# Leopard Gecko lethargic and not eating



## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 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!!


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## Gaz_dbd (Apr 30, 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


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## sam12345 (Dec 28, 2007)

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).


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## suez (Jul 8, 2007)

Gaz_dbd said:


> okay from what you have been saying you can avoid stupid vets bills.
> 
> nothing stupid about vets they save lives.
> 
> ...


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:


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## Darlo_Gal (Sep 24, 2008)

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.


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 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


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

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


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 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?


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## forgottenEntity (Sep 7, 2008)

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?


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 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


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## Nerve (Apr 28, 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.


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## forgottenEntity (Sep 7, 2008)

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).


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

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:


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 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!!!


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## Leopardgeckosuk (Mar 4, 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.


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## sazzle (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 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


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## sazzle (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 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?


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## sazzle (Jun 3, 2008)

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


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## ToxicSiren (Aug 8, 2008)

Lol all sounds confusing eh.....Ill let you know what you need hun. You need a heat mat that is 1 third of your viv size which you can buy at most pet stores or ebay for my 2ft vivs i use 11x11 inch heat mats which covers nearly half of the viv floor. Then to regulate the heat mat temp you need a thermostat (also known as a matstat). The heatmat plugs into the thermostat you get get an acurate temperature reading. The probe which has been mentioned is already conected to your thermostat, its just a wire that you put in youir viv and stick above your heatmat to read the temperature. Its so it knows when its right temp to turn on and off. x


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 2009)

Hey thanks for that!!! I just found a diagram aswel that has made me visualise it all HAHAHA god sometimes it takes me ages to get my head around things!!!!! and then i buy a seperate digital thermometer and place that near the floor in the hot end? and drill a hole out the back of the viv for the wires?
just found a heat mat correct size, at 28 Watts surely that not enough??? Lol


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## ToxicSiren (Aug 8, 2008)

Yer sounds about right. I normally put my wires through an air vent at the back of viv and stick a bit of tape of them so they look neater. x


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## Lee92 (Oct 22, 2008)

Can i just add that if you do decide to make holes, i'd reccommend making them at the bottom of the back of the viv so that you don't have wires hanging everywhere.


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 2009)

ok so do we all think that this eating problem could be down to having a heat bulb and not a heat mat?


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## ToxicSiren (Aug 8, 2008)

tanyarussell said:


> ok so do we all think that this eating problem could be down to having a heat bulb and not a heat mat?


Quite possibly as it could be a digestion problem. Try replace the bulb with a heat mat and see if it makes any difference. x


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 2009)

ToxicSiren said:


> Quite possibly as it could be a digestion problem. Try replace the bulb with a heat mat and see if it makes any difference. x


Thank you very much for all your help!!!!


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 2009)

Massive improvements. I haven't yet managed to get a heat mat, but got a thermostat ready. But i came in from work today and the lil guy was all awake and lively and so i fed him a meal worm and he was straight on the case, ate that and then i fed him some crickets and now he is sleeping again, he is acting normal again! I fed him baby food yesterday, maybe this perked him up. So yes, very happy as thats a big improvement 
Thank EVERYONE that replied to me. Really appreciate all your help


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 2009)

well, not that anyone is interested but this lil fella had to be put down.  he got dangerously skinny and the vet had said often we only notice these bad symptoms after they been ill for a while. I can't remember exactly what was wrong with him as this was a while ago.

I now got another Leopard Gecko called Yoshi. He is on sand and a heatbulb. I know alot of peoples views on sand but he has been on sand for ages and no problems at all. I was recommended to keep him this way as this is how he was living at the rep shop and he is the healthiest pet i have ever had. I have learnt so much in this past year about keeping Leopard Geckos and am proud to have a very healthy happy Yoshi


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## Dean Cheetham (Jun 1, 2009)

I'm sorry to say it but rep shops don't always give good advice. And its poSsible that the same could happen again. As they live in hot rocky places they use the hot rocks to regulate their temps and also most importantly to digest their food . I think heat from above do very little for them. So would still say you need a heat mat and stat and get rid of the bulb.
There are different views on sand personally I wouldn't risk impaction from it and therefore I use tiles they are great, easy to clean,no risk and holds the temp nicely.
I'm sorry to hear you lost your last one. I really would take advice from people on here rather then a shop but its up to you.
Best of luck with your new little fella.


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

tanyarussell said:


> *well, not that anyone is interested* but this lil fella had to be put down.  he got dangerously skinny and the vet had said often we only notice these bad symptoms after they been ill for a while. I can't remember exactly what was wrong with him as this was a while ago.
> 
> I now got another Leopard Gecko called Yoshi. He is on sand and a heatbulb. I know alot of peoples views on sand but he has been on sand for ages and no problems at all. I was recommended to keep him this way as this is how he was living at the rep shop and he is the healthiest pet i have ever had. I have learnt so much in this past year about keeping Leopard Geckos and am proud to have a very healthy happy Yoshi


So sorry to hear about your little one. What makes you think we would not be interested? Did the vet actually say what had been wrong? I hope Yoshi does ok for you.


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## tanyarussell (Apr 9, 2009)

jools said:


> So sorry to hear about your little one. What makes you think we would not be interested? Did the vet actually say what had been wrong? I hope Yoshi does ok for you.


I can't actually remember but she said they could do some tests or something but it was just going to be the same outcome. I think it was something inside of him, in his body parts  I didn't want him to be in discomfort for any longer.

And so far so good with Yoshi. Hope it stays this way!! But he has grown a fair bit since i have had him and thats approx four months and his tail gets fatter never thinner


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## Chrisuk33 (Oct 10, 2010)

tanyarussell said:


> 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.
> ...


this is so identical to my problem that could have wrote what you wrote except fpor the being sick part
seems like there might be a common problem but what it is i dont know, i to am worry sick


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