Leopard Gecko on the Mend

When an animal doesn’t eat one time, it rarely is a cause for concern. Maybe they aren’t hungry, or pre-occupied with shedding their skin. But when it becomes a trend then we need to get to the bottom of it. Careful record keeping is necessary to spot these trends and Animal Caretakers recently saw one that clearly required medical attention with Lydia, our nearly 20-year-old leopard gecko.

Lydia loves eating mealworms. She gets 3 juicy mealworms every other day and we always log her appetite after the feeding. When she started skipping multiple meals, we got concerned. We’ve talked with our vet in the past about this behavior, and he’s always been more concerned with her weight than her appetite. She self-regulates to a degree, but this time her weight was starting to drop too. We also noticed some other strange behaviors from Lydia. Her feces were suddenly very large, sandy looking, and had a clear greenish tint. She was moving around a lot more and not sleeping in her usual locations. And Lydia was even observed to be eating sand. All these warning signs together meant that it was time to bring in Dr. Maas.

One of the trickiest things with treating animal health issues is the problem of stress. A vet visit is clearly stressful to an animal that doesn’t understand what is going on and is suddenly getting poked and prodded. Dr. Maas took both a fecal and blood sample during his visit. Lydia responded by shedding her skin, a normal behavior, but also indicative of her high stress levels. Her fecal sample showed that she was parasite free, but the green tinge meant that there was bile in it. There were problems with her GI tract.

Dr. Maas prescribed both an oral antibiotic, Flagyl®, and one administered subcutaneously for Lydia. She was most likely deficient in calcium, and eating the sand because it contained that mineral. Lydia has always eaten mealworms. We began to raise the mealworms with better quality feed and added calcium supplements. Indirectly, by feeding these nutrients to the mealworms we were giving them to the leopard gecko too. And to help out with Lydia's shedding issues, Dr. Maas prescribed lukewarm baths.

When you start medicating a sick animal, it is tough to believe that you’re actually helping it. Lydia seemed so miserable with her oral meds and her injections that we had to remind ourselves that ultimately her added stress was going to be worth it. She shed again in short succession and didn’t eat much of this or her last shed.

Eventually, we started to see improvements. While Lydia’s weight had dropped significantly (likely from all that uneaten shed), her appetite has returned. She is now eating her full amount of food plus a little extra to help her put on weight. Her movement and body positions have returned to what we’re used to seeing of her. Her feces have lost their green tinge.

Lydia is all done with her medication now, which likely means her stress levels have also dropped down. So while we will continue to give her baths, feed her mealworms a high calcium diet, and monitor her closely, we’re very optimistic about her making a full recovery. Come check her out and see her tail get more and more plump!


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Lydia Shedding

A few weeks ago, our Animal Caretakers and a few lucky visitors were able to witness something really special (and really cute!). Lydia, our adorable leopard gecko, was shedding! Luckily for you, one of our caretakers, Brianna Todd, had a video camera on hand, and was able to capture some of this remarkable activity.




Did you know that every animal sheds their skin? Even humans??? Humans, like most mammals, shed their skin pretty much constantly. Tiny particles of skin are sloughed from our skin all day long, although you may only notice it when you have dry, itchy skin or a sunburn. But check out that dust you’re collecting on the top of your book shelf or even on your coffee table, and you’ll find plenty of evidence for human shedding. A good portion of the dust that exists in our homes is made up of dead skin cells! Kind of gross right?

Lizards and snakes also shed their skin, although they actually make less of a mess than we humans. Because their skin is made up of scales, these reptiles must shed their skin all at once. In snakes, the shed skin will often come off in one piece. Because lizards have legs, it’s a little bit harder for them to shed in one piece, so it usually comes off in large pieces.

Many lizard species, including leopard geckos, eat their old skin as they pull it off. This may sound kind of gross but it’s actually another great adaptation. Not only does it leave no mess behind, it’s an efficient way for the animal to consume those extra vitamins and calories that are in their old skin.

But that’s enough talk for now. The video really says it all. So check it out, and the next time you visit Lydia at Pacific Science Center, congratulate her on a job well done.

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Lydia is Sooooo Cute!

