Female Leopard Gecko not eating as much

[The Bearded Derek]

My female leopard gecko doesn't seem to be eating as much as before and It's starting to make me worry. Back then (Before when she ate normally), she would easily eat about 3-5 superworms a week. Now the last time she ate a superworm was about 8 days ago and before those 8 days ago the last time she ate one from there was 10 days ago. Her tail is getting a bit skinny (It's still decently fat but in comparison from before she has lost a lot of fat in her tail, almost twice as much) and she might not be drinking that much either. 2 days ago I saw that there was a yellow urate (which from what I read means she's dehydrated) and I'm not sure if either she's pooping wherever she wants instead of pooping in her usual corner or if she's pushing the poop accidentally all over the tank. She's about a year and a half old with her future mate at 8 months old (Yes, they do get along well, I have never seen them fight or any other signs of aggression toward each other) I also feed them with my hand, I don't usually put the worms in the bowl, since they're used to hand-feeding. Whenever I give her a worm she just looks at it for a second and just doesn't get interested. Both on my hand and the bowl. Sometimes when I put it in the bowl both of them get way more interested but the female still doesn't want. Is there something I should be concerned about? This is the first time she's ever gone without eating food, at least for this long. I know she can't be gravid because the male isn't old enough (And even if he was, I've never seen him mate) her body isn't fat either and I don't see any eggs in her.

P.S Sorry if I posted in the wrong subtopic, I was worried and I just wanted to post quick.

 

[tkurt]

U only feed her superworms?

 

[The Bearded Derek]

Yes, but it can't be because she's bored of it because 2 days ago I tried giving her a cricket and a waxworm but she ignored both.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

I've even dipped my finger in a bit of calcium to see if she would lick it, but she only licked twice which just looked like test licks and she walked away. Luckily just yesterday I saw her drink

 

[Ryder5406]

She's ovulating or pregnant or both. She will lose tail thickness. As soon as she drops her eggs she'll eat again. Check to see if you see red pea sized balls in her belly from beneath by flipping her over and binding her backwards gently. There are videos on how to do this. Be careful if there is eggs she may not like it much. The eggs should be easy to see though. Don't be confused by the fat pads.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

Will I be able to see it even though she's shedding? It looks like she'll be finished shedding at around 5 days (I don't think she's not eating because of her shedding, normally she'll eat and expose herself regardless if she's shedding or not) but if she may be ovulating I'll check. I thought she would've ovulated way before at 8-10 months but shes already like 15 months old.

 

[Neon Aurora]

http://geckoforums.net/f130-health-medications/70912.htm

Fill this out and post it and we may be able to help you. It's possible she's ovulating, or gravid (pregnant is not the correct term) with infertile eggs. If she is gravid, that would explain the rapid weight loss. There could also be other issues, though, so filling out that form will give us more information.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

About your leo:
- Sex (Female)
- Age & Weight (About 15 months old, not sure on weight. She's about 6.3 inches if that helps)
- How long have you owned your leo (12 months)
- Where was he/she obtained (Repticon Breeder)

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo (At least twice a week. Whenever I put my hand in the cage she likes to climb up and inspect my hand)
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now (Not eating as much as before and she's been a very tiny bit more flighty)
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe. (Minor scratch, healed about 3 months ago)
B) Fecals
- Describe (Normal brown with white urate. Nothing different)
- When was the last time he/she went (I don't know)
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on (Not eating as much as before, barely eating. Been going on for about 2.5 weeks now)

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size (20 gallons, 2ft W x 17 inches T x 13 inches L)
- Type (Aquarium)
- Type of substrate (Red calcium sand, previously wood mulch)
- Hides, how many, what kind (3, an excavator clay cave and overhang, above the cave is a fake agave which the male usually slips in)
B) Heating
- Heat source (Large Under-tank heat pad)
- Cage temps (Hot area about 91, rest of the tank is about 79)
- Method of regulating heat source (The pad is constantly on)
- What are you using to measure your temps (A little Zoo Med thermometer, not sure what kind it is)
- Do you have any lights (Just the normal light in my bedroom)
C) Cage mates
- How many (The female and an 8 month old Male, which is the most recently added)
- Describe health, or previous problems (Both appear normal and healthy, never had physical fights. Rarely do they get mad, if they do, the male just grunts at her then they walk off)

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (Feeding both a Superworm a day)
- How are you feeding (Hand-feeding. Sometimes in their bowl. Very rarely on the substrate)
B) Supplements (Only time I used it was about a month ago, not currently using it)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (Natur-Cal, has calcium, vitamins and vitamin D3. I put a flat layer on their bowl and they would sometimes lick it)
- What are you gut loading food with (Fluker's Cricket Quencher and some flaky worm food which they dig in. I occasionally give them lettuce, potatoe, or carrot)

 

[Neon Aurora]

Okay. I missed the bit about the male. 8 months is not necessarily too young to mate. Her being gravid is a possibility. Just because you haven't seen them mate doesn't mean they haven't. They are nocturnal after all. If you are not planning on eggs, you should remove the male.

