u/xblohsh8x

I filled up Mavis’s water bowl as one does and this was my repayment 😭🤦‍♀️

Just Mavis showing off her dubia roach that she had for dinner 😂

Sorry for all the posts/ pictures of Mavis cause she’s back in her regular enclosure she’s actually coming out a lot so I’m getting loads of pictures of her😭🫶

Hiya everyone, just got this cute picture of Mavis! She says hello!

Mavis mlem pics! She’s one very happy little bean🫘🦎🧡

Quick update on Mavis’s heating setup after the advice here.
First of all, I want to acknowledge that my original post yesterday was probably quite confusing. There was a lot of miscommunication on our end because we had been following advice that we had been given when we first got Mavis, and we have now learnt that some of that advice is outdated. We genuinely believed we were doing everything correctly based on the information we’d been given for the past several months, which is why I was so confused and defensive when people were telling me something completely different.
We’ve now taken the advice from the moderator regarding thermostat placement and have moved the thermostat probe over to the cool side on the soil, rather than having it directly control the temperature of the basking slate. The idea now is for the basking lamp to produce the appropriate basking temperature naturally, with the thermostat acting more as a failsafe if the enclosure gets too warm.
We haven’t changed the slate material yet because it’s quite awkward to replace with the way Mavis’s enclosure is currently set up. Instead, we’ve dropped the Arcadia flood from 75W to 50W as a first test to see whether we can get the lamp running at or close to full output without overheating the dark slate or putting too much heat into the rest of the enclosure.
So far, it actually seems pretty promising. The 50W is currently running at full output and the hottest point on the slate is sitting around 33°C. Her thermostat is currently reading 25.8°C, and we’ve got it set to the maximum temperature we can safely use for this setup, which is 26.5°C. We’re doing this so the cool side remains appropriately cool while allowing the basking slate to sit around the 32–36°C range we’re currently aiming for.
The cool side is also gradually coming down in temperature, so we’re going to leave everything alone for a while now and let the enclosure properly stabilise rather than constantly changing things.
If the slate still ends up getting too hot once everything has fully settled, then we’ll look at changing it for a lighter-coloured material as suggested. But hopefully the lower-wattage flood will give us the basking temperature and gradient we’re looking for without the thermostat constantly needing to dim the lamp.
I’ve also checked Mavis this morning and, thankfully, her belly looks absolutely fine. There are no signs of burns that I can see, and she’s a very happy bean in herself. ❤️ The marks people were referring to in the photo are her** surgical s**cars, not burns. I included that picture because I wanted people to see what her belly looked like immediately after I removed her from the slate last night when I was worried about the temperature.
I also want to address something that has really upset me during this whole situation.
I completely accept that my husbandry can be discussed, questioned and even criticised if someone believes something could be improved. I’m genuinely taking the advice on board and have already started making changes based on what I’ve learnt.
However, under no circumstances am I going to sit quietly while people slander Mavis’s vets.
Someone suggested that her vets are probably “too busy” to notice our supposed “bad husbandry”. I found that incredibly harsh and hurtful.
Mavis has a 90-gallon vivarium with a very thick layer of substrate for digging, five hides, lots of plants and plenty of coverage. We have spent a huge amount of time and money making her enclosure as enriching and appropriate as possible, and we have always sought veterinary advice whenever we’ve been concerned about her.
That’s why I find it incredibly strange to have our husbandry suddenly labelled as “bad” when literally two days ago people in this exact subreddit were commenting on how amazing her setup looked.
And for the record, Mavis’s exotic vets have been absolutely incredible. They know her history, they’ve physically seen her setup, and they have always taken my concerns seriously. I have probably talked their ears off for an hour at a time with all of my questions and they have always been patient with me. I will absolutely listen to their advice regarding Mavis because they are the professionals actually involved in her care.
I am extremely disappointed that someone has tried to paint both me and Mavis’s vets as negligent based on one incident.
Those of you who have been following Mavis’s journey will know that I’ve shared practically every update with you throughout her recovery. I’ve been told countless times by people here that I’m doing an amazing job and that Mavis is “lucky to have an owner who cares this much.”
I’ve worked my absolute arse off to make sure Mavis is okay. I’ve spent thousands on her surgeries, appointments and treatment. I’ve stayed up countless nights worrying about her and checking on her. I’ve put so much time, effort and love into making sure she has everything she needs.
So to suddenly have people switch up and portray me as a negligent owner because of one incident is honestly incredibly upsetting.
I’m actually glad that I posted because I’ve learnt something important about Mavis’s heating that I didn’t previously know, and we’re now working on fine-tuning it. I’m always willing to learn and improve when it comes to her care.
But I genuinely thought this subreddit was a safe space where I could share Mavis’s journey with people who cared about her, especially because so many of you have followed her recovery from the beginning.
Thank you to the people who have actually taken the time to explain things to me patiently and help me understand what we’re changing and, more importantly, why we’re changing it. I really do appreciate those people. ❤️
For now, Mavis is happy, her belly looks fine, and we’re monitoring her enclosure while the new setup stabilises. 🦎❤️

