Gecko "bathing" in water dish... should I be worried?

[traptbutterfly]

I got a leopard gecko about 2 weeks ago. We don't know whether it's a male or female yet, because it's still tiny... but I named it Ducky and have been calling it a she until we know for sure!

Anyway, Ducky is an absolute joy, is used to mommy by now and has a little personality. She likes to climb her palm tree and lay on the leaves to bask in the "sun."

At night time, I switch her overhead heat light to a red one. Her tank is straight across from my bed and I can see her all night. I wake up often to check on her and lately, I've noticed a rather strange habit. She spends a LOT of time around her water dish... it look like a long, flat rock with the center dug out... and the past few nights, she spends almost the entire night laying with her entire body in the water! It isn't deep enough for her to drown (maybe 3/4 inch of water) but what gives? Is this normal? She seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself laying in the water.

Her cage is kept at a steady 85 degrees so I couldn't see her being too hot... she also has a "log" that she can go on top of and inside where she goes to cool down or take a rest. She's eating only small mealworms right now, about 5 a day... sometimes she eats less. She seems to be alert and happy, does she just have a weird habit? Does anyone else have a gecko with odd habits like my Ducky?

Thank you for reading

All my love,

Gina

 

[Allee Toler]

Aww she's cute. =D

I wouldn't be worried. Not at all. She probably just likes laying in it because it's cool. Just like we like to take hot showers even on a hot day. Lol. One of mine loves to lay in her water bowl, the other won't go near water and if you spray her, she freaks out. Ducky just has a unique personality and an odd liking to laying in her water.

Just make sure you clean it well every night.

As for the temps, you said 85? Raise it to around 90-92F on one side, and leave it at 82-85F on the other side. She's not eating much because the temps aren't really high, so she's not digesting as fast. My baby will eat about 10 worms a night, plus some crickets every other night. My tanks 95F and 85F.

 

[NathanSoto]

Haha i think ducky is a perfect name for her than.

Okay onto the problem, i used to have a gecko who was the same way except she did it during the day, i thought this was odd and watched her almost every day and nothing was wrong i think some leopard geckos just like water, i had 9 of them and she was the only one who did it, so i think its just a bad habit but just make sure she is shedding properly as this could also be a sign of not enough humidity which they need in order for a good shed.

also mealworms arent the best food supply as they do not give enough nutrients, i dont know is this could be a problem also but crickets are the way to go.

best of luck,

Nathan

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Leopard geckos doing strange things

...all night? That is strange. I don't think it could be considered too serious in itself but it could mean something else is happening.

The most obvious thing I can think of is that the terrarium might be too hot but then you have already typed that you keep the temperature at a steady 85 degrees. Which isn't bad for heat (could be a bit higher)...but does the terrarium have a cool side for your gecko to cool done in? If not, that might be your problem.

Leopard geckos need a temperature atleast ten degrees cooler on the cool side and I would even go as far as to say that it might be best off keeping the cool side somewhere between the high 70's and low 80's. Just so that, if your leopard gecko really wants to cool down, they will have somewhere to go. Does your terrarium have a cool hide? That can also help because hides produce shade from overhanging heat sources.

Another issue to consider is humidity. While leopard geckos can tolerate a lot of dryness in their living space, they still need moisture to help them shed. And sometimes to keep cool, as is what I am assuming your gecko is trying to do. But that could not necessarily be the case.Does your terrarium have a humid hide?

Or maybe your leopard gecko just likes water? Many leopard geckos do odd things and/or have odd personality quirks. My leopard gecko, Bahamut, keeps trying to bury his water dish for some reason so I have to wash it every night. I imagine there are probably other stories of geckos doing strange things on this board. You might even get some in this thread.

 

[Allee Toler]

GiGi drowns all her worms...

She will drag a worm to the water, drop it in. Leave it. Get another worm, drop it in, leave it.

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Mmm, soggy mealworms...

Atleast mealworms don't drown themselves the way those stupid crickets do...:-x Your gecko doesn't even need to drown them.

Meh, maybe she just likes 'em soggy

 

[Allee Toler]

Lol. She doesn't eat them. She just kills them. But I keep them in the tank for Lucie because she eats them. GiGi just happens to get a hold of them before Lucie does. Lucie will fish them out if GiGi drowns them all.

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Sadistic leopard geckos

Yeesh, what a sadistic little gecko :shock: Atleast they have Lucie to send them to mealworm heaven

@ traptbutterfly: Now that I think about it, 5 mealworms a day is kind of low, even for a juvenile. They're supposed to have huge appetites at that stage. Try upping the temperature ten degrees, put in some crickets (to facilitate more action on the gecko's part) and add a cool hide for her (?) to cool down in (if you haven't got one already). If you have one, see if you have a humid hide.

 

[reptile65]

I notice you have sand in your enclosure. I would highly recommend replacing that with paper towels, especially since he/she is still a youngin'

Trust me, I've seen x-rays of an impacted leopard gecko and it is not pretty...

 

[TripleTGecko]

So ok, here are many talked about the temperature and about the humidity, so i don't want to repead all of this things.
But maybe one other thing, I have breed snakes for a longer time, and someday they all have had mites. They also just was laying in the water, so maybe you should talk a real good look at your gecko if you see some black or brown or red little spots walking over his body ^^
If so, this is no new morph, these are mites, and than i think best you can do is take him to the vet. You can get mites with all new substrate or anything else you place new in your vivarium. I got them from feeding some mice from a bad shop.
So maybe, it is just what i'm always thinking about when i hear a reptile lays in the water.
Greetings

 

[MellowMan24]

mine have a habit when they sleep they sleep with their front legs back like they just slid like a penguin and didnt bother to get up