It seems there’s always something new and exciting happening within our Life Sciences department. Naked mole-rats are having babies, new butterflies are arriving every week, tide pool pumps break. It all comes with the territory when you work with so many different types of animals. But there are a few animals that may get overlooked, perhaps because they are so reliable and steadfast. They don’t really make any “news” to speak of, but they are certainly worthy of a second look.

Meet Lydia. In our opinion, which is totally objective and scientific, Lydia is the cutest leopard gecko in the whole wide world. Look at her picture and you may think she’s pretty, or just average. But spend a few minutes watching her attempt to hunt down the odd cricket and we dare you not to fall in love with this lizard. Every time she catches a cricket she chomps down on it, swallows, and then closes her eyes and licks her lips. I don’t advocate anthropomorphizing animals, but it’s hard not to imagine her saying, “Yum!”




The Life Sciences department inherited Lydia about 8 years ago. Before she lived in the reptile exhibit, she lived in Pacific Science Center’s Education offices. She was the pet of a former staff person, and lived in a small cage on a desk. We still don’t know how old Lydia is, but she was full-grown when we received her.

Leopard geckos are native to the deserts of south central Asia, mainly found in Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India and Iran. Most of their distinguishing characteristics are adaptations to life in the desert. Unlike most geckos, leopard geckos possess eyelids. This allows them to close their eyes and block out dusty desert particulate. It also means they look really cute when they sleep. Leopard geckos also have a noticeably fat tail. This is where they store all of their extra body fat. When food becomes scarce, a frequent occurrence in the desert, leopard geckos are able to metabolize the fatty tissue from their tail. Even as pets, a fat tail is a sign of a healthy leopard gecko.


Lydia has a nice fat tail, which is also really cute. When our veterinarian paid us a house call a few weeks ago, he raved about the size or her tail and her vivid coloring. He also warned us about a dangerous disease that is currently infecting large portions of leopard geckos within the pet trade. Cryptosporidiosis, or “crypto” is highly infectious and often fatal to geckos. In fact, our vet reported that most leopard geckos sold in pet stores within the last five years have likely been exposed to this disease. Luckily Lydia is a bit older, and has never exhibited any signs of infection or poor health. Our vet predicts a long and healthy lifespan for this lovable leopard gecko.


So the next time you’re at Pacific Science Center, we invite you to go past the tide pool, look beyond the boa constrictors, and check out our understated, but still adorable lizard. She is sooooo cute!

Brianna Todd, Lead Animal Caretaker

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January Vet Visit

On Jan 19, Dr. Maas and Dr. Temple from Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital paid a routine house call to Pacific Science Center’s animals.



Each of our snakes received a full physical exam from head to tail. The insides of their mouths were examined for broken teeth, pale gums, excess saliva, or loud breathing. The skin was inspected as well. Snake skin should be clear and unblemished, without old scales from previous skin sheds.


Snake’s undersides were felt for lumps or irregularities. Overall conditions were noted. Estella is a little heavy! Dr. Maas recommended we feed each of the boa constrictors a small rat on a weekly schedule.


It was in this exam that a strange lump was felt in Maizey, the corn snake’s abdomen. As previously explained, Dr. Maas took Maizey back to his hospital for further examination with sad results.

Lydia, the leopard gecko, looks great. She has a fat tail which is a sign of good health in these animals. We were warned to not associate her with other leopard geckos as they might not be as healthy.



Dr. Maas recommended that we house our African dwarf frogs separate from the axolotls. Their skin is toxic to axolotls. The frogs are currently partitioned from the axolotls with a simple tank divider. Should a frog escape and end up in an axolotl mouth, it could be fatal to both animals. Stay tuned! Plans for a separate dwarf frog exhibit are in the works!


The naked mole-rats were looked at for overall colony health. Most of them have gained weight over the last year. Pups from our two recent litters are nearly the size of the smallest adults. Unfortunately, a few individuals are not thriving. We discussed how best to monitor them, and set up a plan for a thorough colony clean. In future articles, we’ll discuss our naked mole-rat husbandry routines and report on the results.


All in all, the vets’ visit was careful, thorough, and exhaustive. Animal Care staff always learns a lot from these house calls which help us better care for our animals.

Thanks to Alice Enevoldsen, Pacific Science Center’s planetarium specialist, for photographing the veterinarians’ visit.
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