Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com Giant Day Gecko — Vet-Prep Sheet
🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one
- Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
- Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
- Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
- Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.
📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis
Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.
🚨 Is this an emergency now?
See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:
- Trembling, shaking, weak or 'rubbery' limbs, a swollen or soft jaw, or a kinked tail can signal metabolic bone disease, see an exotics vet.
- Sudden weight loss, sunken eyes, or refusing food for an extended period warrants a vet visit.
- A female straining, staying swollen, or looking egg-bound (unable to pass eggs) is an emergency, see a vet promptly.
- Persistent lethargy, staying dark/dull colored, labored breathing, or unhealed skin wounds should be checked.
- Retained shed around toes or the tail tip that constricts circulation needs attention if it doesn't clear.
When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.
🚗 On the way / while you wait
✅ Do
- Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
- Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
- Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.
⛔ Don't
- Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
- Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
- Don’t handle it more than you must.
🎒 What to bring
- A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
- A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
- Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.
🗣️ What to tell the vet
A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:
- Temperature
- Basking surface 85-90°F (29-32°C), created with an overhead heat source on one end. (Note: some guides list a hotter spot up to ~95°F; the 85-90°F range is the more widely recommended target.) 77-82°F (25-28°C) on the cool end, giving the gecko a clear gradient to move through. A natural night drop to about 73-77°F (23-25°C) is fine and healthy. No nighttime heat is usually needed at normal room temperatures.
- UVB & lighting
- Yes, they need it. Day geckos are diurnal and bask, so UVB is important for healthy calcium metabolism and their best color. Target a UVI of about 3.0-4.0 in the basking zone using a quality T5 HO bulb such as an Arcadia Forest 6% or Zoo Med Reptisun 5.0 (or an Arcadia ShadeDweller for shorter mounting distances), placed at the manufacturer's recommended distance. Replace UVB bulbs every 12 months even if they still glow.
- Humidity
- Aim for an average of roughly 40-75%, cycling higher after misting and drying out between mistings. Mist once or twice daily; good airflow prevents stagnant, moldy conditions. They rarely drink from a bowl, so they hydrate by lapping water droplets off leaves and glass.
- Enclosure
- Minimum 24 x 24 x 48 inches (60 x 60 x 120 cm) tall for a single adult, and bigger is better. Height and vertical climbing surfaces matter far more than floor space for this arboreal species. Use a front-opening or well-ventilated planted vivarium; screen tops help airflow but you'll need to manage humidity.
- Substrate
- A moisture-retentive bioactive-friendly mix works well: organic topsoil blended with coconut fiber (for example ~60/40), or a ready-made option like Zoo Med ReptiSoil / Eco Earth or Exo Terra Plantation Soil. Top with leaf litter and add live plants (pothos, bromeliads, sansevieria) plus cork bark, bamboo, and sturdy branches for climbing.
- Diet
- Omnivorous leaning toward insects plus fruit/nectar. Feed a powdered complete gecko diet (CGD, e.g. Pangea or Repashy) plus gut-loaded feeder insects (crickets, dubia/discoid roaches, hornworms, silkworms, occasional grasshoppers). A common adult routine is insects 2-3x per week and CGD roughly 1x per week; juveniles eat more often. Offer insects slightly smaller than the gecko's head.
- Supplements
- Lightly dust feeder insects with plain calcium (no D3) at most feedings, and use a calcium-with-D3 or reptile multivitamin on a lighter schedule (roughly once or twice a week, per product directions). Prepared CGD is already fortified, so don't double up heavily. A proper UVB source plus balanced supplements is what prevents metabolic bone disease.
⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.
Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.
❓ Questions to ask
- Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
- What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
- What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
- How do I prevent this from happening again?