Eating Issue?

Hi, I was just wondering what the longest time period is that a healthy Leo will not eat for. My leo P-Head has lately only been eating around 7 crickets per week, and hasn't eaten in 5 days. She still seems to be fairly responsive, and I sometimes see her running, but I am still starting to get worried. She is just not interested in food at all. She ways somewhere in the range of 45-55g. Is this healthy?

I'm am definitely no gecko expert, but when I only had one female she would go very dormant in the winter. She'd hardly eat and would conserve her energy. In the summer she'd easily eat 20 crickets in a sitting if I let her, but winter time I was going through maybe 10 crickets a week or less. When I paired her up with other geckos her energy levels spiked and she became more healthy and active than I'd ever seen her. I've read that geckos are solitary, but mine are incredibly sociable and communal. She's now very active all year round, and at 10 years old, she's the healthiest I've ever seen her. I don't know if that helps you or not, but that was my experience with a similar situation.

How old is your gecko? She may be ovulating, as female geckos would go on and off feed when ovulating. My longest bout with a female not eating was 4 weeks straight. She was ovulating and didn't want to eat anything, not even the yummy waxworms. But she lost perhaps 4-5 lbs over that span so it was nothing for me to worry about. Once she decided to eat again, she ate like a horse and she's still healthy as ever.

So check to see if your female is ovulating. You can tell by the pink dot/circle on her belly, sometimes in the middle, sometimes to the bottom left or mid-right. Also track her weight, rapid weight loss is a good sign of more serious issues. If she isn't losing weight, and you know for sure she's not impacted & nothing else has changed, then chances are there's nothing you need to worry about.

Many geckos also eat less during winter time as Jen mentioned above. So eating less during winter time is also normal.

I think mardy meant lost 4-5 grams I don't even think lechies get to 5 pounds

Anywho, if you could fill out our care questionnaire we can make sure there aren't any husbandry issues biasing the lack of appetite. Usually this time of year it can be brumation, or like mardy said, depending on age she could be ovulating. Eating 7 crix in a week isn't bad, when my boy brumated last winter he went from eating 3-4 supers every other day to eating 3-4 a week.

rofl yes grams

Thanks for all the responses.

- Sex- Female
- Age & Weight- 9 years old, 45 ish g.
- Morph (if you know)- normal
- How long have you owned your leo- 5 years
- Where was he/she obtained (Pet store, breeder, wild caught, etc.)- Kijiji
- Is your leo wild caught or captive bred- captive bres

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo- 2-3 times per week
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how- No
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.- No
B) Fecals
- Describe-Do they look any different than normal- Don't know, she lives with another Leo
- When was the last time he/she went- Dont know
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem/issue you are experiencing and how long it has been going on- Eating only around 5,6,7 crickets a week.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size- 20 gallon?
- Type (ex. glass tank, screen enclosure, tub kept) glass tank
- Type of substrate (sand, vinyl tiles, ceramic/stone tiles, etc.)- stone tilles
- Hides (how many, location and type (hothide, humid hide, regular hide etc.)- hot hide, cold/humid hide
B) Heating
- What is your main heat source (heat bulbs, under tank heat mat etc) **Please include the brand and size of your UTH if you use one**- Heat bulb in the day+ UTH (Exo Terra Desert)24 hours a day.
- What are your cage temps (hot side and cool side) 88-75
- Method of regulating your heat source (thermostat, rheostat, light dimmer etc.)- ?
- What are you using to measure your temps (probe thermometer, infrared lazer tempo gun, stick on temp gauge, etc)stick on temp gage
- Do you have any lights (describe type (red,blue, basking etc) and cycle duration)- red 8-6
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females)- 1 female
- Describe health, or previous problems of cage mates- Perfect

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What are you feeding- crickets
- How often are you feeding your gecko and how much per feeding?- every 2-3 days, I let them eat however many they want in 10 minutes
- How are you feeding (hand fed, tongs/tweezers, left in dish, ect)- throw the crickets into their tank
B) Supplements
- What calcium suppliment are you using (please include brand)- Repashy Superfoods -Pure Calcium
- What multi vitimin are you using (please include brand)...
-How are you implimenting your suppliment program (how often do you dust with each suppliment, do you leave calcium in the tank 24/7 etc.)- dust with calcium every 3 days
- What are you gutloading your feeder insects with- Fluker's Orange Cube

Your hot side should be warmer, at least 90 imo. Also if you think this leo is sick you should quarantine her do she doesn't get the other sick and do you can monitor her poops. I honestly think she's just brumating since your temps are on the lower end of acceptable.

I have tried to get the hot side warmer, but I can't. Because I am using tile, 87-88 is the hottest it ever gets. Do you have any ideas I can try?

If youre using ceramic or porcelain tiles switch to a natural stone tile such as slate, marble or granite. Ceramic and porcelain are insulators (think coffee mug here) natural stone is a conductor that evenly heats thru the entire surface. You could also switch to a high end vinyl tile which is thinner and a great conductor of heat.

