[gex]

Hi guys

New to this forum and to keeping gecko's hope i have posted in right place if not sorry in advance.

Ok thing is i bought a male adult leopard gecko 2 weeks ago from a private seller and it has not eaten since i got it.

I know this because the viv i got with him was in a bad state so i bought a new 2ft one and put some wax worms and crickets in the same amount are still in there.

I have been told by a friend who has geckos that if his tail is fat then not to worry, his tail is fat but i am still concerned with the fact that he has not eaten in 2 weeks.

Any help would be welcome

cheers guys

 

[purejurrasic]

Ok, first thing to ask is about the temps in the viv? can you tell me what your heat source is, how long its on for, what control you have for it and what the temps are, at each end and in the middle of the viv.

Also, does your gecko seem alert? does he have any injuries you can see?

what viv furniture do you have for him

Where abouts do you keep the viv? what time of day did you feed him? have you feed since the last time 2 weeks ago?

What substrate do you have him on

Did the seller give any advice on what foods he was taking?

Sorry this seems a long list, but I could give you loads of things to try, but until I have an understanding of the situation, I would be guessing.

First thing I would say is remove all food items from the viv and just give fresh water daily for the next few days.

When you get back with the above, we can start to look at it in more details.

Tony

 

[gex]

Ok Here Goes

Viv Heat Source Is One Red Bulb Controlled by a dimmer switch box 76f at night and 84f in the day (this is how the person i bought him from told me to do it she had him for about 12months like this)

Gecko Seems ok But wont come out from hide taken him out no injuries that i can see

I have a branch, hide, heat stone all given to me when i bought him

viv is kept in the dinning room least used room again same as she had

He had crickets in when i got him but cleaned him out and put in new viv then fed him again also put fruit in for the crickets as read somewhere that they can attack if hungry. Crickets died so took them out left it a day or 2 and put 4 new ones in with some wax worms as recomended by my friend who keeps them.

Substrate is lizard sand although she did have wood chippings was told not to use them by pet shop when asked what i was keeping.

She said she put a whole tub of crickets in and just left them till they died or he ate them about 20-30 crickets at time.

The only change i have made is the new viv and substrate as didnt want to upset him the viv is the same size as old one just not as many holes and cracks lol.

Cheers

Keith

 

[manda]

i dont keep leo's but all i can say is get the sand out of there put kitchen roll down
i cant give much more advice but im sure some-one else can
good luck
manda xx

 

[Ceiron]

its over a year old so sand wont be a problem.

temp should be 88f hot end, dropping down to 65/70 at night

only feed every 2-3 days, then feed 6 - 10 crickets and remove any uneaten ones.

hes over a year old now so wont eat that much.

 

[gex]

Cheers for the advice

seems to be alot of contradicting advice on substrates at the mo but will take advice from someone who keeps lizards rather than a shop that will make more out of some fancy product than a roll of kitchen paper lol

once again

cheers

Keith

 

[manda]

i no sand shouldnt be a problem but my storm (yes she is a wd not a leo) was on eco earth and she got probs from is and she is 13 yo
since being on kitchen roll she is much better with eating
manda xx

 

[purejurrasic]

Hi there

Ok, whilst there is no issue with using a bulb as a heat source, I personally dont like it as it could mess up the gex sense of day and night.

Having said that, if thats how he has been kept for a year or more, than I dont think thats whats caused him to stop eating.

I would push up the day heat to 88-90 and the night down to 70 , not a huge difference but may be all it needs.

If gex wont come out, It would cause me a little worry, unless it in the middle of the day and he is asleep. when you checked him over I take it you didnt notice any large black markings on his belly, and the was no un natural swellings.

Do you see him out at night?

When you say you have a heat stone, do you mean a 'rock' that heats up? Gex take up heat from the belly, but dont have the ability to notice local heat, only general ambiant heat, and as such can get pretty nasty burns from these uncontrolled hot rocks.

Try to replace this with a piece of slate or some rock that you can place under the light so it heats up.

Try pooping another hide in there, if you can use something different, maybe a different size also. You could try makking this a moist hide by putting in some moss or damp kitchen roll.

I have known gex to start eating again simply by moving the location of the viv with in the same room, so there may be something here you want to do.

Thats good advice regarding the fruit for the crix, I use potatao slices. You could try a different type of crix, I found some of mine dont like black crix, but love banded field brown crix.

I however think that pet shop should be shot for telling you to put the whole tub in. This will just stress your gecko no end. He is prob fed up with all the little blighters crawing all over.

Whilst there is less risk from sand with an adult, I would still change it. I use a mix of slate floor tile, slate chips, kitchen roll and large chips, NOT the smaller size.


My general advice other than above is to keep the viv food free for 3 days, then feed ONLY a few crix.

Observe him. If he eats them, ad a few more, if not, leave them in over night. Dont forget the pot or fruit.

Never feed more crix than he would eat in like 1/2 hour, so the whole tub is bad advice!

Give this a go and keep us updated. Good luck

 

[K.J.Geckos]

i agree with pure jurassic.i dont like the idea of using the bulb as the heat sourse for your leo.Im into my heat pads for my leos and they too are also adults of around 2-3 years.It might be because hes not heating up enought for the digestion prosess but i cant understand if hes been kept the same for over a year why hes stopped eating now?The only other things might be is he holding out for waxies or simply gone off the crickets?Have you tried hoppers or meal worms at all?My 1st gecko used to be fed crickets at the shop but he refuses to eat them for me sometimes going a couple of weeks with out food until i give in to him an feed somthing other then crickets.Hes got a nice plump tail on him and doesnt seem to be losing weight at all so as long as thats the case just be patient.he might just be stubben like mine?If you want to reasure yourself in the mean time try feeding a waxie to him.if he eats it in one go then i think hes ok.is he pooping normal too? and is there anything in the poop thats visable?

hope this helps a little :roll:

 

[gex]

Cheer Guys

Thanks for all the advice have changed the heat temps and taken out all food will try feeding him again in 3 days also looking into getting a heat mat and will change substrate.

once again cheers guys

 

[purejurrasic]

Good luck

I sometimes miss posts, so If I can help further, feel free to pm me

Tony