat lamp and they have become more active but they also fight alot, yesterday one of the females grabbed the other geckos tail while fighting and half of it ripped off I cleaned it off with water and put her in a smaller tank inside the big tank with paper towel for the floor and a little cave and water and she seems relaxed but is there anything else i should be doing for her since shes 9 years old i bought some wound healing liquid at a pet store that is for leopard geckos should i put this on her tail or just leave it alone. Also i was just wondering when i should have the heat lamp on and when not too because i usually have the lamp on during the day and the heating pad on at night? thanks for any information you can give me!
also i read a ton of the comments on your website and ive heard you say several times not to use sand, which i use but after what ive read i will change that, but what is the easiest thing to change it to? the person who gave me the geckos has used sand for 8 years but she also bought this other stuff called eco-earth which is compressed coconut fibers that you cut off soak and then let dry and then you use it as a floor for the tank but this would be a loose substance or is it okay? if this stuff isnt okay what was the gecko carpet i kept reading about? would you have to replace this very often or do you just clean the waste off and re-use it for a long time? Also i had talked about it in my first comment with the fighting is there any way to get them to stop fighting? cause if they dont im gunna have to put a glass or plastic seperator in the tank and i dont want to have to do that. Thanks again for any information you can give me its very much appreciated!!! :)
~Sam
It sounds like you need to purchase another undertank heater. You're not really providing proper temperatures if you have a tank within a tank. It's a shortcut, but not a good one that will benefit either gecko. You really don't need to put anything on the tail; it should heal up rathre quickly. Just keep loose substrates away from the gecko because it can get into the wound and cause infection. The heating pad needs to be on 24/7. You should purchase digital thermometers with probes so that you can best monitor the temperatures on the surface of the tank.
It is good that you removed the sand. No, you shouldn't use the eco earth, it can retain humidity, which is not necessary for leopard geckos, plus you still run into the impaction issue. Reptile carpet is carpet marketed for reptile enclosures. You can just wash it in the washing machine and reuse it. There's nothing that cna g et them to stop, which is why they should be kept separately.
Leopard geckos are solo reptiles and do not prefer company. They are best housed singley. Although, it is possible to house two females in a tank together, you have proven to yourself that it's not always possible.
Are you sure they are both females?
Hello, i will have to look into purchasing a reptile carpet and possible a new tank although that might take a little while because the person who gave me them has another tank at her beach house and she is going to give it to me when they go the next time, i would just need to save up money to buy a whole new setup. um with the gender of the geckos when my friend bought them 8/9 ish years ago the man they bought them from said they were both female but i will have to make sure they are not both males. thank you for the information you have provided it was very helpful, also with the carpet, do normal pet stores sell these or are these hard to find? thanks again! :)
Yes, pet stores do carry it. You really need a new setup, as you're not housing the one properly by any means.
I'm not sure what happened to my little girl. She was in her cave, and I heard the paper towl rustling around, so I looked, and she was moving weird, almost like a seziure. Than she turned around and layed down. A few mins go by, and I hear the noise again, so I look, and this time, she ran up into a cubby in her cave, and her tail was lying on the ground. I have NO idea what caused this! The only thing in the cage was an adult cricket, (which was added by mistake). Is it possible for a cricket to bite and cause enough pain to cause the gecko to drop it's tail? It's the only thing I can think of.
I personally am OCD and worried sick, and keep wanting to apply medicine to the wound. But from your article, I believe I should hold off. But is there anything wrong with "preventive measures"? I in no way could afford a reptilian vet, so should I add the neosporin as a "precaution"?
She's in a 50 gallon tank by herself, a shallow water basin, cave, a heat rock (I've modded the rock to control voltage to lower heat to prevent burns), and plain brown paper towels as substrate.
She's only a few months old, so I'm worried sick. She ate her tail shortly thereafter, and looks severly bloated at this time, and I'm afraid to feed her at this time.
Will geckos eat to thier death, or until thier full?
Thanks for any information.
I wanted to add that I also have a heating pad under one end of the cage and a 200Watt Exo-Terra Heat Lamp, and have probes at either ends of the cage to monitor her "hot" and "cold" ends of the cage.