Hi again, I tried feeding her today again, still unsuccessful. When I put the crickets in, she just stares up into the sky. I noticed one of her back legs is a little swollen, and I'm wondering if she is maybe not eating because something happened to it. Can she not be eating because she is in pain?

Absolutely pain will affect eating in most animals., going off food is always precursary to most health issues. I'd the leg is swollen theres a few causes ranging from injury to infection to gout and pseudo got. This leo needs to be quarantined in her own enclosure since she is now showing signs of illness. Keeping her in a multi animal habitat will only stress her and the other leo seeing her weak may decide to start bullying her around which well only compound her stress and decline more than she is already. You can try warm soaks over the next couple days to help the swelling go down, but if your not seeing any improvement our things get worst it may be time to see a vet before this gets info a full blown major problem.

Thanks so much. Can you describe how to properly do a warm soak because I have never tried it before, and I don't want to hurt her even more. I am going to try feeding them in a couple of days, and if she still doesn't eat I will think about taking her to the vet. I am a little hesitant though because it can be due to hibernation, or brumation, and she doesn't seem to be losing weight. Will the other Leo start to bully her even though they have lived together for 9 years? If I try changing the tiles, would it be too much of a change to go from tiles to paper towel? Would it stress them out?

Could you post some pictures of your geckos and the tank setup? And yes, bullying can occur at anytime. When you keep more than 1 gecko in the same tank, there's a always a chance something can happen. I would like to see a pic of the swollen leg you are talking about to see what it looks like.

So here is a picture of my set up:
Here is a picturre of P-Head:


Her leg doesn't really look that swollen, but when she walks she keeps it in the position it is in now. She rarely bends it. I was actually reading the temp wrong. The warm section is 91...

Left leg BTW

That leg does look swollen to me., it looks like there might be a band of stuck shed just under the knee towards the lower leg, like something is stricturing it. The knee and joints don't look affected with gout or psudogout, but there does look like a faded but around the knee area. To do a warm soak fill the bathroom sink with just enough water to reach your leos belly and let her walk around in it for about 15 minutes. Temperature should feel just a but warm to the touch but you'll likely need to add more hot water the longer the soak. When I disk Eros I add hot water every 5 minutes, just let it run in for about 5-10 seconds but make sure to keep her away from the hot water as youre adding it, don't want to scald her. If there is stuck shed your should be able to see it as the soak progresses, and if it's swelling from injury, the warm water therapy should help bring it down and encourage her to use the leg. Using it will increase blood flow, as does warm water, which will help flash out ant toxins that may be sitting in the tissue but if it is infected your will need meds from the vet. While soaking if you see any puss or fluid come out, vet asap. I'd be soaking 2x a day for the next few days.

Ok, thanks. I will try that.

How long would you say it should take for her leg to start getting less swollen?

If you do the soaks a explained and there is no infection prob. In a few days to a week at most. If you're not seeing any improvement in a few days infection had likely set in. after the first soak we'll know is there any shed causing a stricture, if thats the case things should heal rather fast once it's off IF it hasn't caused the muscle to start to die because it's been with out blood flow for so long. This is a real delicate situation that might be beyond home treatment and require a vet at this point. How long had the leg been swollen like that ?

I found it like this the first day I posted the question, and I started soaking yesterday. I have done two soaks so I don't think it is because of shed. I am going to try and feed her again today, but I am really worried because if she doesn't eat today, that will be close to a week. The problem is her not eating is probably caused by hibernation, and her leg is making it worse. I only really want to go to the vet if I am sure something is wrong, because I don't want her to look at P-Head for 5 seconds, tell me nothing is wrong, and charge me $80.

Something is wrong and the leg is most likely the cause of the loss of appetite not BRUMATION. Leos don't hibernate they brumate, it's A lighter state of hibernation, your animal will get up on occasion and eat. My leos starting to brumate too but when they do that they don't usually just suddenly stop eating, they cut back how much they eat, and eat on an irregular schedule whereas before they may have eaten every day. Usually when you see a sudden loss of appetite theres larger reasons at play such as injury or illness then compounded by brumating. You always have to clear any medical reasons first before you assume it's behavioral. The leg would be medical, brumating would be behavioral. I really think you need the vet since this had gone on a week. Your leo is telling you something isn't right by stopping eating. The swollen leg isn't coincidence it's likely the cause. If you delay much longer your leo could have permanent damage or even lose the leg. Please see the vet.

Hi, I am just wondering if it would be a good or bad idea to get her to try and use her leg. Would it help the situation, or make it worse? And yes, I will definitely call the vet if she doesn't eat tonight.

Trying to gently encourage her to use the leg could go either way since we don't know what the root problem is. Letting her walk on surfaces that give good traction such as a pillow or on your clothes could help... Or could hurt depending on the problem.