Color Change

Man, it's been awhile since I've posted here.

Anyway, I'm worried about my little guy, Misfit. He's usually very bright orange, but lately he's been turning... I dunno how to explain it... A brownish color, I guess? Just, darker.

My dad (who knows nothing about geckos) says that he's changing because it's winter. He isn't near any doors or windows, he's in the center of the room pretty much. I'm really worried because i've never seen a gecko do this before.

I feel like I may have done something, because I changed his routine not too long ago. A lady at our vet told us how she cares for her geckos, and then we tried it. Screwed Misfit over big time. So he's back to how I've always cared for him. Has been for awhile now. But has anyone ever seen something like that before? I'll try to post a picture later.

When they shed they get dull and dark then shed and get bright again. That could be it or not. My gecko has nevr completely changed color. They do change as they grow but being so sudden i doubt it. Other more experianced members are sure to come soon after me and help a lot more.

What are your floor temps? Sometimes geckos will become darker if the temps are too low.
Can you fill out the health questionnaire please?
http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t134-please-read-and-fill-out-with-your-health-questions

About your leo:
- Sex: Unknown (doesn't like handling all that much, so it's been hard to tell)
- Age & Weight: 13 months old, weight unknown
- Morph (if you know): I was told, but i've forgotten.
- How long have you owned your leo: Since July of '11
- Where was he/she obtained (Pet store, breeder, wild caught, etc.) Burton's Total Pet pet store
- Is your leo wild caught or captive bred: unknown, most likely captive bred

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: One a week
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how: No change
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.: Lost a few toes to bad shed before I got him, possibly nicked a spot by his eye. (Parents say he's fine, I say otherwise...)
B) Fecals
- Describe-Do they look any different than normal: Same as always.
- When was the last time he/she went: Last night, around 10:15. Same time every night.
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem/issue you are experiencing and how long it has been going on: He's turning brown, kind of like an apple exposed to the air for too long. That's what it looks like.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: 20 gallon
- Type (ex. glass tank, screen enclosure, tub kept) Glass tank
- Type of substrate (sand, vinyl tiles, ceramic/stone tiles, etc.) Sand mixed with mulch
- Hides (how many, location and type (hothide, humid hide, regular hide etc.) 1 hide, plastic container with lid covering it, paper towel inside. It's over his floor heater thing, so I guess humid hide.
B) Heating
- What is your main heat source (heat bulbs, under tank heat mat etc) **Please include the brand and size of your UTH if you use one** A heat bulb, and a UV light overhead (not sure if that gives heat though)
- What are your cage temps (hot side and cool side) One side has the heating pad, and the other has the heat bulb. The side with the heat bulb is 80 degrees F.
- Method of regulating your heat source (thermostat, rheostat, light dimmer etc.) none
- What are you using to measure your temps (probe thermometer, infrared lazer tempo gun, stick on temp gauge, etc) Stick on gauge
- Do you have any lights (describe type (red,blue, basking etc) and cycle duration) UV Overhead and Heat bulb. Turn them on around 7 AM, off around 9-10 PM
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females) None
- Describe health, or previous problems of cage mates: none

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What are you feeding
- How often are you feeding your gecko and how much per feeding?
- How are you feeding (hand fed, tongs/tweezers, left in dish, ect)
B) Supplements
- What calcium suppliment are you using (please include brand)
- What multi vitimin are you using (please include brand)
-How are you implimenting your suppliment program (how often do you dust with each suppliment, do you leave calcium in the tank 24/7 etc.)
- What are you gutloading your feeder insects with

You didn't full out any of the feeding and suppliment section. That info is important. Your tank set up is not the best for a leo, your temps are way too low, your leaving a uv bulb on way too long and it isn't even recommended if your leo is in a room with a window, it stresses them out, heat bulbs aren't needed either unless your under tank heater isn't heating your viv to the needed 88-96*F. Heat mat and heat bulb should be on the same side of the viv so you have a temperature gradient so your leo can thermoregulate. Your substrait us an impaction risk, no loose substrait is ever recommended by intelligent leo keepers. If I were you I'd go read the sticky in the housing section on how to make the perfect leo set up, fix what's wrong then see how he does. I think he's too cold which is why he's dark. If he's too cold for you long you will have a LOT of problems with shedding and digestion. Other possibility is the mulch you're using is dyed and wth the humidity in the viv its staining your leo. Could also be from diet or vitamin deficency but can't say anything there until you fil out the feeding/diet section in the care questionaire. Please update as soon as you can, get the loose substrait out and replace with papertowels for now as what he is in is a bcteria festival and impossible to disinfect. You have lots going on there that are not good for leos hon.

