Housing a Leopard Gecko in Ohio in the winter

[brianwestchester]

My daughter got a leopard gecko this past summer. She is a very responsible 14 year old and did all the research and made all of the purchases herself. She housed him in a 10 gallon tank with an under tank heater. We put in an aquarium thermometer to monitor the air temperature, but I doubt that was very accurate. She was feeding him meal worms dusted in calcium powder. Unfortunately, he died last night.

A few weeks ago she noticed he stopped eating. He would kind of mouth at the mealworms but not seem to be interested in actually eating them. She did her own research and found out he might be hibernating. She stopped offering him food daily but he was not losing weight. Just acting really sluggish. Before we found out about hibernating, we thought he might be cold. We live in Ohio and her room is the coldest room in the house. We bought a supplemental light to go over the tank and she left that on all the time (a red light that supposedly would not disturb him in the darkness).

Last night she took him out because we were really concerned about his lack of activity and he had not eaten in quite some time. He was really, really sluggish. I noticed darkness in his belly which I am not thinking might have been an impaction. I had not examined him before so I have no idea how long that might have been there. We were really concerned about him, so we got a heating pad and put a towel on it and gently warmed him to see if we might be able to get him active enough to eat something. Sadly, he died while she was holding him.

I'm wondering if perhaps his habitat was too cold and that is what caused the impaction. Is an under tank heater sufficient for a gecko being kept in a fairly cold room? Is there a particular heating pad and/or thermometer or thermostat combo we can get to make sure that he is warm enough?

Thanks!
Brian

 

[acpart]

I'm sorry about the gecko. I'm in New England and it gets pretty cold here too. I feel that as long as the gecko has a warm hide and correct floor temperatures they should be OK if the ambient temperature is a reasonable indoor temperature for humans (I'm thinking low 60's at a minimum). If you're worried about heat, you could look into a ceramic heat emitter which is a radient fixture that screws into a clamp lamp.

I have a number of geckos that eat next to nothing in the winter. Some even stay on the cool side and sleep. For the most part, they do fine. I've also had geckos at different times of the year (summer as well as winter) just stop doing well and eventually die --not too often, but it's happened. So, it could be the heat and it could also be that the gecko for some reason was ill.

Aliza

 

[brianwestchester]

Thanks. I don't know if she will want to try again or not. The gecko only lived about five months. We felt we were doing everything right. I just want to be sure if she gets another one it is something like the room being too cold or the heater not being sufficient. We got a Zoo Med under tank heater AND added the light. I keep fish. We have heaters with thermostats. I'm surprised there aren't such heaters for reptiles.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

As Aliza said, if your gecko was kept in a room that was below normal room temperature, being too cold could have harmed him. I usually recommend additional over tank heat for geckos that are kept in rooms under 65 degrees. Under 60 degrees additional heat would be a must. However, heat is important but only one factor in their health and well being. If you fill out the following form and provide as much information about the probem as you can folks may be better able to help you figure out what happened. http://geckoforums.net/f130-health-medications/70912.htm

So sorry for you and your daughter's loss!

 

[brianwestchester]

Here are some more particulars. The room is not frigid. It's my daughter's bedroom. We keep the thermostat in the house around 68º. My guess is her room gets a little colder than that just because of where it is in the house.

About your leo:
- Sex- not sure.
- Age & Weight- got him in August. He was very small. So probably 5-6 months.
- How long have you owned your leo
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend)- ++++++++

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo- daily
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now- deceased
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe- started getting very sluggish a few weeks ago. We thought hibernation. Stopped eating. Refused food.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal)- normal looking but frequency slowed way down.
- When was the last time he/she went
C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on- stopped moving around as much and began refusing food. We thought he was hibernating even though we hadn't changed temperature in enclosure. Got a supplemental light. Nothing changed. After he passed away, I examined him and noticed blackness in his belly region (internal). Did some research and think it might have been gut impaction.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size- 10 gallon
- Type (ex. glass tank)- glass tank
- Type of substrate- reptile mat
- Hides, how many, what kind- a half log from the pet store. A plastic container with paper towel for moist hide.
B) Heating
- Heat source- Zoo Med Under Tank Heater and a red bulb that 's not supposed to bother them at night.
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side)- unknown
- Method of regulating heat source- none
- What are you using to measure your temps- we put in an aquarium thermometer that measures the air temp, but I doubt it's accurate. I was surprised the heater didn't come with a thermostat.
- Do you have any lights (describe)- see above
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females)- none
- Describe health, or previous problems- he was healthy and active until a few weeks ago.

