Leopard Gecko lethargic and not eating

tanyarussell · May 5, 2009

Hey there, im worried about my Leopard Gecko.

He is approx 8 months old, i have had him for just over a month. He came from an excellent reptile house. He lives by himself, with water available at all times, moist hide, lots of other hides, and an overall temp of just over 90F. Since i have had him he has eaten perfectly. On dusted crickets.
However, a week ago, he just ignored the food, which i dropped in front of him in the viv,this is the way he has always fed. So, i tried again later just incase he was just not in the mood, but he didnt feed again, so, every day for a week i been trying, a couple of tries he ate one cricket, and other times he looked at the crickets, looked like he was going to go for it, but then just left it, even though the cricket wasnt that fast.
So, i thought maybe he was just bored of crickets, so i got some meal worms, he ate two of these and about half hour later i noticed he had brought them back up again, fully intact.
He also seems more tired all the time, like, i just watched him earlier and instead of fiding a lil hiding spot, like all the ones he normally uses, he just fell asleep in the middle of the viv, under no cover or anything, just stood there and fell asleep. The two very small poops he has done have been just like his normal ones, except smaller.
Oh, and i think he has shed recently, but towards the start of the week, as his colour is more vibrant now, he shed within the first few days of me having him but showed non of these symptoms before
I'm very worried as i have no money to take him to the vet! Any advice/help would be much appreciated!! Maybe i am just worrying to much! Thanks in advance!!

Gaz_dbd · May 5, 2009

okay from what you have been saying you can avoid stupid vets bills.

sometimes animals suffer a delayed reaction to being moved. this could be why he is not eating much but dont panic. i have seen geckos doing this before

if you have any tweezers (proper reptile (t-rex) are best) then using a dusted cricket and (unfortunately) force feeding it. this isnt as bad as it sounds, just keep pushing it in his face until he slightly opens his mouth and then push it in. okay it sounds a bit harsh but it doesnt hurt them and it is for the best.

also if you are worried he has lost weight ie his fat stores look a lil low, then feed him meal worms, can o worms work best as they are dead and have no problems of chewing. also these can be dusted and after he is back to normal work as a fantastic treat and can be left in his viv so he can then eat as he pleases

i hope i have been some help

sam12345 · May 5, 2009

I would avoid force feeding for definate this will only put the gecko through more stress.

Dead crickets provide very little nutritional value for reptiles so again i wouldnt want to be using these. Plus leopard geckos are attracted to small moving insects so getting him interested in these without force feeding would be hard enough.

What substrate is he on?
And when you say just over 90f overall, what are you using to measure this and where are you measuring it?
Also what are you using as a heat source?
Is the livefood you are using appropriately sized for him? (no bigger than the width of his head, eye to eye).

suez · May 5, 2009

Gaz_dbd said:
okay from what you have been saying you can avoid stupid vets bills.

nothing stupid about vets they save lives.

sometimes animals suffer a delayed reaction to being moved. this could be why he is not eating much but dont panic. i have seen geckos doing this before

possible but i doubt it

if you have any tweezers (proper reptile (t-rex) are best) then using a dusted cricket and (unfortunately) force feeding it. this isnt as bad as it sounds, just keep pushing it in his face until he slightly opens his mouth and then push it in. okay it sounds a bit harsh but it doesnt hurt them and it is for the best.

no it isnt for the best force feeding is used as a last resort it can be very stressfull and make an already bad situation worse

also if you are worried he has lost weight ie his fat stores look a lil low, then feed him meal worms, can o worms work best as they are dead and have no problems of chewing. also these can be dusted and after he is back to normal work as a fantastic treat and can be left in his viv so he can then eat as he pleases

leos are stimulated by movement dead insects have far less nutrition plus they dont move
i hope i have been some help

could be he is not hungry or he has eaten to large a prey item .if you answer the questions Sam12345 asked we may be able to help you more: victory:

Darlo_Gal · May 5, 2009

As above really ^
Also you mentioned he went off his food about a week ago and also shed about the same time? I have a female who stops eating for about a week while shedding but eats like a pig all the other times.
If it is substantially more inactive than usual then I would try to get it to a vet as any animal that becomes lethargic should be checked out. Do you know when he was last wormed?
Perhaps if someone lives close to you on here they may be kind enough to pop round and see what they think.

tanyarussell · May 6, 2009

Thank you all for your responses
Substrate i use is kitchen towel, so no worry of eating that whilst feeding
I have two thermometers the exo terra ones placed in the middle at the top of the viv (the one reading 90f) and one at the bottom to the left hand side of the viv.
The heat source i use is an exo terra infrared bulb
The live food is the correct size for him.
I dont think id like to try force feeding yet as it seems very stressful for him and i would probably cry trying to force an animal to do something lol!! Cuz the other day he ate one cricket, which is nothing compared to normal, but at least he had one!
Thanks again