Another possibility is that the male is bullying the female and she is too stressed to eat. Many leopard geckos prefer to live in their own space. Again, just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it isn't happening. It's also recommended to have more hides than just the 3 if you're going to house geckos together. Not having extras can make the geckos more stressed.

Also, I find it pretty concerning that you're using calcium sand. Calcium sand is even worse than regular sand. With the calcium in it, geckos are more likely to eat it and it can build up in their digestive tract over time. Is there any particular reason you don't want to use something solid? Not eating can be an early sign of impaction.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

I had taken out the mulch and replaced it with the sand since the mulch I had was pretty sharp (Hence the reason the female had a small scratch before) so I replaced it with something softer. I had walnut shells before for my Blue tongue skink and it was a lot better than I expected. So right after I first bought her I bought some normal sand and she did well too, so it seemed safe to me. She's only eaten 1 superworm that crawled out the bowl and she only swallowed like 3 specks. I've also given her a fairly good amount of calcium before so I don't see a reason why she would want more calcium by licking the sand. Knowing also they lived in deserts I thought it would be naturalistic

As for the male and them fighting, normally whenever they do just about anything (Even them walking) I can hear it. My bed is only about 8 ft away from their cage. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and get a dim light and see what they're doing (They usually do a lot of things in the morning, most of the time they just walk around) and they just sit there on the heat pad if not hiding in a cave.

As for her being gravid, I'm not sure on that. I can't seem to locate any small red balls in her belly. I've seen how it looks like but I just can't find it on her

By the way, that red stuff on her hands is her old skin colored in by the sand. Doesn't seem to do anything (Dryness, Difficulty in removing, etc)

 

[Neon Aurora]

Contrary to popular belief, being a desert species doesn't mean they live on sand. They actually live on rock and hard clay, so sand is not natural for them. If I were you, I would remove it and replace it with something solid. There is no reason to take the risk.
Here is why: http://geckoforums.net/f127-housing/103084.htm

She doesn't look gravid to me. However, you should separate them if you are not looking to have eggs.

Sometimes bullying can be a much more subtle thing than physically fighting. For many geckos, it can be very stressful to have other geckos in such close quarters. It isn't how they live naturally.

Here is what I recommend you do:
Replace the sand with something solid (you can use tile or slate if you want something natural looking)
Separate the two geckos

Sometimes not eating is not abnormal and nothing to worry about as long as the gecko isn't losing too much weight. From what I can see of her tail in the picture, she doesn't look underweight. I would still adjust your husbandry to see if she starts eating again.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

I suppose I'll change the substrate to something like coco husk or something somewhat soft (It's the most abundant substrate they have in my nearest reptile store) I never really seen tile but the only thing I think I can use would be excavator clay as it's the only thing I know that's rocky.

Although I do plan to breed them, I just wasn't expecting them to be ready too soon so I'll probably be getting a bigger cage with more hides and a nest box (I've been told by different breeders not to separate them every time they have eggs if not they'll constantly fight when introduced)

I was just concerned since it's been a while since she last ate and it's been like that for a while. It's also her first time not eating for this long which is the main reason why I was concerned.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Excavator clay would definitely be preferable over coconut husk. Impaction is a big problem with these guys.

If she female isn't eating, she shouldn't be bred yet. She needs to be in top shape. You said you don't know her weight. That would be an important thing to know before breeding. She needs to be at least 50 grams.

They don't have to housed together when you want to breed them. I pair mine and separate immediately after they mate. They can produce several clutches from one mating.

You said you added the male recently, and the female stopped eating recently. My guess would be that she is stressed by the male and that is why she is not eating.

It's up to you, but I really think you should separate them. It's really not recommended to keep a male and single female together all the time, especially during breeding season. Some males can pester females constantly and put a lot of stress on them. Many people keep colonies (multiple females and one male), but I'm of the opinion that they are much happier and less stressed when housed alone.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

Recently the female stopped eating but I added the male in December of 2014, at the time he was only 3 months old and I had assumed the female would bully him but they did much better than I expected. Back then he was small enough to climb on her back and just sleep there without the female even getting mad. Matter of fact, she wouldn't even wake up lol. As for the weight what specific scale should I use? I've seen a few that were about $40 so I kept away from it until he was almost ready to breed. How many grams would the female be? She's 7.4 inches long, 0.65 inches thick and her tail is about 0.48 inches thick (At the fattest part)

 

[Neon Aurora]

Well again, what I recommend is you replace the sand with something solid and separate the two geckos. Past that, your set up seems fine, so I would guess one of the two things is the problem.