Justin, it could have been the cricket upsetting the gecko. I'm not sure. Geckos can eat reptiles and cause major damage, which is why you shouldn't leave them in the enclosure for long periods of time. You should remove uneaten crickets after about 20 minutes. Make sure you don't have sand in the enclosure, as that will infect the wound. Sounds like you have your heating situation covered. Just watch out for crickets from now on.
i have a male leopard gecko and im unsure how old he is but i measured him and he is 9inches long so i would think he is ful grown ..i was thinking about gettinga bigger tank ..would i be able to get another one? and what sex? what is a more natural looking floor b/c paper towel looks so unattractive ??
It's an adult. The only thing you can do to provide a cagemate is to put a similarly sized female in with him, but then they'll breed. Plus, by leaving a male and female in the same enclosure all the time, will greatly stress out the female. It's best to house males separately. He should have at least a 10 gallon tank, although the 20 gallon longs are more appropriate. You can use slate tiles, which come in a variety of colors and patterns; they can create a nice feel the the enclosure, and it's more natural than paper towels, reptile carpet, and sand. If I remember correctly, if you purchase the 6x6 tiles, they fit perfectly in a 20gallon long (should be 10 tiles total, 5 across the length and 2 acros the width).
so there is no way i can really have a mate in there unless i want to breed :(
i have never taken him out of his tank to roam b/c of my cats but if i were to get a box and just make like a short wall with no floor and let him cruise in there for a bit would that maybe help him adjust ..b/c there are lots of small spaces he could crawl into ..
The gecko can only have a cage mate if you plan on breeding. Why do you want him to roam in a box? What are you trying to get him to adjust to? The new enclosure? If you put him in an unfamilar place to let him get used to another place, that's going to cause just as much stress, if not more. Just stick him in the new enclosure.
no ..i mean make like a "fence type thing out of a cardbord box only a few inches high off the floor so he dosnt roam so far ..when i take him out of the cage ive never had him out to roam freely before
You shouldn't let him roam freely in a room.
My leopard gecko just dropped her tail right before she came from her last owner. i thought it was a shame because her last owner thought it was disgusting and just said "have her i dont want her now" it was nasty lol. but she seems to be doing well but she isnt eating the same now i was a bit worried but i can hand feed her until she gets better it should be fine eh guys?
You can hand feed, but for the most part the gecko should act as normal and it shouldn't need assited feeding. Just make sure to keep the wound clean and free of any debris that may be in te enclosure.
I have a leopard gecko for 2 years now, and just recently my son got into the cage and let her out. I thought i cat ate her, but weeks later we found her. She dropped her tail ,and has been without food and water for weeks. I put her back into her cage(with a new lid so my son can't open it) and fed her. is there anything else i can do for her? I have the mats down instead of loose cali-sand. I am just worried about her.
Just keep the wound cleaned, and keep her fed and watered properly. Definitely make sure that your son can't let her out again.
Hello,
thankyou very much for this useful information. yesterday i brought a baby leopard gecko who is lovely.
i would really like him/her to get used to me but i dont want to stressed him/her out too much.
what would you suggest the best way to get a baby gecko used to me? i tried stroking gentally but he/she ran off. ive tried just laying my hand down in the cage and he did walk over and have a look and when transfering him from the travel box to his new home he did walk into my hand. i would love him to be comfortable with human handling but i want to do it as stress free as possible so i do not upset him.
also i have some heat pads under the cage but he was not very active last night. this might just be because it was his first night in a new surrounding on his own but i after reading throu the comments im wondering if its not warm enough for him.
iv not put him on sand as i heard that can clog up his insides so he is on some wood chip that the reptile store suggested. do they prefer sand as i would move him onto sand when hes older if they prefer it?
thanks for any help you can provide
If you just got him yesterday, you need to leave it alone for at least 5-7 days letting him adjust to the new environment. That means feed and water only. After that period, stick with picking up only within the cage, so if he jumps it's not a far fall. Then eventually with time and age, it will calm down. Babies are more finicky and scared than adults are and typically aren't the best idea for beginners to bring home.
