Almost two months no food but still healthy? Is this common?

[Snuffles379]

Hello all,

I cannot figure out what is going on with my Leo, he normally eats a lot less (and a lot less in general then normal geckos) in the winter but this is way less then normal so I figured I'd consult everyone on here to see if this is common among your geckos.

His enclosure is perfect, no heat or moisture issues, he looks as healthy as normal and has not visibly lost a lot (if any) weight, he is still active when I hold him, however, he has not eaten in almost two months. The only difference is in his bowel movement area, there is obviously less and often just urine, last night it was a bit more liquid then normal but that could be because I have occasionally feed him small amounts of Flukers Repta-aid which I received from the vet when he was sick about a year ago and stopped eating. I figured it would not hurt to give him small amounts (probably about four times now) just to make sure he's had something.

Last time I took him in the vet I saw said that eating issues were common, especially in older geckos and mine is currently around 14 but still I'm concerned as this is the longest he has ever gone without food. Has anyone else experienced this? He comes to the front of his cave like he is interested in food and I offer him a variety (crickets, wax worms, meal worms) but he dismisses them and goes back inside.

I'm going to be taking him into the vet probably at the end of next week just to get him checked up on and see if there is a big weight difference from his last visit (he is still an absolute healthy size, no small tail, I just worry there's a difference that I can't see). Is there anything I should have him checked for when I visit? I often worry he has some kind of parasite/sickness that the vet is not looking for.

Finally, do you guys think I should be giving him more Repa-aid or some kind of slurry? Or is this something that I shouldn't worry about unless he gets underweight?


I think I worry too much over him most of the time but it's so hard to tell if he's sick that I'd hate to just let something go that could be treated.

Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

 

[Tongue Flicker]

How old and big is he? Males are known to eat less than females. I have an eight inch male that would only eat 5 prey items within 2 weeks and still remain the same body mass

 

[Snuffles379]

How old and big is he? Males are known to eat less than females. I have an eight inch male that would only eat 5 prey items within 2 weeks and still remain the same body mass

He is 14 now and I'm not sure of his current exact weight. I tried to weigh him but I know my scale is a bit off, but it read 94.3, I think his largest was around 100 and he's gone down to the 80's before. He's a pretty good size, I plan on taking him out and giving him a little more repta-aid plus a bath tomorrow so I can measure him to give you an idea, I've never done that before.

It's good to know males eat less, he's the only leo I've ever had though so I'm not sure how he compares. In the last two years or so, 5-7 prey items per two weeks would be a good sized feeding for him and he's maintained his size on that as well. He's also had stints of hunger strikes (usually demanding wax worms and refusing to eat until he gets them) but he's never stopped for this long and he also has never refused wax worms and I offer them after crickets/meal worms every feeding. Part of me thinks he might just be board/disinterested with the food and if I could find something new to try he might show interest. However, he isn't fast any more so I have to feed him via tweezers and I can't find any different food options for him. I tried Dubia roaches and they were wayy to fast and the smallest were still a bit big, I also tried a small hornworm and he took an attempt but gave up because they have quite clingy "feet".

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Really, i always had the impression that dubias were either sedentary or just slow-moving lol. Dubias are way over priced here. Just check his weight if he's maintaning it and if he gets enough moisture. Remember they eat their shed every 2-3 weeks also so he's not totally famished

 

[DrCarrotTail]

My 10 year old male gecko eats about 10-15 mealworms a week (yes per week!) and maintains his fat 95g self just fine. Their metabolism slows down lots the older they get. I would weigh him once every other week or so and if he's not losing weight I would just feed him once a week and let him be

 

[Snuffles379]

Really, i always had the impression that dubias were either sedentary or just slow-moving lol. Dubias are way over priced here. Just check his weight if he's maintaning it and if he gets enough moisture. Remember they eat their shed every 2-3 weeks also so he's not totally famished

lol Noooo, I had hope that they would be because he needs me to tong feed him mostly everything (he also needs it to be alive and kicking to even care) but they were very very fast. Not only fast but also hard to hold with the tongs.

Thanks for the info! He gets quite a bit of moisture, I keep him at or above 60 humidity at all times because he has always had shedding problems. He does not eat his shed unfortunately, he used to when he was young but now that he is older he rarely gets any of it off at all, he will still stop eating the week before/during he sheds but he leaves all the shed in the enclosure he gets off and the rest I have to get off for him while bathing him.

 

[Snuffles379]

My 10 year old male gecko eats about 10-15 mealworms a week (yes per week!) and maintains his fat 95g self just fine. Their metabolism slows down lots the older they get. I would weigh him once every other week or so and if he's not losing weight I would just feed him once a week and let him be

10-14 a week would be wonderful!! I wish he would eat like that still, I don't think he's eaten over seven meal worms in one week for years. I will get a dedicated scale that I know is accurate to begin to weigh him with. My current issue is he is not eating at all, and I would love to do once a week feedings but I'm not really able to just feed him once a week. When he is eating he will eat one worm one day, the next take two more, then skip a day, and maybe have a cricket.
It worries me a bit that you're ten year old is around the same weight and eating 10-15 while he rarely eats five in a two week span, I wish there was more information available on their eating habits (or just information in general) about elder (or teenage and above) leopard geckos. Whenever I speak with people about issues, I get this the most from the vets, they just say "well he's old so he probably doesn't have long left." however, I've seen a couple sources that often say Leo's live twenty plus years. I'm thinking the standard for age is set really low among people (vets particularly) because of improper care so I worry that curable symptoms may be over looked because of his age. Hm, I also get the "it's just a lizard look" when I say things like that to people and vets. lol Which is silly because he's older then most dogs they see so I don't know why you wouldn't want to take care of them as if you would a larger pet.