oh crap, I totally missed that part.
And i don't know if it makes a difference, but the sand we use is that calcium sand.
We've had him on the green terrarium carpet kind of stuff (sorry but names are escaping my head), and he hated it. Wouldn't come out of his hide, wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink. We had that for a few weeks, and mom decided to put him back on sand.
Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What are you feeding- crickets and superworms
- How often are you feeding your gecko and how much per feeding? Every other day with the superworms, one if they're the large ones. The crickets are every now and then.
- How are you feeding (hand fed, tongs/tweezers, left in dish, ect) Left in a dish for worms, and crickets run around. We only put one or two in at a time.
B) Supplements
- What calcium suppliment are you using (please include brand) Repto Calcium with and without D3
- What multi vitimin are you using (please include brand) None
-How are you implimenting your suppliment program (how often do you dust with each suppliment, do you leave calcium in the tank 24/7 etc.) I leave a bottle cap of Calcium without D3 in the tank at all times, and we dust the crickets every time we put them in. So he gets D3 dusted crickets about 3-4 times a week.
- What are you gutloading your feeder insects with- Superworms usually get potatoes or apples, and crickets get the jelly stuff for their liquid and some cereal crushed up.

Calci sand is actually worse than regular sand as it tempts the animal to eating it rather than just the accidental ingestion that would happen with desert sand. NO sand is natural to leos. They come from packed earth deserts and live in rocky craigs and crevaces. After you read the proper leo housing sticky you might want to check out the photo section for the show of your set ups sticky to get some better ideas. You really need to change your set up.

Take a look at this thread: http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t166-proper-housing-for-leopard-geckos It has all the info you need.

You should really switch to paper towel or tiling (peel-n-stick, ceramic, slate etc). Loose substrates such as gravel, sand, clay etc. can cause impaction (a digestive tract blockage) that can result in death. It doesn't matter the age of the leo; impaction is a build-up, meaning it takes time for it to happen. Your leo could appear to be fine for days, even months, and then one day become affected.

There should be a minimum of 3 hides in the tank (1 on the hot side, 1 on the cold side, and a moist hide which is generally half on the hot side).

Leopard geckos get their heat from their bellies to help digest their food. Leopard geckos need a hot side and a cool side. The side with the heat mat is the "hot side", and should be 88*-95* (the heat mat should cover 1/3 of the tank floor). The cool side should be in the high 70*s. Leos don't need UV lights, as they are crepuscular (meaning they come out at dawn and dusk), so they aren't exposed to sunlight (which UV light substitutes). The heat bulb is only needed if despite the use of a heat mat and thermostat (to control the temps of the heat mat), you can't reach the proper temp range. Make sure when measuring the temps you use a probe thermometer and measure the FLOOR temp not the AIR temp. The floor is what is touching the leos belly.

You should also provide a multivitamin for your leo. I use reptivite with vitamin D3. It adds the extra vitamins your leo may not be getting.

With some changes to your leos home, I wouldn't be surprised if your leo starts to color up a bit. Another thing to think about is some calci sands actually dye your leo. I've seen some people use the purple sand only to find their leos feet start to turn purple.

We have the orange calci sand... He never turned that color when we had the white calci sand.... That may be it.

Hopefully all of this will help. Thank you so much!

You can tell they are not designed to live on sand by the structure of their feet. Species that live on sand usually have long and wide feet to prevent them from sinking in the sand... Most leo's i see on sand usually have their feet completely sunken.

I would recommend getting a heatmat on a thermostat as light bulbs will not give you the desired temps and they need belly heat more than ambient temps to digest food and develop and grow properly.

Karagain wrote:You can tell they are not designed to live on sand by the structure of their feet. Species that live on sand usually have long and wide feet to prevent them from sinking in the sand... Most leo's i see on sand usually have their feet completely sunken.

Very nice way of putting it Becca. I may borrow this from time to time

thank you guys. this weekend there will be a major trip to the pet store.

That's good to hear. Different flooring/substrait will def.be healthier. Tiles only cost a couple dollars each at the hardware store and they really do look nice. Check out the show off your set up thread in the picture section, it'll give you some great ideas.

We've got him on paper towels. He's already more active. But his color is still changing. If you look at my icon pic, you'll see how he normally looks. now he's this brown that... I don't know how to describe it. Like a rotten banana peel. He hasn't been eating a lot, and he's having a hard time shedding. It's winter, so that could be a factor, but I'm still worried. Luckily, we can finally handle him, so we've been helping with his shed.

Have you raised the floor temperature yet?

For a gecko that young (judging by your icon pic), they go through normal color changes as they grow up. But if you see big changes in short amount of time, it's good indication your temperature is too low.

He's 13 months old. i really need to update that picture. But I'll get another floor heating pad within the week. thank you guys so much.