Adopted Leo with Dropped Tail. Need advice

This is my first Leo. I was at the petstore today and the someone had bought the little Leo (today) and said they were putting him in his enclosure and he dropped his tail so they didn't want him anymore. (I have a hard time believing this story because they had a very young kid with them who was over excited about the gecko even with no tail. And the child was very graby) The petstore said they usually take care of the animals like this in the back until someone wants to adopt them. Well, I have owned my fair share of reptiles and lizards. (corn snakes, crested geckos, and currently a bearded dragon) and didn't want the Leo to just sit in the back. I had a spare 20 gallon at home and plenty of extra heat sources and reptile decor. Soo I took him home today.

I've always wanted a Leo! So it's great having him. I joined the forum to hopefully get some advice on his tail. I read the care sheet for a dropped tail on this forum and learned some good stuff. My question is aimed more towards the best things to feed the little guy would be, since he dropped all his storage for nutients.

-Jamie

Welcome to the forum

I can't give you much advice about dealing with a dropped tail.. but we have a member of staff called Kathryn -Kathstew- and she rescued a leo with a dropped tail that has grown back really well so she'll be able to help you out! If the tail has been resently dropped,you should keep your substrate as paper towels and change it often to prevent infection

I look forward to seeing pics of your new leo and your beardie

Thanks for the advice! Hs tail dropped today which is why they brought him back the same day they got him. I always use paper towel as my substrate for all my reptiles. It's safer, easiest to clean, and so cheap!

We haven't set up Internet at our new house yet and I don't think I can post pictures from my phone on here. But As soon as I do I will post pics. I'm going to take a pic of his tail every day so I can see the progress. I probably will only post a before and after though.

Welcome to the forum! I'm Kathryn, I hope we are able to help you anyway we can!

The poor leo D: They didn't want him just 'cause he dropped his tail, that's terrible. Well, he's in a better home now.

As Sarah said, I rescued a leopard gecko with a dropped tail (my first leo actually), and she has healed up great, its fully grown back now. Your leo's tail will never look the same, but it should grow back very nicely, and within a month or so. My leopard gecko, Miracle, took longer for her tail to grow back, as she was malnourished and treated badly before I got her.
Here is what Miracle's tail looks like now:


Since you read the dropped tail sheet there isn't much more for me to say about that. Sounds like you are on the right track! Oh, you can bump up the hot side temps to around 95* if you want, that will help in the healing process. I also cleaned the tail area with a wet Q-Tip once or twice a day to keep it clean (this was mostly because she was kept in disgusting conditions before I got her and I wanted to reduce the chance of infection).

You can feed your leo mealworms, crickets, dubai roaches etc. Feed him as much as he will eat. If he does overeat, he will generally only do it once before he learns his lesson lol. Make sure you are supplementing his diet with multivitamins. I recommend reptivite or repashy. They are all in one, multivitamin, calcium and d3. You use it twice a week. He'll need all the vitamins he can get (but don't overdose him lol).
Waxworms are high in fat, so you can feed him those, but not too many as they are addictive. I gave Miracle two or three a week while her tail was growing back, and now she gets one or two a week, if that. Make sure you gutload your feeders for at least 24hours before feeding them to your leo. Here is a sticky on different feeders for your leo.

Are you using a light or under tank heater? Reason I'm asking is, as far as I know the animals you listed -except for cresties- need basking lights, and leos actually need an UTH. If you don't have one, you really need to get one. Leos get their heat from their bellies, it helps them digest their food properly.

If he is a young leo, his storage for nutrients isn't THAT important at the moment, as everything he is eating is going to helping him grow into an adult leo. So you don't need to worry too much about his fat storage being gone, its more getting him the nutrients he needs to grow, if he is a juvie leo.

Again, welcome to the forum! I hope you enjoy your time here!

Welcome to the forum and well done for taking the little guy in, I did a similar rescue a couple of months ago but my little one has his foot and part of his back leg missing but to me it makes them extra special.

Thanks Kathryn for the info! I do have him with an UTH. I had been researching leo's for a while because I wanted one and I'm not one to jump into something I only know a little about. So I have the basics on how to care for him I just didn't think it would be this soon.

