Sick Gecko!

Our adult female leopard gecko of 4 years has not been eating for a couple of months now. We have taken her to the vet multiple times she has had fluids, and antibiotics. We have had to force feed her critical care and it has been keeping her alive and she has gained some weight, we thought she was getting better and she bagan eating her mealworms again however she has gone back to not eating (we try her everyday to see if she will gain an appetite) She doesnt always come out at night but once we take her out of her enclosure she is perfectly active and acts healthy. She has clear eyes, normal breathing, her tail has deflated a bit but not horribly so and she isnt underweight. She has been shedding normally and has been going to the bathroom normally she just wont eat and today we found that she had thrown up in her cage, we are going to take her to the vet again tomorrow, but does anyone know what we could do to help her?

welcome to the forum im sorry your little girl is having trouble, please fill out this questionnaire for us and post it back on here with your answers. this way we know more and can give you better suggestions. http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t134-please-read-and-fill-out-with-your-health-questions

A few quick things to check..

-Check your floor temperature on the hot spot, does it meet the required temperature of 90-95 degrees?

-Look at her belly, does she look like she's ovulating? Look for a pink dot/circle in the middle of her belly. Sometimes it's to the side a bit. If you don't know what to look for, put her in a clear container and take a picture from the under side.

-Have you tried other feeders other than mealworms?

-Are you using any loose substrate inside the tank?


Filling out the questionnaire will allow folks here to help you better.

Care Questionaire:

About your leo:
- Sex Female
- Age & Weight: about 4 years old, and 5 grams
- Morph (if you know): dont know
- How long have you owned your leo: about 4 years
- Where was he/she obtained (Pet store, breeder, wild caught, etc.): Petsmart
- Is your leo wild caught or captive bred: captive bred

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: about every day
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how: not eating, no interest in hunting
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.: no
B) Fecals
- Describe-Do they look any different than normal: normal
- When was the last time he/she went: two days ago
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem/issue you are experiencing and how long it has been going on
Our leopard gecko has stopped eating for a couple of months now, we have taken her to the vet multiple times, and have her on carnivore care. She has not gotten much better, we took her to the vet recently and they said she looked healthy, just today we realized that her tail had greatly deflated (even though we have been giving her carnivore care daily) and her color has darkened a lot, from her normal creamy color to a dark golden brown

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: 20 gallon
- Type (ex. glass tank, screen enclosure, tub kept): glass
- Type of substrate (sand, vinyl tiles, ceramic/stone tiles, etc.): reptile carpet
- Hides (how many, location and type (hothide, humid hide, regular hide etc.): two hides
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 bulbs, and tank heater for the winter months, UTH of 75,
- What are your cage temps (hot side and cool side) hot side day: 90-93 cool side day: 80-85 hot side night: 70-80 cool side night: 70-75
- Method of regulating your heat source (thermostat, rheostat, light dimmer etc.) thermostat
- What are you using to measure your temps (probe thermometer, infrared lazer tempo gun, stick on temp gauge, etc) stick on temp gauge at both ends of tank
- Do you have any lights (describe type (red,blue, basking etc) and cycle duration) red light for night, white light/basking for day
C) Cage mates: none
- How many (males, females) none
- Describe health, or previous problems of cage mates

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet:
- What are you feeding: meal worms or gut loaded crickets
- How often are you feeding your gecko and how much per feeding? 3-4 mealworms
- How are you feeding (hand fed, tongs/tweezers, left in dish, ect)
B) Supplements
- What calcium suppliment are you using (please include brand) calcium dust
- What multi vitimin are you using (please include brand) supplement her with liquid calcium
-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.) when she used to eat on her own we would dust them daily, and have a shallow dish for her to lick out of
- What are you gutloading your feeder insects with: carrots (when she used to eat on her own)

Welcome to the forum! I hope we can give you some ideas as to why your leo isn't eating.

A few things, did you see an actual reptile vet that has dealt with leos before? Sometimes vets who are not qualified to see herps will see a reptile and do more harm than good.

Next, I would switch the repticarpet to paper towel or tiling. Repticarpet is a breeding ground for bacteria, as well as the claws and teeth of the leo can get stuck to the carpet. Tiling looks great, is cheap and super easy to clean. You can use peel-n-stick, slate, etc.

You should also have 3 hides. One on the hot side, one on the cool side, and a humid hide. The humid hide should be filled with moss or paper towel and misted daily. This is used to help the leo shed. It should be half on and half off the hot side, to keep it warm but moist.

Leos get their heat from their bellies, so overhead heating is not needed for leos. Leos don't bask. You should only be using an under tank heater for the heat source,and it should be used all through the year. You should also measure the temps of the tank using a probe thermometer or a temp gun. The stick on thermometers aren't very accurate. YOu need to measure the floor temp of the tank, not the air temp. The floor temp is where the leo is getting the heat from. The hot side should be 88*-95*. There shouldn't be that much of a fluctuation in temperature from night to day either. It should be relatively stable.

The heating is a big thing. It could be a reason why your leo isn't eating very much. The belly heat aids in proper digestion. Without proper belly heat, your leo may not want to eat.

Have you tried adding variety to her diet? She could also be bored with her normal foods. Here is a thread with some different feeders you could try: http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t303-nutritional-values-and-feeder-insects

Also, you need to add a multvitamin to her diet. Leos need calcium, vitamin D3 and multvitamins. Pure calcium can be left in the tank. But the multivitamin is dusted on food depending on the instructions.

I hope some of my suggestions help. Hopefully it is something minor causing her lack of appetite. Good luck!

Handle her only when necessary. Some geckos become so stressed they won't eat. Was a fecal exam done?

herp625 wrote:Handle her only when necessary. Some geckos become so stressed they won't eat. Was a fecal exam done?

for right now while she is not eating handling her as little as possible is a good idea but you can handle your a healthy leo every day with out problem, a lot of people think you shouldn't but you can they just need to get used to you and you have to take it slow if they are not.

I guess you haven't owned the scared type that run for their lives. I have a 5 year old male that has never like being held. After 4 years of trying, I realized he was best not handled. I would return him to his tank and he would run in his hide and won't come out for 2 days. Not very healthy to be scared too leave his hide to thermoregulate. He never changed so I just talk to him through the glass:D

lol poor little guy i wonder what makes him so afraid, i know my charm was a bit skittish when i got her and she always tried to find her way back to the tank when she was a baby but now that i have handled her every day since i got her she enjoys coming out and exploring or sitting on my warm skin and observing everything lol i guess we will agree on the fact that it all depends on the leo's personality.