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Leopard gecko's can drop their tail, known as Autotomy. When frightened or disturbed, muscles at the base of the gecko's tail constrict and snap the vertebrae, severing most of the tail. The detached, wriggling tail distracts the predator as the gecko makes its escape. Although the Leopard gecko will grow back a new tail, the regenerated tail will differ from the original, appearing bulbous. The new tail will have spots instead of lines. Some regenerated tails may still have a "carrot-tail". When a Leopard gecko drops its tail, there will be a pinkish stump. The new tail starts to grow it will start out as a pink cone shape. When the tail gets fatter, it will turn a red-violet colour. As it grows larger it will become lavender, eventually a very light gray colour.

Leopard Geckos are quite hardy and very tolerant with their environmental requirements making it unlikely that you will have any health related problems with them at all. Make sure the environment you have your leopard gecko in stays clean. Most of the time your leopard gecko will choose one place in the vivarium to defecate once you have found the chosen place it makes for easier spot cleaning, also you can place a piece of kitchen roll there and all you have to do is every day change that bit of kitchen roll. (This is what is known as 'spot cleaning').

Also make sure your leopard gecko has fresh water every day.  As long as you keep your leopard gecko correctly i.e. dusting food, cleaning regularly, changing water you should not encounter any medical problems with your leopard gecko.  Please if you have any worries about your leopard gecko's health take it to a REPTILE vet. Some people also use a low uvb light and have found that it makes their leopard geckos livelier. It also helps stop them from getting M.B.D.

MBD is the abbreviation for Metabolic Bone Disease. This is a very common disease with the novice owner, because the geckos are not supplemented with calcium. Some of the characteristics of MBD are bowed limbs, spongy jaw bone, lethargy, and sluggish movement. Also, many geckos will slowly loose weight because they are unable to move without pain. If you suspect your gecko has MBD, it should be taken to the vet ASAP. The common ways that MBD is treated is vivarium rest (alone) have it very minimal with only hides, food and water dishes as you don't want obstacles to stop them getting around the vivarium, you could also 'tub' them so there isn't much room for them to move around, vitamin D injections once per week for 2 weeks and liquid calcium.  Never try to treat this at home without going to the Vets as you will end up making it worse by not giving them the right supplements.  A gecko that has had M.B.D should NEVER be bred from as they need calcium to form the eggs and can cause a re-lapse.

We had a little girl that had M.B.D from birth she had swollen limbs; a rubbery jaw and her back left leg moved in a weird way. Due to her having the rubbery jaw she couldn't eat so when we took her to the vets we were given liquid calcium and a powdered food mix that had all the nutrients she needed. Unfortunately we couldn't save her as she was too far gone to turn the M.B.D around. As you can see on the picture her back left leg is rubbery and the joint twisted, and in the other picture I have outlined her swollen limb and her back limb which she is walking on her 'elbow' due to the mbd.

It is very important to quarantine any new geckos you bring in to your home for at least 3 months to ensure the health of all your animals, people quarantine for different lengths of time but I believe a minimum of 3months. They can bring parasites and diseases with them and infect your other Leos. You should take any new animal to the vet for a check up and make sure they are healthy and get a faecal screening done. This does not substitute for quarantine as there are some very serious diseases that your gecko could have like cryptosporidiosis, which a leopard gecko won't show signs of the first two months.

It is very important that you find a REPTILE VET near to you as normal vets do not have the understanding or full knowledge on how to treat reptiles. They will have a little knowledge but it is always best to make sure you know where your nearest reptile vet is. Hopefully you will never have to use them.  Every new leopard gecko we obtain goes to the vet for a check up and fecal screening so if they require treatment I can get it started straight away.