What should be in a leopard gecko first aid kit?

Question

I would like to have materials on hand to be prepared if anything goes wrong with my pets. I have heard people suggest a first aid box so that you are prepared, but I don't have much idea what to put in this.

Things that I already have or have access to so far:

• emergency heating (disposable hand warmers) in case the power goes out
• prescription food we got given by the vet when one of them wasn't eating
• small syringes, for the above
• equipment to bathe the geckos, in case of shedding problems or prolapse
• usual household stuff like cotton wool balls, cotton buds, kitchen roll, etc.
• ability to make stuff from usual household ingredients, e.g. saline solution
• lots of human first aid stuff - bandages, steri-strips, plasters, antiseptic cream/wipes/liquid (no idea if any of this is safe/useful for reptiles)

Not much of this really covers what I would call "first aid" - in particular, I don't think I'm covered for cuts or bites, and I'm sure there are other accidents that might happen that I haven't thought of because I simply haven't kept reptiles for long enough.

Of course, if anything serious happened, we would rush to the vet, so I am looking to be prepared for the following situations:

1. I want to be able to treat things which are not serious enough to require a trip to the vet, but that require prompt treatment (if it doesn't require prompt treatment, it's not really first aid, and I can buy required materials as and when it happens).
2. If something happens which requires a trip to the vet, I want to be able to do what I can to minimise the damage/danger at once, before we make it to the vet.

Answer 1

Vet's Number

This item is pretty much essential in any first aid kit, but is often overlooked. if your gecko looks in a bad way or you have tried everything you know - then this is can be a gecko life saver more than the other tools on this list. There's nothing worse than scrambling around to find a contact number for a vet in a panic. To get your local reptile vet number search online for it if you haven't got one.

Bandages

Don't use ordinary plasters - it can damage the skin of your leopard gecko. As a bandage use cotton and tape or liquid bandage if you can find any. If your gecko has a deep cut or a broken bone - don't waste time with trying to form a splint or prepare a bandage, get to a vet asap. You can wrap it up for the short term however.

Eye/ Skin/ Wound Healing Ointments

These ointments are available from most leading reptile shops and are good for healing cuts and scrapes.

Kitchen Roll

Kitchen roll is great as an emergency substrate and easy to replace and dispose of at as fraction of the cost of other substrates! Effective when you need to clean out a sick gecko every day.

Quarantine Vivarium

A quarantine vivarium / faunarium is essential if you keep more than one gecko as keeping them apart can prevent the spread of infection if you catch it early.

Shedding Aids

Store bought reptile shedding aids can be useful but you get the same results with luke-warm water and a piece of clean cloth! The main thing a gecko requires to shed effectively is humidity so all you need is a plastic tupperware container to make into a humid hide and a piece of cloth to take the excess skin off!

Find out more here: http://www.leopardgeckoguy.com/2010/11/dealing-with-shedding-issues.html

(Shedding aids was the only thing that I didn't know about. That was research for this answer. All other words that aren't quoted are from my experiences handling with leopard geckos)