Mavis had her check-up with the vets today! For anyone who hasn’t been following her journey, Mavis had her spay surgery a couple of months ago and has had one stubborn little stitch that just REFUSED to leave! It eventually became detached from the incision but was still attached to some stuck shed, so we’ve been waiting for it to come away naturally. At today’s appointment,the vets checked Mavis’s incision properly and thankfully everything is looking good! The incision itself is healed and there are no signs that it’s causing her any problems. The vets said she wants to give the remaining stitch another chance to come away naturally with one of Mavis’s sheds. She said it may either fall out with a shed or gradually dissolve, and she really doesn’t want to put Mavis through another procedure unnecessarily. If it doesn’t come away on its own, the vet said she can surgically remove it, but for now there’s no need to do that and we’re going to give it some more time.
She’s also now finally off her meds no more tramadol or gabapentin!
The best news is that Mavis has officially been cleared to return to her normal enclosure and substrate After months of being in a more basic/hospitalised setup while she recovered, she is finally back in her proper home with her soil, hides, branches and enrichment. She was very confused when we first put her back in. She immediately tried to come back out because everything looked and felt different to what she’s been used to, but she eventually settled down and went straight back to her favourite humid hide! We’re still not completely finished with her enclosure because we’re planning on adding a proper 3D background with climbing ledges and some more plants, but she’s officially back home and able to enjoy her normal setup again! For anyone wondering Mavis is in a 90 gallon tank!
Enjoy the video!

Hiya everyone,
Mavis finally shed last night! She was a few days later than her usual 2-week schedule, so I was actually quite relieved to see it happening.
Unfortunately, she still has her final surgical stitch from her surgery about 4 weeks ago, and a small chunk of the shed got stuck around the stitch. She started trying to pull the shed off herself, so we called the emergency vets for advice. They said it would be safe to give her a warm soak to try and soften the remaining shed.
We did the soak and it went really well, but unfortunately the last little bit of shed still didn’t come off. 😭
We’re going to try and get her into the vets today so they can have a proper look at the stitch/incision and decide whether the remaining shed and final stitch need removing.
The good news is that the rest of her shed came off normally, and she’s otherwise doing really well!
Anyways here’s a sped up video of her shedding’

Hiya everyone, I’m so emotional at the moment I just weighed Mavis and she’s 47g and she’s officially 2 months post-op today!!🥹
For the people who have been following Mavis’s journey you know Mavis was extremely underweight after her spay surgery (27g).
The vets didn’t think Mavis was going to survive the recovery as they didn’t have hope she would gain her appetite back.
But Mavis as always proved everyone wrong and she got her appetite right back the day after her surgery!
She absolutely LOVES her bugs it makes me so happy to see her being so ambitious about her food.
Shes had some very difficult moments during her recovery with ripping her stitches out but she’s so close to the end of the recovery road now☺️

Hiya everyone, was just wondering if anyone knew why Mavis was just holding the dubia in her mouth instead of eating it?
I had fed her like 2 before this one and she just for some reason held this one in her mouth for nearly a minute.
I tried to take it off of her as I was worried it was potentially biting/the spiky legs were hurting her.
She continued to eat absolutely fine after this.
I found it quite funny though she was very protective over her food and she put up a fight 😭

Hiya everyone, just wanted to come on here really quick as I saw someone on TikTok talking about MBD and they had similar posture to Mavis (in the front arms). I do want to add that when we first ever took Mavis to the vets they did point out that her arms are quite weird and that they’re very robust. They did an x-ray and they said her calcium levels are great but that she has a funny bone. I’ll add a picture of her x-ray in the comments so please take a look! They said it’s most likely from an injury from when she was a baby and her bones have just grown weird. They also did a test on her arms they gave them a squeeze test to see if she showed any signs of pain and they said she seemed absolutely fine and she allowed them to touch her arms without any issues. Recently because of all the meds she’s on (0.1ml gabapentin and 0.1ml tramadol) shes literally been going to sleep the second I turn her uvb light on and only comes out when it’s turned off. And she has a dish of pure calcium always available to her. And we give her supplements on an 8 day schedule. (Dietary supplement 6 days) (Calcium with magnesium 1 day) and (D3 1 day). My concern is that she hasn’t been basking under her uvb when it’s on and I barely see her eating from her calcium dish. If anyone can tell me if she’s walking normally that would be great but also keep in mind that she does has funny front arms.

Just wanted to post a little Mavis update! 🦎🧡
She’s been doing really well recently. Her incision is healing nicely, she’s eating enthusiastically, and she’s back to gaining weight again.
As of today, she’s officially 44g! 🥹
We’re absolutely over the moon with her progress after everything she’s been through over the last few months. Still taking things one day at a time, but she’s heading in the right direction and we’re so proud of her. ❤️

Hiya everyone! I just HAD to share these pictures I got of Mavis today 🥹 the cutest pictures ever!