You want to remove the wood chips, and replace with paper towels, reptile carpet, tile, shelf liner, or anythign that is sollid, as they can injest the small pieces and you run a HUGE risk of crickets and worms hiding under the wood chunks.
thankyou very much for your advice :)
We will leave him be so he can adjust.
i think he needs to find his sleep pattern as he slept during the night and has been up during the day today which means i have been able to monitor his eating which so far has been good.
yes the store did ask me if i wanted an older gecko but i wanted it from a baby but hes kept in touch by phone if i had any worrys which was good.
generally he seems to be ok atm though which is a good sign
as for the wood chips they are solid and far to big for him to get into his mouth. i didnt want to use sand as i heard the babys can get sand inside them when diving for the crickets and could cause problems
thanks for your advice
They live for 15-20 years, there's no reason to want a baby. 1 year is still REALLY young. Sand is not a good choice, but wood chips aren't either.
i may move him onto paper
i have a vet litually at the end of my road that has a reptile specilist.
i know tht 1 year is still young but im pretty confident with anmials so i can handle it :)
Good luck. Paper towels is a much better choice.
thanks for your help we have never changed to paper towls for him and will leave him alone for a while to get used to his surroundings. in this short time he is now moving between the warm and cool areas rather then staying in his warm area hide
thanks very much he seems happier already
That's too bad.
sorry i meant we HAVE changed to paper towls
Oooo ok. That's good then.
i have a question, i have been feeding my gecko regularly with 5 or 6 meal worms every few days and some crickets and his tail wont get fat he is about 3months old. do you have advice
At 3 months, the tail isn't going to be super thick. Offer as much as it will eat within 15-20 minutes.
hi thanks for tellin me that information.
yea.
is their two types of lepopard geko?
There is one species of leopard gecko. Although there are many morphs.
i thought their was a fat tail one and a small tail one.
Leopard geckos have a fat tail as a fat storage area. African Fat Tail Geckos also have a fat tail for the same reason. They are two different species and are unrelated, coming from two different parts of the world. They just have similar temperatures, size, and temperaments; although cannot be housed together due to slightly different enclosure requirements.
Is using sand bad for Leopard Geckos?
Potentially sand is a terrible substrate for leopard geckos, especially babies.
my leopard gecko died about a year ago and i dont know why. i had him for about a year and he was 7 inches long, we fed him about 12-16 crickets a week and he ate most of them but we didnt take out the remaining or dead ones, could that have caused death?
You should not leave dead crickets in the tank nor uneaten live ones. Crickets can nibble and eat an ill gecko that is lethargic and prefers not to move, but you would have seen plenty of bite marks on the gecko. Did you have proper 90F heat on the hot side? Did you provide plenty of hides? It will be hard to tell you what klled the gecko a whole year later. But, I can say if you left dead crickets in the tank, it probably wasn't very sanitary.
we tokk em out about once a month and ya we did have proper temperature on one side and we have 3-4 good hiding places, but i feel bad now knowing that, there wasn't bite marks or anything but he never moved or ate alot
Dead crickets can potentially lead to bacterial growth and plain nastiness within the tank. Uneaten crickets should be removed afer about 15 minutes. Poop and any dead insectes removed at minimum weekly.
ok, i know that now
Yep, and you'll know better for the future.
Would aspen be a good bedding for leopard geckos?
No. Stick with a solid surface if at all possible.
Oh. I've heard of alot people that use it and have never had any problems with it.
It's not recommended to use anything loose in a leopard gecko's enclosure. IE stay clear of sand, pebbles, wood chips, etc. Crickets, mealworms, etc can hide under wood chips and such. The gecko can injest parts of the chips and sand, which can potentially cause impaction, which is fatal. It's your choice, but just because they haven't seen issues yet doesn't mean they won't ever.
aspen also been proven to prevent impaction, what if i used a food dish for the meal worms. what do you think then?
How can aspen prevent impaction when there is still a chance that the gecko can eat it which can clog the intestines. There's really no need to use aspen. There is no proven benefit. A solid surface is best- whether that be tile, carpet, paper towels, etc.
aspen can be digested
Aspen is a form of wood, which cannot be digested properly.
ok then what about coco husk?
Nope. I wouldn't recommend any loose substrate.
Leopard Gecko enclosure: http://hubpages.com/_reptiles/hub/Set-Up-a-Leopard
Natural enclosure for experts not beginners: http://hubpages.com/_reptiles/hub/Natural-Habitat-
pastorreachout says:
11 months ago
Is this a tall tail story?
Seriously does the original color come back ? does it ever look like it did before it dropped.