Encouraging a LG to eat? (2)

[ballpythoncrazy]

This is my second time posting this, but I posted it in the feeding/feeders section and no one has replied. I figured maybe I posted it in the wrong spot, so I thought I'd post it here.

I have a baby leopard gecko that I got on November 29th, so I've had her for about a month and a half (almost?). My issue is that she's not eating too much. She eats about 5 small meal worms a week, even though she has fresh meal worms in her dish every night. I know that she knows there's food, and where it is, but she's just not interested in it I guess. A few days ago I dropped a small cricket in front of her, and she chased it down, and would LICK it, and then she would get startled when it ran away. And this went on for about 5 minutes until she got bored of it and went back to sleep. Today I tried putting a meal worm directly in front of her and she looked at it, and followed it with her eyes, but didn't actually get up and didn't eat it. She's only lost 1 gram since I've gotten her so I'm not too worried. I'm wondering if it's because it's winter? I know geckos can eat less when its winter but I don't know if it's normal for her to be eating so little. Right now she only has a heat pad, and our house is always 73 degrees. Should I put a heat lamp over her tank to raise the ambient air temps? Just wondering how I can encourage her to eat. Thanks!


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[Neon Aurora]

First, how are you measuring your temperatures? The best way is to use a digital thermometer with a probe and tape the probe to the floor over the heat pad. Leopard geckos need belly heat, so air temperatures aren't super relevant. This is because they are active at night, when the rocks are still sun warmed, but the sun is not heating them from above. The floor temperature on the hot spot should be 90 F. If it's not warm enough, than they can have trouble digesting their food and their metabolism will slow.

Next, parasites are another common problem that causes geckos not to eat. This may not be the problem, because your gecko sounds active and like she takes an interest in food at least. Leos who have parasites also tend to lose weight very quickly. That isn't a guarantee, though. They can pick up parasites at any time from store-bought feeders, so it's always something to watch out for, especially if they stop eating.

Also, how often do you handle her? Did you give her a couple weeks when you first got her to totally leave her alone and let her settle? They can get stressed in new environments and with too much interaction.

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

First, how are you measuring your temperatures? The best way is to use a digital thermometer with a probe and tape the probe to the floor over the heat pad. Leopard geckos need belly heat, so air temperatures aren't super relevant. This is because they are active at night, when the rocks are still sun warmed, but the sun is not heating them from above. The floor temperature on the hot spot should be 90 F. If it's not warm enough, than they can have trouble digesting their food and their metabolism will slow.

Next, parasites are another common problem that causes geckos not to eat. This may not be the problem, because your gecko sounds active and like she takes an interest in food at least. Leos who have parasites also tend to lose weight very quickly. That isn't a guarantee, though. They can pick up parasites at any time from store-bought feeders, so it's always something to watch out for, especially if they stop eating.

Also, how often do you handle her? Did you give her a couple weeks when you first got her to totally leave her alone and let her settle? They can get stressed in new environments and with too much interaction.

I have a thermostat between the heat pad and tank, and the thermostat is set at 90 degrees. Then I use my temp gun to check the temps every few hours. It usually floats around at 89-91 degrees.

I was considering parasites but from how they're described that didn't sound like the issue, but I may get it checked anyways.

I have barely been handling her. I hold her maybe once a week for a few minutes, usually to clean out her tank. Otherwise she only gets bothered when I'm checking her temps, giving her fresh water, food, calcium, etc. things were a bit hectic when I first got her though. My snake had mites so I was moving and rearranging tanks to other rooms. Then I moved her from her tank to a smaller tub, treated the tank she was in for mites, and a few days later I put her back. She never had mites, nor did any of my other lizards. It only effected my snakes. But things were busy and unorganized for the first week or so when she first got here, so it may have stressed her out. But since then I've put her in a room that no one but me goes in, and I only go in a few a few times a day.


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[Neon Aurora]

Okay, sounds like you're on the right track. I've had (actually, have one right now) leo that takes a long time to adjust properly and start eating. For these ones, I find that the best way to get them to pull the legs off (well, not really pull. They have a sort of quick release above the knee joint and if you miss it, you can pull them in half) of 1-2 crickets and put those in there (undusted to start with to encourage eating because I've found sometimes the dusting will put them off) with a bit of carrot or whatever. I do this at night before I go to bed and check on them in the morning. If they aren't eaten, I take them out. But I feel that the darkness and quiet and being totally undisturbed helps them eat. I've had less success with mealworms in the beginning, but have been able to change over to them after they are eating crickets well.

Depending on where you got the gecko, getting a fecal may be a good idea. I had a Tegu that had parasites, but by the time he started showing symptoms it was too late. He stopped eating and I didn't think much of it, and it went on so I got him help, but he was already severely infested.

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

I'll definitely try the cricket trick and most likely get a fecal test if I can find a good vet. Do you know how much a fecal tests costs?


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[DrCarrotTail]

How big is she? Some of my gals slow down eating for a while when they get over 25g. They barely seem to eat but they still gain weight very gradually for a few grams and then take off again or stay on the smaller side depending on the line they're from. I don't think a heat lamp would be the answer but if you have her in a tank maybe putting a background over 1-3 sides would help her feel more secure. Also I'd make sure she has some small tight dark hides to feel safe in. I usually recommend people make hides out of food boxes like Rice-A-Roni or Mac and Cheese and increase the size as the leo grows since there aren't very many size-appropriate hides you can buy out there.

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

How big is she? Some of my gals slow down eating for a while when they get over 25g. They barely seem to eat but they still gain weight very gradually for a few grams and then take off again or stay on the smaller side depending on the line they're from. I don't think a heat lamp would be the answer but if you have her in a tank maybe putting a background over 1-3 sides would help her feel more secure. Also I'd make sure she has some small tight dark hides to feel safe in. I usually recommend people make hides out of food boxes like Rice-A-Roni or Mac and Cheese and increase the size as the leo grows since there aren't very many size-appropriate hides you can buy out there.

She's still pretty small. She was 17 grams when I got her almost 2 months ago, and she's only lost 1 gram. So obviously she's 16 grams currently

I was considering moving her from the tank to a small tub to help her feel more secure, but I'll also buy her some smaller hides. She has hides right now but they're pretty big for her size. They aren't really "tight".


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[DrCarrotTail]

With babies I get in I usually quarantine them in a 6qt bin that's inside a 10 gallon (half over the heat pad). I've found that many of mine that have been raised in racks are totally scared to death and overwhelmed in 10 gallon tanks and eat much better once they're in a smaller environment. I might try that and if she still isn't eating after a week or two or if she loses another gram I'd start to really worry.

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

Ok thanks


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