# Leopard geckos and old age - please look



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

I have a 'rescue' gecko who I took on some time ago as she has bad sheds, she has hardly any toes left bless her but it doesn't seem to bother her. I help her every shed now, Shed-Aid and a little massage, and she's doing great. She is the loveliest, friendliest animal I have ever known, even my hubby is head over heels for her.

The thing bothering me is, she is apparently around 6 years of age, though I wonder if it could be more. I have never had a gecko of this age before, both of my others I got as babies and they are now a year old. 

Flo has a lump on her head, and a 'flap' of skin that could be construed as a lump I guess, near her left front 'armpit'. She has these when I got her, but the one on her head is bigger now. I am wondering is it something that happens in old age? 

If any of my animals need the vet they will get it, but I also don't want to be looking like a paranoid new mum rushing to the vets at every slight hiccup, so if anyone has experience of the gecko ageing process and can advise, that'd be great. She is eating like a horse as usual and drinking and pooping fine, also she can be found in the early hours licking the calcium from the bowl, so other than the shedding problems and the lumps she appears ok. I have some photos that show the head one (the one that concerns me) the one on her body is more difficult to capture due to her colouring but you can kind of see it on the first photo.





































Thanks in advance : victory:


----------



## iggiethegecko (Jul 17, 2011)

I'm not sure on the lumps thing I'm afraid. Sort of struggling to see it in the pics, but any lump that's got bigger since you got her is probably worth getting a vet to look at. It could just be she's always had small bumps or calcium deposits and the skin's now gone a bit saggy and wrinkly so it's more noticeable.

I would say it's normal for the skin to appear a bit more baggy around the armpit area as they get older, just so long as they keep a nice fat healthy tail and good weight. The toes thing shouldn't be a problem, mine decided to bite off most of the toes on one of her back legs last year (she's 17 now), despite having access to a moist hide and me checking and helping her with stuck shed every evening :bash:. It doesn't affect her getting around and healed over nicely.


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

iggiethegecko said:


> I'm not sure on the lumps thing I'm afraid. Sort of struggling to see it in the pics, but any lump that's got bigger since you got her is probably worth getting a vet to look at. It could just be she's always had small bumps or calcium deposits and the skin's now gone a bit saggy and wrinkly so it's more noticeable.
> 
> I would say it's normal for the skin to appear a bit more baggy around the armpit area as they get older, just so long as they keep a nice fat healthy tail and good weight. The toes thing shouldn't be a problem, mine decided to bite off most of the toes on one of her back legs last year (she's 17 now), despite having access to a moist hide and me checking and helping her with stuck shed every evening :bash:. It doesn't affect her getting around and healed over nicely.


17! Wow well done, I thought 10-12 was about average with good care, that's why I was worried mine might be a bit older. I think I will book her in, the one on the head is really niggling me so best get her looked at really. Just don't want to look like a silly newb if it's common with age!

Edit; it is quite hard to spot, on the first pic it's directly above her ear


----------



## iggiethegecko (Jul 17, 2011)

Ah, I can sort of make it out now. It could just be a calcium deposit or something, I think they're fairly common but never noticed them on mine.

I'm not sure what the average lifespan of a leo is in captivity, as the figures given seem to vary a lot. This guy lived to a cracking 26 years old! :gasp:

26yr old Leopard Gecko PROOF! - YouTube


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

iggiethegecko said:


> Ah, I can sort of make it out now. It could just be a calcium deposit or something, I think they're fairly common but never noticed them on mine.
> 
> I'm not sure what the average lifespan of a leo is in captivity, as the figures given seem to vary a lot. This guy lived to a cracking 26 years old! :gasp:
> 
> 26yr old Leopard Gecko PROOF! - YouTube


That's brilliant! 26 :gasp: I love my leos hopefully i'll get mine to a nice ripe old age. I hope it is nothing, going to have a look around online and ring Ashleigh Vets on Monday. They're quite good, last time I rang them they looked at pictures first by e-mail to see if an appointment was necessary or I was worrying over nothing :blush:


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

I can't find anything that looks like this on the internet, I wish my camera was better! It looks like when we grew mould in a petri dish in high school.


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

Some better ones


----------



## sheena is a gecko (Apr 22, 2011)

They look like little skin tags or warts, same as people can get but have never seen them on a leo, probably best to get them checked over especially if one has gotten bigger. Our oldest leo who lives with my dad was at least 12 years old when we took him in and he's been in the family about 3-4 years. He has a few problems with his eye sight and catching his food on his own but apart from that he does well.


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

sheena is a gecko said:


> They look like little skin tags or warts, same as people can get but have never seen them on a leo, probably best to get them checked over especially if one has gotten bigger. Our oldest leo who lives with my dad was at least 12 years old when we took him in and he's been in the family about 3-4 years. He has a few problems with his eye sight and catching his food on his own but apart from that he does well.


Yeah it does look like a wart. It definitely increased in size with her last shed though. I'm worried now, hope it's nothing.