You should use a gram scale. Digital is fine. I have a triple beam balance, so I use that. The female needs to weigh at least 50 grams before breeding. I have no idea how much she weighs.

I'm not trying to be rude, but if you are reluctant to spend $40 on equipment for your leopard geckos, than you should probably wait to breed. Breeding is expensive, I've spent hundreds to do it right. You're young and there is a lot of time. Do you have places to house 20+ hatchlings? Homes for them? Money to feed them and for vet care? Incubator? I'm really not trying to berate you, I'm just raising the important questions you should answer for yourself before deciding to breed.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

I'm not worried about spending the $40 on the scale but I'd rather get something that's not as costly so I can reduce every cost I'd have to spend. I got a 10 gallon tank (Currently it's my Chameleon's but I'm gonna get him out of there tomorrow and put him in a screen cage.) So I plan to put them there when the eggs hatch. If they don't fit I'll just buy another tank. As for the food and everything else I can just get like 100 small crickets or mealworms for just about $2. Only experience I've had with any animal breeding would be love birds and in my opinion it's easy. Just feed them calcium with their food, they lay their eggs, wait for them to hatch, and just feed them (Time-consuming, but easy) I feel birds are more difficult so I guess breeding the geckos should be fairly easy (Regarding selling the hatchlings)

 

[Neon Aurora]

Again, not trying to be rude.

A scale is very important to breeding. Knowing how much your animals weigh is an indication of health.

You shouldn't put all your hatchlings in one tank. Some people keep them in pairs until they're a few months old, but then they separate them. You can easily create a stressful environment by keeping a bunch of hatchlings in such a small space. That's just.. a really bad idea.

As far as selling the hatchlings, it's not always that easy unless you have good stock. I just saw a thread on here that someone was having trouble selling theirs. I have no idea what kind of stock you have, so I'm not trying to offend.

How long have you kept leopard geckos for? It's perfectly fine and recommended to have a good amount of experience keeping them before deciding to breed.

I know I can't stop you, but you don't sound prepared to breed. I really think you need to take a step back and get the equipment and knowledge you need first.

List of things you will need:
Something other than sand/coco husk that is solid (loose substrate is much more likely to kill hatchlings than adults)
Separate enclosures for each hatchling and preferably the adults (Why not build a rack system and house them in tubs? Very space efficient and happy geckos)
A reliable incubator (these can be expensive)
A gram scale
Thermometers (or one temperature gun) to measure the temps in each enclosure
Heating for all the enclosures (easy with a rack system, just buy a long strip of heat tape. Reptilebasics.com has excellent heat tape)
Hides for all the enclosures

When I was 16, I wanted to breed also. I wasn't prepared and everything I did just flopped on its face. I've spent the last couple years saving up and buying the best stock I could afford and gathering all the equipment I needed. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it because now I have a legitimate project going on. I'm sorry if I seem like I'm being hard on you, I do understand, but keeping the hatchlings all in one tank is just an awful idea.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

Well I only planned to keep the hatchlings in that tank for only about a month, then after that month I would put them in a rack system. By the way how big does each tub have to be? I have very little space inside my house and most likely I'd have to put them outside (I have a large canopy on the outside and I could probably put them in there somewhere)

 

[Neon Aurora]

Why wouldn't you just put them in a rack system right away? What's the point of keeping them crammed in a tank for one month?

Hatchlings can be in a 6 qt and adults in a 16 qt.

Do not put your leopard geckos outside... Just don't. Seriously? That is a terrible idea. Florida is WAY too humid, and WAY too hot. If you don't have room for the hatchlings, don't breed. It's really as simple as that.

I really don't think you should be breeding. You sound like you don't have the resources or the space or the knowledge. Do more research, acquire more space, and get the proper equipment. Proposing to keep hatchling leopard gecko crammed in a 10 gallon and outside in the Florida weather is preposterous.

I apologize if I'm being a bit rude, but you really don't seem like you know what you're doing.

 

[The Bearded Derek]

I have the 10 gallon tank in my room, and the reason why I'd put them there for a limited time is to plan out where to put the rack system and how many racks to put in (Reason I can't plan out now is because I'm busy helping my dad with his boat) I knew a breeder that lives here but around Fort lauderdale that keeps pretty much all of his reptiles (Leopard geckos, beardies, green iguanas, Rhino iguanas, and others) outside under a canopy too and they look fine to me. Besides, in order for me to gain experience on breeding, I have to at least let them breed once and see what happens. I understand you're just telling me what I need to do. No offense taken.