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Libby I am so sorry. Charlie was such a special lizard. You are going to miss him.
Claire must be lost without him.
You probably kept him going longer with your hand feeding. I find lizards just start to shut down like that at some point. You don't know how old he was. Maybe he was really old. Since you control his food it is less likely to be a parasite. He could have eaten something, but he also could have had cancer. You wouldn't see anything externally. The weight loss and loss of energy and appetite would fit. It is so hard to tell with the small lizards.
It is so sad when a little guy like Charlie goes. You had so much fun with him.
The small pets seem to leave big empty spaces when they leave us.
Big hugs to you from me and my lizards.
Catherine
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So sorry about Charlie he'll be chasing crickets over The Rainbow Bridge now.
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Thank you everyone! It rough but I know he's better off now.
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Wow do I know that feeling. You go to put a reptile back in a clean tank and it is missing. They are all escape artists. I have plastic boxes with locking lids that have holes drilled in them for air. I still had a snake escape. It was found in the house next door.
I am so glad you found Jack.
It would be great if Claire is pregnant. We can hope for eggs.
Charlie was a bit young to die like that. I wonder if he did have cancer.
It is sweet that he is with your other pets. We all have our special garden places where our little friends rest.
Could Claire and Jack share a tank? They must be similar ages.
I hope things settle down and you can feel calmer.
Catherine
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You are smart to give Claire some time before you introduce her to Jack. If she is pregnant she won't want to have a new male around.
When you do introduce them you should rearrange the tank so it is new for both of them. That is what a breeder told me works best when introducing two Leopard Geckoes.
It will be exciting if Claire has eggs. You already have your egg containers so you are good to go. You can give her some peat moss to lay her eggs in or something like it. Lizards and other reptiles like a clean moist place to lay their eggs.
It would be sweet to have Charlie's babies. It would be like he left part of himself behind.
Catherine
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I've been watching YouTube videos and most breeders big and small seem to use ground coconut fibers. And after the eggs are hatched and moved to the incubator use Horticulture hermiculite. 1 to 1 ratio of water to hermiculite. The peat moss I found but it didn't tell me what I needed to know as far as it being ok for geckos. They are equal in price and pretty equal.
Everything is set and ready. I made sure to get everything set by last night.
I'm on my phone but I'll post a few of the videos I found on breeding when I get home.