 

[Ozy]

I also feed my leo Dubias by hand. Just grab them by their rear with the tongs. Ozy is a girl and only eats about 2-3 times a week now that she's all grown up.

 

[Snuffles379]

I have trouble getting Dubia's that are small enough for him to eat, the one reptile store in my area doesn't usually sell small amounts or certain sizes. I'm thinking about looking around on the internet and ordering some other food to try and intice him to eat, perhaps phoenix worms or butter worms, but I'm afraid of purchasing from a bad supplier.

Also, a short update: I took him to the vet yesterday and they said he still looks quite healthy but has lost ten grams from the last time he was in a year ago. He dropped from 101 to 91 grams. They provided me with antibiotics in case of parasites (I'm also bringing in a fecal once he provides one to get it checked for parasites) and with some more powdered food to give him until he eats.
I'm hoping this will get him back on track, I'd hate to see him loose any more weight.

 

[Snuffles379]

UPDATE:

He is becoming less receptive to the powdered food, I can hardly get him to eat .5ml of the repa aid at one time and it doesn't seem to be getting in his mouth really.
I've ordered Butterworms and Phoenix worms online, I expect them by the end of the week, I'm trying to find a food he is interested in. I took a fecal to the vet, not my reptile vet but a closer vet in order to have them process and fax the info to mine, and they lost my fecal somehow so now I'm waiting for another "deposit" so that I can make sure there is no parasite issue and if there is get him on meds to fix it.
Any information on other, non conventional (but still healthy) food options would be really appreciated. (as mentioned I've tried giant, super, and normal meal worms, wax worms, crickets, dubia roaches, and horn worm.)
Also any helpful tips on force feeding Leo's food would be great, before I could simply place liquid (with a syringe) on his mouth and he'd lick it but now he refuses completely and fights me opening his mouth to put some in. He is even causing his lip area to bleed a bit from fighting the feeding syringe.

 

[Snuffles379]

Update:

Another quick update, I'm still hoping someone might have some hidden insight on this topic as I'm coming up short everywhere else.
I've received butter worms as well as phoenix worms and he was uninterested in both. I've found a system to get some of the repa aid to him but I'm wondering if I should wait and allow him time without me holding him, I'm afraid that me holding him daily and every other day is causing him to be less tempted to eat still.
I'm still waiting on a fecal sample, he did go a small bit but instead going in his normal area he went in his hide so I did not find it within the 24 hours.
The vet offered to do bloodwork as well as xrays and turned them down at the time but I'm wondering when or if it would be a good idea to take him back for one or both of those. I have no idea what either could tell us about a reptile and I'd hate to stress him out for no reason.

Once again, any input on this is helpful.

 

[sausage]

if your worried it wouldnt hurt to have xray and a blood test. did you try the gecko slurry?

 

[Snuffles379]

if your worried it wouldnt hurt to have xray and a blood test. did you try the gecko slurry?

I am worried but I'm a bit more worried about doing tests unnecessarily, especially since they mentioned that there is a chance he would drop his tail while they take blood. That seems like it would be the worst case scenario right now with him going on three months with no solid food.

I haven't tried the slurry, I have been giving him repa aid that I mentioned which was recommended by the vet. I read up on the slurry when this problem first occurred and, though I definitely value all the opinions of the experienced gecko owners, I'm hesitant to give him something not vet approved at this point.

Good news is he provided a fecal sample last night and I was able to take it to the vet this morning, I'm hoping to hear the results tomorrow and get some helpful information on the issue. The fecal was completely runny though, I'm hoping this diarrhea is caused by him only ingesting the liquid repa aid and is not another symptom.

 

[Snuffles379]

Update:

No parasites were found in his fecal. I'm going to try and find a more accurate small scale online in order to keep an eye on his exact weight. The only thing I think I can do now is closely monitor his weight while continuing the hand feeding and take action if his weight drops to an unhealthy size. At that point I will get blood drawn and xrays as a last resort.
I'm just wondering if it is possible for him to live on this liquid diet, before the diet he was only eating up to five worms a week, I would think that this liquid probably has more nutrients then those few mealworm pupae and waxworms (which is all he was interested in eating).

Again any information or suggestions would be really appreciated.

 

[Phantom240]

I wouldn't worry about him so much, to be honest. One of my females hasn't eaten in two weeks, and the other is tong fed because she's so slow and has bad vision. As long as he isn't wasting away, then I would say he'll most likely be fine for a while til his appetite (what little appetite he had) returns.

 

[Snuffles379]

Thanks for the reassurance, I think that's the conclusion I've reached as well. He is definitely losing weight but he's still above average so I think I'll just weigh him, hand feed him once or twice a week and let him be unless his health degrades.

two or three weeks with no food isn't a big deal for me but it's just a bit nerve wracking having him go on three months without any appetite.

 

[Phantom240]

It's definitely odd, don't get me wrong, but from what you've described, it sounds like he's just not interested. I'm sure when he gets hungry enough, he'll indulge.