About your leo:
- Sex: Female
- Age & Weight: ~3.5 years, don't have a scale but she's a pretty big girl
- How long have you owned your leo: 3 years
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): Pet Store
A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: I've been at college but my sister handled her about once a week.
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now: Acts completely normal, she's pretty lazy
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe: No.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): very small and yellowish or just normal looking but very small and flat
- When was the last time he/she went: a few days ago
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on
Nova hasn't really eaten normally since before last winter. I've been away at college and my family has been caring for her. I got her to eat when I came home for winter break, but it takes a lot of work to get her to eat (tong feeding, placing them in front of her and trying to make them move) and most of the time she just ignores them and walks away. After not really eating for a few months, she seemed to be at normal weight, even when I came home for spring break. She was shedding properly, always been a good shedder, so I knew she was at least eating that. Recently though, my parents have told me that she has had trouble shedding and just been leaving the shed around her cage so that had me worried. I am now home for summer and her tail has gotten a lot thinner.
I don't think my parents were keeping her moist hide properly and so I believe that's where the shedding problems came from. Also, when I got home, I found her hot side to be at an alarming 112 degrees F. I immediately put more paper towels to keep the heat down and I added moist cocoa fiber to help with shedding. She seems to be a lot happier with the higher humidity.
I am going to take her to the vet as soon as I can. I know a lot of times geckos go through brumation during the winter because of the shortened days even if the heat is the same. I know she had a fat tail and I didn't want to freak out too quickly but now I feel it's gone on too long. My main question though is about aestivation. While browsing through other threads looking for answers, I found an article mentioning aestivation and maybe the high heat she has been experiencing has caused her to not eat. I've tried crickets and she doesn't look at them either. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with aestivation and if the animal has recovered properly and how you got them to continue eating. I really don't want to lose her she was my first reptile and she is just the perfect pet. She really means a lot to me and I don't want her to die from my own neglect.
Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: 10 gallon Tank
- Type (ex. glass tank) glass
- Type of substrate: paper towel, tile, and now moist cocoa fiber to cool the hot side and help with shedding
- Hides, how many, what kind: 4 Hides. Warm, 2 cool, humid.
B) Heating
- Heat source: UTH with controlled temp probe.
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): 88F-94F hot, 70F cool. 20%-55% Humidity.
- Method of regulating heat source: Temp controlled monitor with probe.
- What are you using to measure your temps: Probe and digital thermometer.
- Do you have any lights (describe): Just natural light through window from across the room
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): 0
- Describe health, or previous problems: she has always maintained a healthy weight and even had calcium deposits in her armpits for a while
Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much): mealworms (the only thing she'll eat) and we've tried to get her to eat once a week and sometimes left mealworms in a bowl in her tank
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect): left in dish, tweezers, put on a paper towel and poked, we've tried everything
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) Repashy calcium, we switch off between D3 and without D3
- What are you gut loading food with: Carrots
Thanks in advance for any help!
Laura
- Sex: Female
- Age & Weight: ~3.5 years, don't have a scale but she's a pretty big girl
- How long have you owned your leo: 3 years
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend): Pet Store
A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo: I've been at college but my sister handled her about once a week.
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now: Acts completely normal, she's pretty lazy
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe: No.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal): very small and yellowish or just normal looking but very small and flat
- When was the last time he/she went: a few days ago
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on
Nova hasn't really eaten normally since before last winter. I've been away at college and my family has been caring for her. I got her to eat when I came home for winter break, but it takes a lot of work to get her to eat (tong feeding, placing them in front of her and trying to make them move) and most of the time she just ignores them and walks away. After not really eating for a few months, she seemed to be at normal weight, even when I came home for spring break. She was shedding properly, always been a good shedder, so I knew she was at least eating that. Recently though, my parents have told me that she has had trouble shedding and just been leaving the shed around her cage so that had me worried. I am now home for summer and her tail has gotten a lot thinner.
I don't think my parents were keeping her moist hide properly and so I believe that's where the shedding problems came from. Also, when I got home, I found her hot side to be at an alarming 112 degrees F. I immediately put more paper towels to keep the heat down and I added moist cocoa fiber to help with shedding. She seems to be a lot happier with the higher humidity.
I am going to take her to the vet as soon as I can. I know a lot of times geckos go through brumation during the winter because of the shortened days even if the heat is the same. I know she had a fat tail and I didn't want to freak out too quickly but now I feel it's gone on too long. My main question though is about aestivation. While browsing through other threads looking for answers, I found an article mentioning aestivation and maybe the high heat she has been experiencing has caused her to not eat. I've tried crickets and she doesn't look at them either. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with aestivation and if the animal has recovered properly and how you got them to continue eating. I really don't want to lose her she was my first reptile and she is just the perfect pet. She really means a lot to me and I don't want her to die from my own neglect.
Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size: 10 gallon Tank
- Type (ex. glass tank) glass
- Type of substrate: paper towel, tile, and now moist cocoa fiber to cool the hot side and help with shedding
- Hides, how many, what kind: 4 Hides. Warm, 2 cool, humid.
B) Heating
- Heat source: UTH with controlled temp probe.
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side): 88F-94F hot, 70F cool. 20%-55% Humidity.
- Method of regulating heat source: Temp controlled monitor with probe.
- What are you using to measure your temps: Probe and digital thermometer.
- Do you have any lights (describe): Just natural light through window from across the room
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females): 0
- Describe health, or previous problems: she has always maintained a healthy weight and even had calcium deposits in her armpits for a while
Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much): mealworms (the only thing she'll eat) and we've tried to get her to eat once a week and sometimes left mealworms in a bowl in her tank
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect): left in dish, tweezers, put on a paper towel and poked, we've tried everything
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands) Repashy calcium, we switch off between D3 and without D3
- What are you gut loading food with: Carrots
Thanks in advance for any help!
Laura
