Nocturnal activity and shedding

So I thought I would mention a little more about Smudges general behavior and a bit about her growth and what we did and didn't expect.

Smudge is rarely seen in the daytime, and unless we disturb her, or make a lot of noise or give her some food, she will stay on the warm side of the habitat and in the darkest shelter available, since we bought her a 'rock' type shelter she is usually in that one. 

Generally at night time, if we have not already put food in, smudge will come out and start wandering around in a manner that indicates that she wants feeding. Since the vivariums we have had for her are generally glass, or at least see-through, at the front, if we are staying up late and so have the lights on we will put a towel over the front to give a little shade for her to hunt.

So most days we feed her between 8 and 9 pm, and on occasion we will give her another small feed in the morning if it looks like she has finished off the food from the night before, or if she is poking her head out looking for food! 

The only time she hasn't eaten at all is the days when she sheds. This is a natural process and allows the gecko to grow. When shedding they like to have a shelter filled with damp moss, presumably so they can rub themselves against the moss and rub off the shedding skin, or perhaps just to stay moist while shedding. Geckos, unlike some snakes, eat their old skin, so don't expect to find a perfect gecko-suit hanging up in the shelter when you clean them out ("look at this old thing, why don't you throw it out, you can't even fit into it anymore!!")

When we first got Smudge she would shed about once every two or three weeks. Smudge would start to get paler and paler, almost as if she was getting dusty! Then she would disappear into her shelter for one or two days, not coming out even to eat. 

Then all of a sudden she would pop out, her colouring brighter than ever, and usually with a slight change of spot pattern, and be back to normal. Occasionally she will still have a little skin left around her feet or on her head where she can't reach it, but it usually falls off in the following days. we once had to remove some skin from around her mouth when it was still there a week later, but we just used a cotton bud dipped in water to rub it off, and she was very still and well behaved while we did. 

(BTW my mother-in-laws gecko, Flick, is not as shy and retiring as Smudge, and, apparently,  sits in the middle of the vivarium and simply tears off the old skin and eats it, in full view of everyone!)

I imagine that the frequency of her shedding might be due to the amount she eats and therefore grows, as Smudge was certainly eating a lot over the first few months.

At the moment she tends to shed about once every four to six weeks, and the frequency is definitely decreasing. Below is a picture of Smudge in her just prior to shedding state: