Argh. Nothing seems to be going right.

[LizMarie]

I didn't know where to put this thread so I'm sorry if its in the wrong section.

At the end of January I made a thread about my gecko and how I was worried because she wasn't eating very much well since that time she's eaten like 5 mealies!!! I'm getting really worried now since its been almost two months and that doesn't seem normal. She's NOT a breeder, I thought she was ovulating before but all the signs seem to be gone now, and her enclosure seems be ok except of her temperature because my freaking Thermometer died and I went out to buy another one and I woke up today to see part of a 4 then I reset it and got "-00F", what does that mean? The thing cost $10 for a little yellow ZooMed Thermometer and its not even a week old. I tried turning down the heat a little since I have a rheostat I can't keep it constant so i thought it went above the maximum reading but I still get the same reading :main_angry:

Lana's Specs:
- 2years old in May.
- Not sure on her exact weight since I don't have a scale but she's not skinny by any means and still has fat in her tail even though my eye tells me that she's slimmed down a tad.
- Her droppings are teeny tiny and half the time they're just urates (i think thats how you spell it).
- Fairly active even though it has been toned down a little.
- Shedding as normal.

Tank Specs:
- 20gallon long tank
- UTH on one side that WAS being kept at 94F, but now I don't know.
- Ambient I would imagine would be my room temp that is 78-80.
- Four hides, which includes a humid hide with Coconut Fiber.
- Water dish
- Food Dish
- 2 Decorative Plastic plants
- Mealworms are dusted with Calcium Plus.
- Plain Calcium dish (which I've seen her licking)


On top of her not eating I have almost 1,000 mealies in the fridge waiting to be eaten before I start my roach colony, uggh.

I dunno everything just seems wrong! Any idea's? Words of wisdom? How do I get my thermometer working? Gecko eating?


Right as I'm typing this shes freaking out. She went into her cool side and she shaking around like a maniac that she moved her entire exo terra cave around 3-4inches. Okay the moving his her shedding got a little paranoid there, lol

 

[DarthGekko]

The UTH should be 90f at the hot end. Use a lamp dimmer from Lowe's or Home Depot to get the temps right. Also, some leo's slow down their eating during the winter month's. Throw a few dusted crickets in there (4-5) to see if it sparks a feeding response. You should monitor her weight. Most leo's don't lose too much weight during a cooling period but if you notice a dramatic weight loss then you may want to re-evaluate the situation. Hope this helps...

 

[Halley]

I’d buy a new thermostat or rheostat. You might just want to go ahead and invest the money and get a Helix. I’d also suggest bumping your temps up to 97, which may encourage eating.

And as suggest earlier you might want to try a more active prey item such as crickets as they generally help trigger the predator instinct a bit better than mealworms.

 

[Nigel4less]

I’d buy a new thermostat or rheostat. You might just want to go ahead and invest the money and get a Helix. I’d also suggest bumping your temps up to 97, which may encourage eating.

And as suggest earlier you might want to try a more active prey item such as crickets as they generally help trigger the predator instinct a bit better than mealworms.

Agreed! 95-97 is the way to go, ONLY if you have a proper thermostat managing it.... Meaning a High Quality one. If you are on a budget I would grab an ALIFE and set it 94 as they tend to fluctuate between 1.5-3 degrees.

 

[thestack510]

If your temps aren't right I would let the meal worms get to room temperature before you offer them to her. You don't want to drop her body temperature by feeding her cold meal worms... just a thought.

 

[DarthGekko]

Those temps are too high. It should be 90f on the hot spot where they lay. My racks are controlled by Helix DBS-1000's and I heat the probe to 98f but the hot spot on the floor of their tubs is 90F. If the floor temp is 94-97 it is too hot for your leo's, period. You can use a regular thermometer or a temp gun to check the temps. I reccomend a temp gun for quicker accuracy. You can get them at lllreptile.com for $25.

 

[LizMarie]

Thanks DarthGecko but I've done my research and I've talked to numerous breeders on this site and 90F just doesn't cut it. If anything when I bumped her temps up last year she was brighter, more active and had a harder appetite. I suggest you speak to Gregg M he seems to love to talke about Hot Spots and Ambient Temps

Right now I dunno what happened I'm going to order a Thermostat and see if that take that thermometer because it's just showing me half a 4 once again argh! That's for the thought Ken but at the beginning of the week I take out the mealworms I'm planning to feed her so they are eating that entire week and are nice room temp. She seems interested like she'll stalk it and lick them but then just walks away.

 

[LizMarie]

Agreed! 95-97 is the way to go, ONLY if you have a proper thermostat managing it.... Meaning a High Quality one. If you are on a budget I would grab an ALIFE and set it 94 as they tend to fluctuate between 1.5-3 degrees.

Do you know where I can get an ALIFE?

I was looking at the one on BigAppleHerps BAH 1000SC
http://www.bigappleherp.com/BAH-1000-Thermostat?sc=2&category=15

 

[Kitsune]

Those temps are too high. It should be 90f on the hot spot where they lay. My racks are controlled by Helix DBS-1000's and I heat the probe to 98f but the hot spot on the floor of their tubs is 90F. If the floor temp is 94-97 it is too hot for your leo's, period. You can use a regular thermometer or a temp gun to check the temps. I reccomend a temp gun for quicker accuracy. You can get them at lllreptile.com for $25.

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=35652

Also, your body temperature is 98.6.. So 97 is definitely not too hot for leos. =)

 

[DLS Reptile]

Thanks DarthGecko but I've done my research and I've talked to numerous breeders on this site and 90F just doesn't cut it. If anything when I bumped her temps up last year she was brighter, more active and had a harder appetite. I suggest you speak to Gregg M he seems to love to talke about Hot Spots and Ambient Temps

Right now I dunno what happened I'm going to order a Thermostat and see if that take that thermometer because it's just showing me half a 4 once again argh! That's for the thought Ken but at the beginning of the week I take out the mealworms I'm planning to feed her so they are eating that entire week and are nice room temp. She seems interested like she'll stalk it and lick them but then just walks away.

I have kept my geckos on a temp of 88-90 deg warm side 72-74 cold side in a rack system for 10 years. I have never had a problem with feeding and top rate growth. I personally do not use temps in the mid to hi 90's. It all boils down to what works for you...

 

[justindh1]

Geckos may live in the hot desert but as we all know they are nocturnal. They get underground when its hot and its usually cooler and higher humidity levels. As long as you have a good gradient of temps in your tank you'll be fine with 90-97 degrees. Cold blooded animals adjust their temps the way they need to so as long as your temps vary from 75-80 dgrees to 90-95 you'll be fine.

 

[clegault]

i found my male leos werent eating because the UTH was too hot, it was 97 degrees and they refused to eat, when i dropped it down in temp to around 88-90ish they were much more happy and now eat without any problems... my female will eat anytime at any temp...

 

[DarthGekko]

It's all what works for you. I do agree with Dave. You will have optimal growth at 90f and the Leopard Gecko in question is currently not eating so why leave anything to chance right? Also correct temps are explained in the Herptoculture of Leopard Geckos by Ron Tremper. You may want to read that book.....

 

[Ehatcher]

I was having problems with my Leos not eating. I had them under a light fixture, but i noticed tha they became lethargic. Now I have 3 separate tanks with UTH's on every one of the cages. I elected to buy the smaller UTH's for each tank. I layer papertowel thicker over the uth to insulate the heat out a small bit. The temperatures read on average 97-98*. Some will say this is to hot, but the geckos spend maybe 5-10minutes in the hide over top of the UTH, they then go into a hide that is about 4 inches away from the UTH. Ill see them make treks every 45mins to an hour or so back to the hot hide and rest in there for 5-10 mintues and then come back out and run around the tanks. They are better eaters, they spend less time basking and more time exploring now, their feces is consistant now.

Im a firm believer that my method is working. The geckos are tons more active, My female has went from 36 grams to 51 grams in just over a month. I couldnt get her to gain ANY weight. I can't give them crickets fast enough! I went from them only eating 2 or 3 ever 2-3 days, to them finally eating 12-15 every other day.

Im a firm believer that hotter is better (with in reason!)

 

[acpart]

In my opinion, the question to ask about your gecko not eating is whether the reason is husbandry, illness or time of the year, so I guess you have to look at all 3. People have given advice (conflicting, though) about husbandry, and a vet visit may take care of illness. If there's a possibility that it's time of year and you want to see if you can jump start her eating, you could try hand feeding --actually holding her and pushing the feeders against her mouth. Some people will say that this destroys the hunting reflex and you'll be stuck doing this forever. I have one female that I hand fed this way for 2 years until she finally began to hunt on her own. This year I had a male AFT who came out of brumation not eating. I would always give him the chance to eat on his own, but would hold him and feed him this way if he didn't eat. It took nearly 2 months, but now he's eating on his own.

ALiza

 

[Libby15]

I have a small UTH and a heat bulb on the warm side.

Probably a month ago I moved the heat bulb to the other side of the tank when I put in a second story type thing on the right side of the tank, the cool side. I thought maybe since it is warmer outside, I could do this. I guess not.

Hermalina stopped eating about a week later. Didn't eat for probably two weeks. I moved the second story out and moved the heat bulb back to the warm side. I was worried the heat bulb was drying her skin and causing her sheds to be more difficult I had good intentions, but it backfired.

Now it could be she was ovulating, but I really think it was because I messed with her temps. She is back at 96 on the floor and much happier.