Fyrii
New Member
- Messages
- 17
- Location
- New England
Hi all,
I've owned my male leo for about 6 years now with relatively zero issues-- I keep him in a 55 gallon tank with a UTH and reptile carpet, the proper hides, etc; he's gone through periods of not wanting to eat (a couple times he refused food for 3-4 weeks but continued being active and drinking water) and I often switch between crickets and mealworms for his diet.
So the recent issue:
I've just returned from a trip abroad where I left my leo in the care of my mother for 4 months where he was fine and ate every day. I came back to see him with the fattest tail I'd ever seen on him, I'd go so far as to say that perhaps my mom may have given a bit too much but for the month after that he was still eating fine. Usually he sheds about, I don't know I'd say once a month? But recently he shed twice within the same month, which I thought was odd. This was about the period in which he stopped eating, which I thought may be due to the fact that it was February and we had some very cold temps lately-- perhaps it was beating out the UTH. I started trying to keep the temp in the house itself warmer, but then I noticed he was having trouble getting the shed off his toes. When I took him for a soak to try and get a wet Q-tip to remove the skin, I noticed a couple of his toenails were already bloody and it really concerned me, so I tried to remove some of the skin without hurting him so it wouldn't constrict him and put some antibiotic cream on the injury itself.
I've been offering him food every night and he's refused it, and he's refusing crickets as well as mealworms now too. He seems lethargic and usually lays right outside of his hut... is it a combination of temp and stress? He's never refused crickets before in his life! I think the temp may be on the lower side along with the fact that it's winter, so I was wondering if I upped the temperature that it would help him as well? Would a basking lamp of some sort be good for this scenario? I never considered it before, because I thought it would be harmful for a leo but I've seen it recommended for other owners on forums so I'm just trying to see what my other options are. I'm currently unable to get a good read on the temperature because we recently moved before my trip abroad and lost the temp reader in between moving.
I've owned my male leo for about 6 years now with relatively zero issues-- I keep him in a 55 gallon tank with a UTH and reptile carpet, the proper hides, etc; he's gone through periods of not wanting to eat (a couple times he refused food for 3-4 weeks but continued being active and drinking water) and I often switch between crickets and mealworms for his diet.
So the recent issue:
I've just returned from a trip abroad where I left my leo in the care of my mother for 4 months where he was fine and ate every day. I came back to see him with the fattest tail I'd ever seen on him, I'd go so far as to say that perhaps my mom may have given a bit too much but for the month after that he was still eating fine. Usually he sheds about, I don't know I'd say once a month? But recently he shed twice within the same month, which I thought was odd. This was about the period in which he stopped eating, which I thought may be due to the fact that it was February and we had some very cold temps lately-- perhaps it was beating out the UTH. I started trying to keep the temp in the house itself warmer, but then I noticed he was having trouble getting the shed off his toes. When I took him for a soak to try and get a wet Q-tip to remove the skin, I noticed a couple of his toenails were already bloody and it really concerned me, so I tried to remove some of the skin without hurting him so it wouldn't constrict him and put some antibiotic cream on the injury itself.
I've been offering him food every night and he's refused it, and he's refusing crickets as well as mealworms now too. He seems lethargic and usually lays right outside of his hut... is it a combination of temp and stress? He's never refused crickets before in his life! I think the temp may be on the lower side along with the fact that it's winter, so I was wondering if I upped the temperature that it would help him as well? Would a basking lamp of some sort be good for this scenario? I never considered it before, because I thought it would be harmful for a leo but I've seen it recommended for other owners on forums so I'm just trying to see what my other options are. I'm currently unable to get a good read on the temperature because we recently moved before my trip abroad and lost the temp reader in between moving.