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much)- mealworms exclusively- 4 or 5 a day
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect)- left on mat for him.
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands)- I think she used calcium powder on them sometimes, but not regularly.
- What are you gut loading food with- nothing.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

It's tough to say what happened to your guy without knowing some of the specifics of his environment. Leos need a warm spot around 90 degrees. If the ambient air temperature in the tank got this warm it was more than likely far too hot. I like ambient temps around 80-85 for my leos. If you had an unregulated heat mat (i.e. heat mat plugged directly into the wall) it may have been hot enough to burn. The heat light on top of an UTH that was too hot might have warmed the tank up too much and had ill effects. A probe thermometer or regular thermometer under a hide on the warm side or simply on the carpet on the warm side should help you better understand what the temperatures were in your tank. If it were me, I would be curious enough to set the tank up again and measure just to know if that could have been the cause or not. Geckos also need at least three hides in their tanks. One on the cool side, one on the warm side and one moist hide, usually best kept in the middle. It is best for the leo if these hides have only one small opening so they can be inside them 100% hidden and away from the light.

It also could have been something the gecko picked up at the pet store or was born with. Pet stores often sell very young geckos that don't handle stress well and have a hard time bouncing back from the stress of shipping and being on display and growing up in conditions that are less than ideal. Sometimes small issues they have become very big issues because of this stress.

I know you're saddened by this and may not try owning another leo but if you change your mind I would try to find a breeder locally or online that has a bigger juvenile leopard gecko. Usually by the time a gecko is about 25-35g they are well grown and are much better able to handle stress and handling than the little ones.

 

[brianwestchester]

It's tough to say what happened to your guy without knowing some of the specifics of his environment. Leos need a warm spot around 90 degrees. If the ambient air temperature in the tank got this warm it was more than likely far too hot. I like ambient temps around 80-85 for my leos. If you had an unregulated heat mat (i.e. heat mat plugged directly into the wall) it may have been hot enough to burn. The heat light on top of an UTH that was too hot might have warmed the tank up too much and had ill effects. A probe thermometer or regular thermometer under a hide on the warm side or simply on the carpet on the warm side should help you better understand what the temperatures were in your tank. If it were me, I would be curious enough to set the tank up again and measure just to know if that could have been the cause or not. Geckos also need at least three hides in their tanks. One on the cool side, one on the warm side and one moist hide, usually best kept in the middle. It is best for the leo if these hides have only one small opening so they can be inside them 100% hidden and away from the light.

It also could have been something the gecko picked up at the pet store or was born with. Pet stores often sell very young geckos that don't handle stress well and have a hard time bouncing back from the stress of shipping and being on display and growing up in conditions that are less than ideal. Sometimes small issues they have become very big issues because of this stress.

I know you're saddened by this and may not try owning another leo but if you change your mind I would try to find a breeder locally or online that has a bigger juvenile leopard gecko. Usually by the time a gecko is about 25-35g they are well grown and are much better able to handle stress and handling than the little ones.

Thanks all for your input. We bought the gecko at ++++++++ (knowing that is NOT the best place to buy animals). My daughter has since located a local place that specializes in reptiles. Should she decide to try again, we will purchase there. He was quite small when we got him, but he had grown quite a bit in the five months he lived.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Sometimes things happen with our pets that are out of our control to fix. There could have been an unknown internal defect that the gecko was born with, he could have gotten a disease that showed no outward sign or had an issue like kidney failure that may been more congenital or caused by something else you couldn't have done anything about. I would definitely try to find ways to more accurately measure temperature in your geckos environment but other than that it sounds like your set up was pretty well suited to his needs. I do a full once over inspection of my geckos at least once per week to make sure they have bright eyes, clear vents, no stuck shed and are maintaining their weight (especially for those that are not eating or breeding). The more that you know what they normally look and act like the easier it is to know when and if there is an issue since they can't tell us and they are experts at hiding symptoms when they are sick.

Best of luck if you decide to try again with another gecko!