Many lizards need to be bathed when dirty, to receive extra moisture, help with constipation or with shedding. But do leopard geckos need baths? In this post, we will discuss if leopard geckos need bathing, how to bathe a leopard gecko, how often to bathe a leopard gecko, how to make a constipation and sugar baths for your leopard gecko.
Can you give a leopard gecko a bath?
Leopard geckos come from dry environment and don’t really need bathing. However, you can bathe your leopard gecko if it gets dirty, to help it with stuck or problematic shedding, or to help with constipation or prolapsed hemipenis. Don’t bathe your leopard gecko for any other reason or for enjoyment.
Leopard geckos don’t enjoy baths, they can drown in deep water and bathing can dry their skin. Avoid bathing young leopard geckos until they become around 4-5 months old as they need to be tame and confident.
How often should I give my leopard gecko a bath?
You should only bathe your leopard gecko when there is a need, such as when shedding or when it gets dirty. This can be 1-2 times a month, and also when needed.
If there is no need to soak/bathe your leopard gecko, then don’t do it at all. To help with shedding, place a moist hideout and spray your leopard gecko when shedding, instead.
Do leopard geckos like water?
Leopard geckos don’t like water and can become stressed if you put them in deep water, and they can drown as well.
This is why you don’t need to fill the tub/container with too much water when bathing leopard geckos. Leopard geckos are not capable of swimming and they don’t really enjoy being in water.
How do I bathe my leopard gecko?
- First of all, prepare a shallow plastic/glass container or a tub that you will use for soaking/bathing your leopard gecko. Container should be bigger than your leopard gecko.
- Place a cloth or paper towel on the bottom of the container. Placing the towel at the bottom will give extra support for your leopard gecko and help it relax.
- Then, fill the container/tub with around 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) of water – it should only touch your leopard gecko’s knees or up to a belly. Never fill the water higher than that – and don’t assume that leopard geckos can swim if the water level is too high. There are some owners who do that, but leopard gecko in this case is only trying to escape and is not swimming – this will cause it so much stress!
- Leopard gecko bath temperature is also important – water should be lukewarm, but not hot. Temperature of 86-90 Fahrenheit (around 30-32 Celsius) is ideal. Make sure water is lukewarm because leopard geckos are cold blooded lizards. Don’t let the water get cold during the bath/soak.
- Take a leopard gecko and slowly place it in the container with water.
- Let your leopard gecko soak for 5-10 minutes.
- If your leopard gecko has stuck shed, you can use tweezers, a q-tip or even your fingers to gently remove the skin. Removing retained shed skin is very important because this skin can cut the blood circulation, resulting in toe loss.
- Dry your leopard gecko with a paper towel (throw it away after) and return it back to the tank before its body temperature drops.
- It is the best idea to give your leopard gecko a bath after the shedding, to help it remove any stuck skin. If there is no stuck skin, you don’t need to your leopard gecko a bath. Сheck around the toes, on the head and around limbs.
When giving your leopard gecko a bath, you can also add some reptile shedding aid emollient in the water like this. Reptile shedding aid helps soften the skin to prevent retained skin.
There are spray versions of this reptile shedding aid, and sometimes you might skip the bath if you can remove the stuck skin with wet cloth, q-tips, spray and tweezers.
Some people choose to place their leopard gecko in a small dish and close the lid when soaking. It is not a good idea because the humidity in the dish can become too high and your leopard gecko might have trouble breathing.
Even opening the lid might be not enough and cause sudden temperature change. To prevent your leopard gecko from climbing out, choose a bigger dish.
Moist hide in a leopard gecko’s tank
To help your leopard gecko with shedding, you need to place a moist hide in the tank. You will need to have 3 hideouts for your leopard gecko – warm hide in the basking spot, moist hide in the middle and a cool hide.
A moist hide should be filled with coco fiber or vermiculite and you need to spray water in there when your leopard gecko start shedding. A shedding leopard gecko will look white and pale.
Your leopard gecko can also soak in the water dish that you place in the tank. Make sure that the water is not too high and change the water after your leopard gecko has soaked in it.
Leopard gecko impaction bath
If you suspect that your leopard gecko is impacted, you can give it a bath to help with it. To prevent impaction, don’t use any loose substrate in the tank (especially sand) and don’t give any bugs that are larger than the width between leopard gecko’s eyes.
Also, make sure to have proper heating in the tank so that your leopard gecko can digest food. Leopard geckos need belly heat, so the best choice is to place an under tank heater connect to a thermostat in one area so that your leopard gecko can lay there.
Read all about heating and lighting in leopard gecko’s tank in this post. You can also read about the best substrate in your leopard gecko’s tank in this post.
To give your leopard gecko an impaction bath, prepare the tub in the same way as described above. When your leopard gecko is in water, start massaging its belly from top to the vent. Don’t touch the throat.
Massage your leopard gecko’s belly for around 5 minutes and let it soak for 5 more minutes. Repeat this bath few times, once a day until your leopard gecko poops.
Leopard gecko sugar bath
Sometimes, after mating, your leopard gecko’s hemipenis might not retract easily. If it’s been more than 24 hours and the hemipenis is still prolapsed, you can give your leopard gecko a sugar bath.
If your leave prolapsed hemipenis, it can become infected, dry out, become black and suffer necrosis (dying of the organ).
To prepare a sugar bath, follow the same guidelines above. But this time, add some sugar in the water and stir until it dissolves.
Repeat once a day until it helps. You can also apply a little bit of Vaseline on the hemipenis and use a q-tip to try massaging it back in.