Baskden a warm den for reptile folk

🩺 Your free vet-prep sheet

Your Leachianus Gecko Vet-Prep Sheet

Reptile vets are rare, and it is easy to freeze in a crisis. This is the one page to have ready — how to find a vet, what to bring, what to tell them, and the questions to ask. This helps you prepare for a visit — it is not a way to treat at home. Print it and keep it with your care notes.

Black & white saves ink and prints cleanly on any printer.

Not sure it’s a vet trip yet? Try the Is this normal? triage first — many worries turn out to be a husbandry fix.

Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com
Leachianus 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.

My reptile vet
My leachianus gecko
What I'm seeing

🚨 Is this an emergency now?

See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:

  • Not eating for an extended period paired with visible weight loss or a sunken/thin body and tail base.
  • Trouble walking or gripping, tremors, jaw softening, or a rubbery jaw/limbs, possible metabolic bone disease; see an exotics vet.
  • Stuck shed, especially trapped skin around toes, tail tip, or eyes that could cut off circulation.
  • Mouth held open, drooling, gaping, bubbling, or wheezing/clicking breathing, possible mouth or respiratory infection.
  • Runny, bloody, or persistently foul stool, visible parasites, prolapse, unusual lumps, or a wound/bite that isn't healing.
  • Any of these warrant a reptile-experienced (exotics) vet. This guide is triage, not a diagnosis.

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
A LOW, gentle basking/warm spot around 82–88°F (28–31°C). This is not a desert hotspot, just a modest warm zone at the top of the enclosure. (ReptiFiles cites 86–88°F/30–31°C; some sources use a cooler 82–85°F/28–29°C target.) Ambient/cool end around 72–78°F (22–26°C) through most of the enclosure. Leachies are comfortable at moderate room temperatures and can overheat easily, so a cool retreat is essential. A natural drop to about 66–72°F (19–22°C) at night is fine and even beneficial. No supplemental night heat is usually needed if the room stays in this range.
UVB & lighting
Low but genuinely beneficial. Leachies are nocturnal/crepuscular and only take small amounts of natural UV, so use a LOW-output tube: Arcadia ShadeDweller (2.4%) for smaller/shorter enclosures, or an Arcadia Forest 6% / Zoo Med T5 HO ReptiSun 5.0 for tall enclosures, aiming for a UVI of about 2.0–3.0 at the top basking branch (verify placement with a Solarmeter). Run ~11–13 hours/day. They can survive without UVB if D3 is supplemented in the diet, but low-level UVB is the more natural, robust option.
Humidity
High: aim for an average of 60–80% (measured with a digital probe hygrometer in the middle of the enclosure). It's healthy for humidity to swing lower in the day (~50%) and spike near 100% overnight after misting. Mist 1–2x daily; always allow good airflow so it dries between mistings.
Enclosure
Vertical space is the priority. For an adult Grande Terre leachie, a minimum of 48"L x 24"W x 48"H (120 x 60 x 120 cm); for the smaller Henkel's form, a minimum of 36"L x 18"W x 36"H (90 x 45 x 90 cm). Bigger is always better for these arboreal climbers, and taller matters more than long.
Substrate
A moisture-holding bioactive-style mix: organic topsoil + coconut fiber (roughly 60/40), or ready-made options like Zoo Med ReptiSoil, Eco Earth, or Exo Terra Plantation Soil, at least ~2–3 in / 5–8 cm deep, topped with leaf litter. Add cork bark, dense branches, and live or sturdy fake plants for climbing and cover. A bioactive setup with a cleanup crew works very well.
Diet
Omnivorous. The staple is a complete powdered crested-gecko-style diet (Pangea, Repashy, Black Panther Zoological, Zoo Med, Lugarti), offered in a dish and simply mixed with water. Supplement with appropriately sized live insects (dubia/discoid roaches, crickets, locusts, hornworms). Rough schedule: juveniles get CGD daily plus insects a few times a week; adults get CGD every other day (roughly 2x/week) plus insects about 1–2x/week. Very occasional larger prey (a pinky) can be offered to big adults but is not necessary.
Supplements
Complete powdered gecko diets are already fortified, so most calcium/vitamins come from the food. Dust live feeder insects with a plain calcium (or low-D3 calcium) powder, e.g. Arcadia CalciumPro Mg, Miner-All, or Repashy SuperCal NoD. If you rely heavily on insects or run no UVB, use a calcium-with-D3 and a multivitamin more deliberately, and add extra calcium for breeding females. Don't over-supplement on top of a fortified diet.

⚕️ 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?