SleepyD · May 6, 2009

tanyarussell said:
I have two thermometers the exo terra ones placed in the middle at the top of the viv (the one reading 90f) and one at the bottom to the left hand side of the viv.
The heat source i use is an exo terra infrared bulb

ideally the thermometer should be near/or on the floor at the hot end of the viv/tank to measure temps there ~ the substrate/floor at the hot end should be 88*F-90*F with the cool end being approximately 70*F-75*F , it's the substrate temp that is needed for the leo to be able to digest food correctly ~ which is why I prefer to use a statted heatmat as opposed to a lamp ~ also if the floor temps are too high/too low or the leo isn't given the chance to thermoregulate it can affect the leo's appetite

tanyarussell · May 6, 2009

the substrate is just under 90F at the hot end. I'm thinking, could i get a heat mat as well as the bulb?

forgottenEntity · May 6, 2009

tanyarussell said:
the substrate is just under 90F at the hot end. I'm thinking, could i get a heat mat as well as the bulb?

Personally I would ditch the bulb and just go with a nice heat mat. I find they do much better with heat mats. As has been mentioned, they can regulate their temps exactly as they want to with a mat. They either move over it and warm up else move off it and cool down. Depending on how your bulb is positioned etc, he may not be able to regulate his temp quite as well.

Other quick question: He's 8 months old? What does he weigh?

tanyarussell · May 6, 2009

but i heard that a heat mat doesnt warm up the whole viv enough?
Not sure what he weighs but he doesnt look to have lost any weight since i have had him.His tail is the same size, its not getting any skinnier

Nerve · May 6, 2009

There should be two different temperatures in the tank so they can regulate themselves, the highest end being ~90F and the cooler being ~75F.

forgottenEntity · May 6, 2009

I run around 30 heat mat setups at present for our Leos. Not a single bulb in the place. Air temp in the viv is warmer than room temperature due to the heat mat heating the air locally within the viv. Stat sensors are placed slightly above the heat mat so as to control the temperature of the air close to the mat surface to be 90F. Air temp at the other end of the viv (and floor / substrate temp) will end up being around room temperature (75F-78F in my case).

SleepyD · May 6, 2009

tanyarussell said:
but i heard that a heat mat doesnt warm up the whole viv enough?

it's not supposed to warm up the whole viv

Leo's need a hot end (88*F-90*F) and a cool end (70*F-75*ish) to be able to thermoregulate : victory:

tanyarussell · May 6, 2009

oki doki, so im thinking im going to get one when i get paid, could somne give me a link of some good ones. So, how do i control the temp? is there like a dial to turn up the heat (sorry for sounding so dumb, i never researched into heat mats as i though heat bulbs all the way lol) and for the stat things do i need to drill holes into the back of the viv? OH and how much space do you guys reckon the heat mat should cover? some people say half the viv, others say a third?
has anyone ever tried the baby food on to the nose trick? just wandered if that would be good for him for now, as i got a few pence for a jar of baby food. thank you all so much!!!

Leopardgeckosuk · May 6, 2009

Leopard geckos need the head under their bellies to be able to digest there food, so therefore a heatmat is very necessary. This is more than likely the reason why its not eating and regurgitating what it does eat.

I would suggest getting the heat mat as soon as possible as feeding disorders if they become establishes are difficult to reverse in leopard geckos.

The heat mat should be attached to a thermostat to regulate the temperature.

sazzle · May 6, 2009

heat mat should cover 1/3 of the viv and be attached to a thermostat... really easy, the thermostat comes with a probe and a plug socket bit... plug the heat mat into the stat, adjust the dial and you're away

if you get a mat stat i'd recommend microclimate... they're cheaper and really good... also, i'd recommend getting a couple of digital thermometers as the dials on the stats aren't always very accurate x

tanyarussell · May 6, 2009

ooo ok so on the dial it will have alll the temp settings and i just set it to approx 90F and thats the temp it will let out?
can i get a set that includes everything i need? do microclimate do a set? many thanks x

sazzle · May 6, 2009

they dont as far as i'm aware but you wont need a very big mat (whatever size 1/3 of your viv is) and the mat stat is around £20 (shouldn't be much more than that) and you shouldn't pay more than say £15 for the heat mat x

tanyarussell · May 6, 2009

so, i gotta buy a third size of the viv heat mat, a mat stat and a thermostat and a probe, lol, so what bit goes where? LOL god sorry guys, totally dumb, but like i said before, i never looked into this before, thank god for you guys!!!
obv i know where the heat mat goes lol
what watt of thermo stat and mat would i need?
and do i turn it off at night to give a night time temp? or just turn it down?
do i have to drill holes for all the wires?

sazzle · May 6, 2009

sorry the mat stat is your thermostat, it comes with the probe... i tape the probe to my heat mats but everyone has different methods x

Leopard Gecko lethargic and not eating

tanyarussell

Gaz_dbd

sam12345

suez

Darlo_Gal

tanyarussell

SleepyD

tanyarussell

forgottenEntity

tanyarussell

Nerve

forgottenEntity

SleepyD

tanyarussell

Leopardgeckosuk

sazzle

tanyarussell

sazzle

tanyarussell

sazzle

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