So I need to pick up a couple things for him today. I just want to make sure I have everything for him. As of right now I have an 20 gal long, UTH, Paper towel as substrate, a digital thermometer that's laser pointer style, a rock looking hide on the warm side and a deserty looking logish thing for the cool side. I have a Plant or 2, and a water dish. I know today I need to get calcium without D3, the reptivit, And make him a humid hide. If I have missed anything I would appreciate any extra advice.

Thanks again for the quick replies. I look forward to sending pics of his before and after!

And Ozziesmum the picture of your Leo Is so cute!! Thats's awesome you rescued too! Did he lose his phalanges in a bad shed? And thanks for the welcome post. I'm excited to learn more about this new Family member!

No problem! I'm glad to help!
I'm glad you did your research, kudos to you! A lot of people just jump into the hobby (I did, lol, it was an emergency rescue situation from my insane neighbors).

It sounds like you've got everything under control! If he's a juvie leo you may want to add a few extra hides. Juvie leos like lots of places to hide, they feel more secure. As they get older they don't really need as much (min 3 - hot, cold and moist hide).

The calcium without d3 you can keep in a little bowl in his tank for him to lick up once and a while, and then dust the feeders twice a week.

I think you've got everything under control
Good luck, and I can't wait to see some pictures!

Hi Jamie, thank you, I don't know what happened to Tripod to cause his injury I rescued him/her just after having the limb amputated but s/he was tiny just 6 grams when s/he came to me that was on the 15th September this year and s/he now weighs 39 grams

Check out my caresheet http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t1129-tail-loss-caresheet

Wow you really fattened her up!

I did read that care sheet. Just had a couple questions that I didn't see on there. I usually like to research before I ask questions because I know it gets annoying to see the same questions again and again on any forum. Thank you for the link though now I have an easier way of finding it to refer back to it!

One last question about calcium. The calcium I dust the crickets with is it the same as the calcium I put in her dish? Without D3?

You should actually dust the crickets with a multivitamin AND calcium WITH d3. The calcium left in the tank should NOT have d3.
I use reptivite, because its all in one, calcium, multivitamin and d3. That way, you don't have to keep track of a bunch of different bottles of vitamins etc.

So no, its not the same.

Also, with crickets, just be careful while your leo doesn't have a tail (and at all times really). When Miracle first started growing her tail back, the crickets actually tried to bite her stub of a tail O_O Its not a good idea to leave crickets in the tank unattended, so just watch them with her/him.

Ok so reptivite for crickets, and calcium with no D3 for her viv. I never leave crickets in any reptile enclosure with the. I actually watch them eat so I know they ate and so I can get any loose ones out right away. I dont need any crickets chewing on my reptiles! Thank you so much for the advice! I've been reading through all the other questions about calcium and D3 and no D3 and ICB formulas and stuff I can use for my beardie AMD Leo and ones I can't. It was just a lot to take in and I started getting mixed up with everything.

You got it!
Glad to hear it. Some people don't know about the sneaky little cricket buggers, so I just like to warn them.

I hear ya about a lot to take in! Take your time, and ask questions whenever you need to. We are all here to help!

Great thank you!! And I've been reading a lot about the liquid calcium that goes in the water. Can I use that instead of having a dish of powdered calcium?

I think you can, I've never personally used it though. As long as its pure calcium it should be fine (no D3)

Awesome. I looked up the ingredietnat. Which are calcium, chloride, and calcium lactate. No D3! Yay! I think this is what I will use.

Also side note, I got a ziplock container for his humid hide and made him a new humid hide today. He's already using it! Aww, I'm just so excited! An he are like a champ today! I will start dusted crickets tomorrow! And I cut a toilet paper rolls in half so he has 2 more hides! He's diggin' it! Been out exploring around.

Oh and also we decides on a name today! His name is Chester!

Haha! I have a crested gecko named Chester! :P I love that name!

I'm glad he's doing well, sounds like you're doing a great job with him!
They love their humid hides! :P

I finally got the time to set up Internet set up at my new house! Now I can post pictures of my little Chester!

Here's the day I got him


And this is the progress on his tail. I just took the picture 5 minutes ago. He just started wiggling his tail when he eats about 5 days ago. And he started getting spots on his tail about 5 days ago as well. But today the spots are really starting to show! Also, look how much he has grown already!!

He's looking really good!
You're doing a great job! He's so cute!