My female leo is not eating since i got her! help please

[travis21v4]

I went to exotic pets in las vegas and picked up two leopard geckos. I bought 1 male and 1 female, but the female I am guessing was already gravid. I candled her about two days after buying her and there is definitely two eggs inside the belly, but now she will not touch food. She has a fat tail and I placed a little bowl of powder for her to lick. What else can I do? I'm sorry I am brand new to leo's only had them about a week, I am more of a tarantula guy =\.

 

[Neon Aurora]

I wouldn't be too concerned yet. I have often had leopard geckos that won't eat for over a month after being moved. Plus, gravid females often don't eat until they lay their eggs and then start eating like pigs until the next clutch starts to develop.

I would recommend separating the male and female. Males can often be overzealous about breeding and stress the female out in confined spaces.

Just make sure she has the proper temperatures provided by a UTH, access to calcium, and a proper lay box to lay her eggs in.

 

[travis21v4]

Would you be so kind as to point me in a direction as to how to create this lay box? I do apologize as I am new so that might be a retarded question.

 

[travis21v4]

Now I am really lost... I just grabbed her and lifted her to candle her and there is no more white spot on left or right side? Would the male eat the eggs? And to candle them what way do you shine the light on her, directly on the belly or from the back?

 

[Neon Aurora]

Making a lay box is very easy. =) All you need to do is take a Tupperware, cut an entrenched hole in either the lid or near the top of the container. The container should be a couple of inches deep. You can then fill it with something like Eco Earth. Keep it moist and there you go. You should have something like this anyways because leopard geckos need to moisture to properly shed.

As for telling if she's gravid, you don't really candle geckos. You candle eggs to see if their fertile. Shining a light into her back can help, but it's honestly really hard to tell the difference between fat deposits and eggs (I'm terrible at it). There's no way to tell for sure if she's gravid. However, breeding season has begun (one of my females just started ovulating earlier this week), so if she is housed with a male, the chances are good that she's gravid.

I would recommend making a lay box and putting it in with her and just waiting it out. If she is gravid, she will lay within the next couple of weeks. If she isn't, you can prevent her from becoming gravid by separating the two geckos.

I would also recommend not handling her since you only got her a week ago. Handling can cause extra stress and cause her to not eat for even longer.

I've never heard of a male eating eggs before, so probably not. What you are seeing could be eggs or fatty deposits, both can shift around a bit in the body and be harder to see at times.

 

[J&M UNE]

I use to go food containers.and cut an extra hole for a water dish so it can't be tiped

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[J&M UNE]

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[travis21v4]

Okay awesome, I am actually using this and sand mix that I used for my monitors back in the day. I am going to be switching to paper just incase of impaction. So does this lay box go inside of the tank as well? Or is it more of a quarantine type set up , where u just put the female in it until she lays? Sorry for all the nub questions, honestly I am a tarantula guy . But luckily I use eco earth on every species of tarantulas that I own so this wont be a problem. I just love my animals so I want to make sure that I am doing everything correctly. Also, the hides in their cages right now, I have sphagnum moss to keep them moist because I heard something about their toes falling off ! But thank you for the help so far, you guys are awesome!

 

[Neon Aurora]

Yes, the lay box goes in the tank.

Your leopard geckos should have each 1 cool dry hide, 1 warm dry hide, and 1 moist hide. If you're housing them together, it's best to have 2 of each types of hides.

Sphagnum moss is okay sometimes, but I have seen cases where people's geckos have eaten pieces and become impacted. As for their toes falling if, this can happen if you do not provide a moist hide. The gecko gets shed stuck around its toes where it cuts off the circulation and causes them to fall off.