How do I bathe My leopard gecko?

In this article we will see the essential points regarding the bathing of the leopard geckos. It is important that you bathe your leopard gecko when it is dirty. This will help it receive the extra moisture and will also help in the process of shedding.

So in the further article we will see all the important details, when how and how much to bathe a leopard gecko. So the readers should continue reading in order to get a clear view regarding it.

Contents

Can leopard geckos take bath?

Leopard geckos usually come from a dry surrounding and environment. So it is not necessarily important that they should bathe every other day. But if your leopard gecko gets dirty often you can give it a bath. In the cases if there is problem with the shedding too then also you can give it a bath. Problems related to constipation or hemi penis would also need your pet to take bath.

Do not bathe your gecko for any other reason. These pets do not enjoy baths and some young ones can even drown in the water. It is better that you do not bathe your Leopard gecko until it is 4-5 months old. Till this age they become tame and much more confident.

How often should you bathe the leopard gecko?

It is important that you bathe your leopard gecko only when it is necessary such as when your pet gets dirty. You can bathe it once or twice in a month. If there is no requirement of bathing then you don’t need to give it s bath. So that you can help in the shedding process you can place the moist hideout or you can even spray on your pet to provide moisture.

Also Check: Best and top Substrates for leopard gecko

Is water good for leopard geckos?

These lizards do not like water and they can even get stressed if you put them in deep water. This is because they can drown.

Due to this reason you do not have to fill the tub or the container fully when you are bathing your pet. Leopard geckos do not swim and so they do not like being in water.

So we see that they generally do not need to be bathe and they can keep themselves clean without water too. But sometimes you do need to bathe your pet when it is necessary such as in the time of shedding or when it develops some skin condition.

So in order to know about the ways for how you can bathe your pet there are a few steps that you can follow.

How to bathe your leopard gecko?

There are a list of steps mentioned below. Following these the pet owners can easily bathe their pets.

Check if your pet is dirty

Your leopard gecko does not require bathing as such and if bathed should be done rarely. If you over bathe your pet then its skin can dry out and it can even lead to some sort of infection.

You should only bathe your pet of you feel that it is having difficulty in shedding. Even if your vet recommends you to bathe your pet then you can do so.

Wash off the dirt if you find your leopard gecko to be dirty. Also make sure that you do not do it more than once in a month.
This method can be used for other large lizards as well.

Wash your hands

Before you take your pet out for bathing you need to make sure that you wash your hands completely. Do this with hot water and soap. This will prevent transfer of any kinds of germs or microorganisms on your pet. This can potentially kill your pet. So be sure that you rinse your hands properly with a soap and avoid transfer of any diseases on to your pet.

Also it is good that you wash your hands after handling your pet so that diseases do not spread.

Fill a container

Once you know that your pet needs a bath you have to fill a small container using hot water. The water should be less than half a inch. You need to make sure that the temperature of the water is between 80-90 degrees F, this is because your pet is cold blooded.

You can even add some moss to the water so that your pet feels a little more comfortable.
Do not use soap. These can make your pet ill. Make use of warm water only unless it is mentioned to you by the vet.
If you find that your pet is having difficulty in shedding then you soak it for 30 minutes and after that you can pour warm water on its back.
This will help in softening the skin of your pet and remove the dead skin. Do not get water into the eyes of your leopard gecko.
After soaking it, you can try to remove the dead skin using tweezers. Do this only if the skin is soft or otherwise it will hurt.
You can even add a drop of mineral oil to the bathing water. This will help in the process of shedding.
If you think that your pet is suffering from any fungal infection then you your vet will surely recommend you to add the betadine solution to it.

Scrub your leopard gecko

When your pet is comfortable and is in in the water then you have to use a damp cloth or you can make use of a paper towel. Using these you need to massage the skin. This will help in removing the dead skin easily. Also, try not to pull out the shedding skin. This will hurt and might lead to infections.

Try not to scrub the skin very hard or it will remove the skin. The shedding skin might be attached to the skin that is underneath. Also, you may find some small dead skin pieces even if you clean your pet.
You can rub on your pets body with fingertips but avoid plucking any dead skin.
Also, if you use the toothbrush gently, it can help in removing dead skin.

Drying

After bathing your pet the next step that you need to follow is to dry your pet with a cloth. You can even use paper towels for that purpose. So now you can wrap your pet around in the cloth and expose its head. Now, wrap the gecko in cloth gently and softly rub the towel onto its body in circular motions.

Wipe the top of the head and the vent. After that throw any of the leftovers of paper towel that you have used. In case of towels use disinfectant. Dry your pet properly so that it does not get cold.