Misting

[LEOPARD1]

At least with my LG I have never seen her drink from a dish. Ever. If I remove anything that must remain dry and mist the enclosure she runs around licking it up enthusiastically. She is the typical Gecko type that lives in her hides, never walks around or let's herself be in any type of un-covered, open area. I have heard misting may cause respiratory problems but its now been a week (probably longer) without food and I would at least like her to be hydrated. Any thoughts?

 

[kholtme]

I have never seen my leo drink water either. I know sometimes they cant see still water, so I am interested in this question also.

 

[Hilde]

Leopards don't drink much, they're very good at conserving water that's in their prey.
Their natural range is in arid areas, water is precious and can be hard to come by. They evolved to 'recycle' what they can, and only need to drink a bit to get topped up. They do drink, but not as much as we would expect.

I have seen my leopards, as well as other desert geckos drink, but it's not often. It's still important to make sure they always have a water source for when they do decide they need to drink.

Misting the enclosure isn't recommended, it raises the humidity in the entire enclosure. Just keep a humid hide in the enclosure all the time, and a small water dish. No need to give them a 'bath tub' sized dish. I use the 1.75" glazed plant pot saucers.

 

[majahawt]

They often lick the condensation off of the inside of their moist hide as well. One of my leos I will see drinking once a day, the other never drinks anything but the droplets in his hide

 

[hmarie186]

Like majahawt said, they will often drink the condensation from the walls of their moist hides, which should be plenty if it's being kept properly wet. You don't need to spray the whole cage it's too much.

 

[amsdadtodd]

While I agree with the conventional wisdom against misting, I find it interesting that so many of our LGs like to spend so much time in the moist hides. Of my four, both males spend the entire day in their moist hides, coming out in the evening, but their back in them in the morning. One of my females spends about half of her days in the moist hide, while I have only observed the other female in it once. I know their native habitat is rather arid, so this much time in the moist hide is certainly surprising to me.
As to the drinking issue, most of the water in the water dishes evaporates. They drink very seldom, although both males seem to like to charge through their dishes splashing up a storm about once a week.

Todd

 

[amsdadtodd]

Sorry, I hit the post button too quickly. There was another aspect in your post that is alarming. No food for a week? Is this deliberate to evaluate some other health issue, or is your LG just not eating food that is offered? As I understand it, when they refuse food it's most often due to a low temperature, often causing a sort of brumation. Some keepers do this deliberately to prep for breeding, while others say it's not necessary. At any rate,if the lack of feeding is alarming, that's worth discussion, I don't know if you have another thread on that topic elsewhere or not.

Todd

 

[Hilde]

Their natural habitat is on the dry side above ground, but they spend most of their time in burrows, which are humid. Dig down under a sizable rock, or into a cave, you'll see it's humid, or even downright damp, even if the surface soil is bone dry. What rain they get soaks into the ground, so the ground is moist once you dig down a bit. The wild geckos spend their time in those burrows, so it's not surprising to find captives curling up in the humid hide during the day. There's evidence that they can also re-hydrate to some extent in that humid air, which would be another reason for them not needing to lap up water like we expect them to. They obviously still drink when water is available, but between rain storms, or foggy mornings, they can limit their water loss by staying in a humid burrow. Captives have the best of both worlds, humid 'burrow', water source in the dish, and moisture in gutloaded prey, so they can hang out where they want, be it the humid hide, or the dry one.

I posted this in another thread. It explains why healthy adults don't need to eat every day, or even every other day:

Leopards store fat for winter brumation, so they tend to snarf down anything edible when it's warm. Captive ones get fed all year long, and in many cases, they get too much food, so they never get to wear off the fat. Fat geckos can't move as fast as slimmer ones, but they don't normally have to move much during brumation, so it's okay to pack on the weight. Some people tend to think there's a natural tendency for them to slow down eating when they get too fat, something along a natural diet plan for the sake of survival.

Cold-blooded animals have a much lower metabolism than warm-blooded ones. They don't need to eat 3 meals a day. In some warm-blooded species as much as 75% of their calorie intake goes toward body heat. The leopards don't need those calories to burn, which explains why they don't need to eat every day, or in a few cases, no more than once a week. As long as their food has the proper nutrients (gutloaded and supplemented), they'll be okay with less food than we tend to think they need. My leopards get fed every 3 days in summer, every 5 days in winter. They're not starved, they've got a healthy weight, and some are 15-19 years old. If they decide not to eat for a few meals, I don't worry, as long as they're not sick, and don't loose too much weight.