Does anyone else love holding their leopard geckos foot😭 they’re so cute and small I love them 😭😭

Vet update!
Just got back from Mavis’ appointment and I finally have some good news!
The stitch I was worried about did come away with the shed, but the vet said there isn’t a hole underneath it, which means that section of the incision has already healed. The stitch is currently attached to a little bit of shed that’s still hanging on, but the vet wasn’t concerned.
She also said that Mavis’ incision has healed really nicely, which honestly made me want to cry with relief.
The best part…
Mavis now only has ONE stitch left!! 🥹🎉
After everything she’s been through over the last few months, we’re finally so close to the finish line.
Thank you all so much for the reassurance and advice over the last couple of days. I know I probably sounded like a nervous wreck going into this shed (because I absolutely was), but I’m so relieved that this one has gone so much better than the previous ones.
Now we just need that final stitch to do its job, and hopefully Mavis will officially be fully healed very soon. ❤️🦎

Hi everyone,
I’m a nervous wreck tonight, so I thought I’d ask for some advice from people who have experience with this.
Mavis has officially started shedding. At the moment her body has gone that ghostly grey colour, but her head and tail haven’t fully changed yet, so I think she’s only just started the process.
For those who have followed her journey, Mavis has had an incredibly difficult recovery after surgery. She originally had surgery for follicular stasis, and unfortunately she’s had complications with her incision reopening, meaning she’s needed multiple surgeries. Thankfully, she’s now at the very end of her recovery. The incision has healed really well according to my exotic vet, and she only has two small stitches remaining.
This shed is the one I’ve been dreading because I’m terrified of shed getting caught around those last two stitches. In the past, she’s been quite determined to remove anything that’s bothering her, so I’m worried she’d try to pull at any retained shed if it caught around the sutures.
So far I’ve:
Kept her humid hide nice and humid.
Been giving Arcadia ShedSupport since Tuesday.
Followed my exotic vet’s feeding plan (they recently approved increasing her food slightly because she’s finally gaining weight again).
She’s now reached 40g, which is a huge milestone after being stuck at 37g for nearly two weeks.
She actually ate 3 locusts tonight before deciding she’d had enough, so her appetite is still there.
Is there anything else I can do to help her have the easiest shed possible? Has anyone had a gecko shed with stitches still in place before? Did everything go okay?
I’m trying really hard not to interfere unless I absolutely have to, but after everything we’ve been through I’m finding it difficult not to panic.
Any advice or reassurance would really mean a lot. It’s currently 1:07am for me in the uk and I’m planning to stay up all night just in case. Her vets open at 8am so I’m prepared to take her in first thing if she needs it.

Hiya everyone, sorry there haven’t been any updates thankfully nothing has been really going on! Mavis has been doing really well, she’s eating lots (she’s a big back lol) and pooping normally everything seems to be going really smoothly :)!
She’s started to get nice a chonky in her tail and the rest of her body! She’s still currently at 40g so we’ve got a little while to go before she’s 50g. I’m slightly scared as she has a shed coming up this weekend and we all know how her last two sheds went…
So fingers crossed everything goes smoothly this weekend 🤞💗

Hiya everyone! Just wanted to ask if anyone would be able to make a digital art drawing of this photo of Mavis! I’ll add a photo of what art style I’m talking about but if anyone could I’d absolutely love it!

Hi guys! I finally have another positive update to share!
As some of you know, Mavis had been stuck at 37g for nearly two weeks. She was eating really well but just wasn’t putting on any weight.
Because of that, I made the decision to very slightly increase her daily food intake. I was a bit nervous about doing it because Helen had originally put her on a smaller feeding plan to avoid putting too much pressure on her abdominal stitches after surgery.
Rather than just continuing with it though, I emailed Helen and explained exactly what I’d done and why.
Her response honestly made me feel so much better. She said she completely agreed with my thinking. The original feeding plan was to protect the suture line while it was fresh, but now that the majority of Mavis’s incision has healed and she only has two tiny stitches left, she’s happy for us to continue with the new tapered feeding plan.
Since making that small increase, Mavis has started gaining weight again…
…and this morning she officially weighed 40g!! 🎉🦎
She’d already pooped before I weighed her, so this wasn’t just a “full tummy” weight. Seeing that number finally change after weeks of being stuck at 37g honestly made me so emotional.
She’s eating brilliantly, pooping normally again, gaining weight, and she’s so close to being fully healed.
Helen’s long-term goal is for Mavis to reach 50g, so we’re still on our journey, but finally seeing her move into the 40g feels like such a huge milestone after everything she’s been through.
Thank you all so much for following her journey, for the advice, and for rooting for this tiny little gecko. It genuinely means so much to us. ❤️🦎

Hi everyone! Here’s watch an average late night 4am Netflix session looks like for me and Mavis 😂
we love snuggling up in our blanket and watching SpongeBob square pants 😭🙏