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

I had a beardy brought to me a while ago with something similar, my guess was some live food had been left and chomping on (it cleared up quite quickly), could be recovering form that? 

All lumps and abnormalities are best checked out like iggythegecko said , it might be something or nothing.
Just for the record, age is not a sign of health


----------



## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

I'd say it was just a wart, I'd leave it personally...


----------



## Andy84 (Sep 5, 2011)

Not sure what it is in truth. However, I'd be interested to know if you ever find out. Has it got bigger?

Females don't tend to live as long as males - this is probably because of the pressures of breeding. The vet told me that no one knows what the upper limit is of a leo's life expectancy is. It seems to keep going up as care improves.

Is it just me or does that leo look a little like a googly eyed leo?


----------



## Sharky (Aug 30, 2012)

This is a googly eyed leo: (see sig pic) 

Incidentally, she's also 6 and I don't consider it particularly old.
Read one story about a male that's still breeding at 30. And then there was little Dink who's already been mentioned.


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

What does 'googly eyed' mean? She has much bigger eyes than my other two, but they're little youths :lol2:

I will send pics over to the vets on Monday and ask them to book her in, I feel it's got bigger but the hubby says it hasn't?


----------



## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

I think they mean "bug eyed" the geckos tend to look somewhat special.


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

freekygeeky said:


> I think they mean "bug eyed" the geckos tend to look somewhat special.


Oh I see, yeah snake-talk makes more sense to me :lol2: 

She does look a bit spesh now you mention it, aww now I want to give her a hug, i'm not feeling very PC tonight!


----------



## Andy84 (Sep 5, 2011)

freekygeeky said:


> I think they mean "bug eyed" the geckos tend to look somewhat special.


I have only seen one in two years I think. However, I'm sure they are called 'googly eyed' leos. Perhaps they are referred to differently in various parts of the country. 

The two leos look the same to me so perhaps her leo is a googly. I'm just speculating now.


----------



## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

Andy84 said:


> I have only seen one in two years I think. However, I'm sure they are called 'googly eyed' leos. Perhaps they are referred to differently in various parts of the country.
> 
> The two leos look the same to me so perhaps her leo is a googly. I'm just speculating now.


yea,ive got a bug eye, called spyro!


----------



## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

My girl's 12ish and going strong! Do you give her a moist hide at all times? Mine likes to use hers for a bit of a rehydrate every now and then.


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

Wolflore said:


> My girl's 12ish and going strong! Do you give her a moist hide at all times? Mine likes to use hers for a bit of a rehydrate every now and then.


Yep, she has a cave with sphagnum moss 24/7, rarely see her use it though I never take it out.


----------



## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

Is it in the warm or cool end?


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

Wolflore said:


> Is it in the warm or cool end?


In between, she never used it in the cold side and it dried up in the warm side


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

*It's not getting bigger...*

Well she was just out and about stressing, looking like this - 










So I soaked her in Shed Aid, gave her a massage and removed her shed, as usual. I also removed a good few layers of shed from the wart-thing... turns out it's not getting bigger, it's just not shedding properly. Less worried now!

More pics, because I love taking them 





































And my baby boy, I love him muchly -


----------



## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

You know, I'm wondering if it's because she is stumpy. I wonder if they scratch at the shed a bit to get it started? I always leave mine well alone when she's in blue. Either that or yours is just plain lazy


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

Wolflore said:


> You know, I'm wondering if it's because she is stumpy. I wonder if they scratch at the shed a bit to get it started? I always leave mine well alone when she's in blue. Either that or yours is just plain lazy


 
She's lazy. I have three total weirdos, Flo was a rescue as I explained before, she has never made any attempt to help herself at shed time in her whole life, so that's why she has no toes. I have to help her or it goes dry and tight really quickly. Djin tries to bite his toes off at the first sign of shedding and i've found blood lots of times, so I help him too. Minx, my little one, runs around like a maniac when she's shedding, I can only describe it as being highly stressed, she flips, throws herself around, it's quite distressing, so I help her too! Where do I find these strange 'uns? :lol2:


----------



## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

That, dear lady, only you can answer 

My little girl is a rehome. Had her for about 3, nearly 4 years I think. Apart from what looks like slight retained shed on a couple of toes (it's actually bone!) she's perfect. She was a he and a bit of a pudding when I first got her. She's been on a three year diet and now looks much better. There's a thread somewhere.


----------



## ianpallen (Sep 8, 2012)

Hi, She is cute. looks just like my gecko. Same colouring. I like the look of the male. Nice colour. .


----------



## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

Wow, she's not as old as I thought!! 7 going on 8!

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/lizards/587552-thomas-maybe-thomasina.html#post7077729


----------



## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

Wolflore said:


> Wow, she's not as old as I thought!! 7 going on 8!
> 
> http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/lizards/587552-thomas-maybe-thomasina.html#post7077729


Aww haha she was a little tubster! I've only been keeping leos for just over a year but it feels like forever. Is she your only one?


----------



## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

Yeah, my one and only. Lives the high life in a 3ft viv. She's my little babe


----------

