If a leopard gecko is spending most of its time hanging out in their moist hide, then it’s likely something is going on that’s causing them to always want to be in there. There are a few reasons why they’re favoring this hide over the others and by using a method of elimination, you can figure out why yours is so that you can fix the issue and finally stop worrying. Let’s get right into it.
Why is my leopard gecko always in its humid hide? The reason your leopard gecko is always in its humid hide is likely because the tank is either too hot, not humid enough or because that’s where they feel the safest.
As you can see, there are a handful of reasons as to why they’re displaying this type of behavior, but with a little investigating, we can get to the bottom of why exactly they’re behaving this way so that we can do what’s needed so that they’re not only comfortable using their moist hide, but all of the other ones as well. Here’s how you can fix this issue and also here’s why it’s bad.
They Can Catch an Infection
Before we get into the resolutions for this serious and problematic issue, I first want to go over how dangerous consistently staying in their humid hides can be so that you don’t allow them to continue this behavior and potentially make themselves ill because of this behavior as a result.
That said, if you know anything about leopard geckos, then you know that they are not animals that originate from environments that are consistently wet and humid. Because of that, when they are put into environments that meet these criteria, it takes a major toll on their bodies as that is not what they’ve grown accustomed to while living in their natural habitats.
Leopard geckos come from areas that are very dry, hot, and with little to no rain. So when they’re constantly hanging out in their humid hides, you can kind of see where the problems can start to occur.
Humidity is great for them and is actually needed in order for them to have successful shed, but if they’re exposed to high amounts of it for too long, then they can potentially catch a respiratory infection that will eventually need to be treated by a herp veterinarian because of the complications that they can present.
There are many lizards out there that live and thrive in environments that are hot and humid but when it comes to the leopard gecko, they, unfortunately, don’t stand a chance in those types of environments.Â
If you catch your leopard gecko hanging out in its moist hide all of the time or if this is something that you’re experiencing right now with them, then you’ll want to read on so that you can hopefully find an answer to your problem.
It’s Not Humid Enough
On the flipside of their humid hides being too humid for regular use, it’s also not very safe for them to be in a tank that’s not humid enough as well. If your tank happens to be this way, then this can cause them to want to stay in their humid hides due to the air being overly dry.
While both of the extremes are not good for them, they’d rather choose to stay in their humid hides instead because of how uncomfortable it can be for them to endure the dry air that awaits them outside of it.
In order to resolve this issue, you’ll want to make sure you’re providing them with some source of water within their tanks to ensure that those humidity levels are staying up. Ways you can do this is by having a water bowl in your tank, a misting system, or by manually spraying your tank once a day so that the humidity levels can rise to where they need to be.
The reason spraying or having water in the tank creates humidity is because when in unison with your heat mat or heat lamp, moisture is naturally created in the air and as a result, it gives your leopard gecko the air quality that they need in order to comfortably survive within your tank.
If you don’t have or do any of the three things that I listed above, then you’ll want to start doing one of the three as soon as possible. That said, if you don’t at least have a water bowl or reservoir in your tank which most leopard geckos owners should, then I recommend getting one like this one here over on Amazon.
Water bowls are absolutely essential for not only providing your leopard gecko with a source of water to drink from but for maintaining the amount of humidity is in the tank as well. So if you happen to not have one, then I highly suggest you look into getting one to get those levels up.
For those who’d rather provide their leopard gecko with water using a misting system instead, then checking out this one here that’s also from Amazon might be more worth your time. Misting systems aren’t for everybody, but for those who are away from home for long periods of time throughout the day or are very busy, then having a misting system is perfect.
It has a timer on it and can be set to spray whenever you need it to. Most owners spray their leopard gecko’s tanks at night, so if by chance you have to go to bed really early or you aren’t home at night often, then having something like that to spray your tank for you can be very convenient and beneficial.
As for the last way of raising the humidity in their tanks, I recommend just simply getting a spray bottle, filling it up with water, and spraying the tank once a night before bed so that the humidity levels will be where they need to be as your leopard gecko is waking up to get their day started.
And if you didn’t know, their humidity levels should be around %20-%40 and the way to check that is by having a hygrometer set up in your tank. Hygrometers track the amount of humidity in your tank and will let you know when you need to increase or lower it at any given time throughout the day.
If you’re in need of one of those, then this one here is good for doing just that. It’s the one that I use and I absolutely love it.
They Don’t Feel Safe
Sometimes, when leopard geckos don’t feel safe enough in their environment, they’ll hide anywhere they can to make sure that they’re not exposed to any outside predators.Â
These predators don’t exist in our tanks, but because leopard geckos are hardwired to think that there actually are because of where they come from, it causes them to stress out whenever they feel way too out in the open for their liking.
The reason this generally happens is because they either don’t have enough hides to go into or the hides that they do have aren’t very comfortable to be in due to overly high or low temperatures within the tank.
If you only have one hide, two hides, or no hides at all, you’ll need to get more so that they can feel safe and secure. Leopard geckos need three hides in total and if they don’t have them, you may find them spending a lot of time in hides that they shouldn’t be spending a lot of time in.
If you’d like to know what hide I use for my hot, cold, and humid hide, then check it out here over on Amazon. Hides seem like such an insignificant piece of equipment but because it helps them feel safe, they’re absolutely essential to have in the tank. Just keep in mind that small hides are for babies, medium hides are for juvenile geckos, and large hides are for adults.
If you don’t have the right sized hide for each one of your hides, then this could also cause them to favor a certain one over the others as well.
Conclusion
As stated above, humid hides are essential and are the difference between whether or not a leopard gecko will have a successful shed or a bad one but if they’re used way too often, they can cause way more harm for them than they will good.
By checking your tank’s temperatures, humidity levels, and taking into consideration how many hides you have, you can get to the bottom of why they’re favoring their humid hide over any other location within the tank and correct it so that they can go back to living their lives normally again.
Fixing this issue is a lot of the time not a problem but if you catch it before it’s too late, then things can turn into a problem fairly quickly. If this behavior has just started recently, then stop it as soon as possible by taking all of the things that I mentioned above into consideration.
