Leopard Gecko help

[vinzyangel]

My large female Sunshine has been losing wieght and not defecating much. I put her in a new cage by herself and she ate some and she went. It looks ... wierd. I was wondering if anyone knew what was up?

here is a link to a pic

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy143/vinnysjunk/sunshinepoo.jpg

 

[Leo The Lizard]

looks like alot of dried urine although i may be wrong

 

[Pinky81]

If you could fill this out it may help us with the issue.



About your leo:
- Sex
- Age & Weight
- 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
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.
B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal)
- When was the last time he/she went
C) Problem
- Please briefly descrive the problem and how long it has been going on

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size
- Type (ex. glass tank)
- Type of substrate
- Hides, how many, what kind
B) Heating
- Heat source
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side)
- Method of regulating heat source
- What are you using to measure your temps
- Do you have any lights (describe)
C) Cage mates
- How many (males, females)
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much)
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect)
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands)
- What are you gut loading food with

 

[vinzyangel]

About your leo:
- female
- 8-9 months unsure about weight
- since november last year
- Enigmatic Geckos

A) Health/History
- daily handleing
- Shes not as aggressive, but i think thats due to the handleing. Shes still fiesty
- None
B) Fecals
- light colored, not brown
- earlier today
C) Problem
- i had her and another female in a 20 gal. tank and on the green carpet stuff. I had a heat light on as well as the undertank heater. she refused to eat so i removed all lights and put her on softer, extremely fine coconut bark and she finally started eating. this is her first poop since she was, apparently, too hot

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- 10 gal tank
- Type (ex. glass tank) glass tank
- very fine coconut bark, i try to pack it down (she seems to like this substrate more than that carpet and moves around more
- 1 humid hide, going out friday to buy another small one for her
B) Heating
- UTH
- electric themometer needs batterys but by tough id say a nice toasty 80 at least, really nice and warm
- not sure i know how to regulate it
- i was using small themometers that stick on the side of the tank but i switched tanks. trying to get batteries for my electric ones
- no lights. they were getting too hot and not eating
C) Cage mates
- alone
- other than the not eating when she was too hot, shes been in excellent health

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- i was feeding 6 smallish crickets once a day but ive broken it into two feedings, she seems to prefer this better
- left in tank alive (but i check on them periodically)
B) Supplements (describe how often)
- reptocal calcium on the crickets
- raw potato and the yellow flukers gut load

 

[Pinky81]

I would switch her to papertowel. no matter how packed down she may be ingesting some fo the substrate. Also its VERY difficult for your UTH to get the proper heat to your leo's belly...80degrees is WAY too cold! your hot side should be 90-95degrees at all times and cool side whatever your room temp is. you need to get a temp probe on the floor. If she is eating at this point she may not be digesting it due to your temps. thus sometimes the food comes out undigested or sits inside her...and instead of poop your just seeing the uriates.

Also 10gal is too small for two Leos especially if only one hide. She should have one hide on the hot side, one on the cool side...and one that is a moist hide. Also that coconut retains moisture so your creating a awesome breeding ground for bacteria and fungus.

Hope this helps

 

[vinzyangel]

Thanks. I have the geckos in seperate tanks. When I had her at those temps she refused to eat and sat in her water bowl all the time

 

[Pinky81]

These guys are from hot arid deserts...it wasn't those temps that were causing your Leo to lay in her water bowl. Try the set up above with the correct amount of hides and a moist hide, using a digital probe thermo over the hot side...keeping temps 90-95. there's no telling why she was hanging out in her bowl..some leos like the water. Also could be the only place this leo felt safe around the cage mate. Like I said try this set up, and give her a couple of weeks to settle in.

EDIT: from your picture also she is VERY skinny! Im going to change what I said to you definitly need to change her setup and keep her seperate from your other leo. Either she's not eating as much as you think or she's not digesting...probably both!

 

[vinzyangel]

I know that the smaller one is a rather aggressive eater and will eat everything in the cage, which is why i seperated them. Friday I can get new things to go in the cage.

 

[Pinky81]

No worries..don't go out and spend money...empty your tank put down paper towel...and use whatever you got in the house. Most people have those toss away gladwares...you cut a hole in it for your leo to go into and ta da instant hide!...at most get rid of the coconut and put down papertowel so your little one can heat up...you could even use cardboard for the next couple of days as a hide...look around your house and get creative

 

[vinzyangel]

awesome thanks

 

[Pinky81]

Here are a couple of my hides! the first one is Bonnies egg laying box so your seeing the egg laying substrate..but if you flip that over and use no bottom its a hot hide or cool hide. and then second pic is of my tank before i got rid of my wood chip substrate as I had the same issue as you..heat wasn't transferring and it was a good medium for bacteria and fungus. but that little tupperware has a door cut in it and sphagnum moss for the moist hide...works great!

Thats the kinda temp probe you should have and have it laying on the tank floor. This was just after I moved the chips so you can see the temp was too low.

 

[vinzyangel]

I put some old hides in the cages. I have humid hides with paper towels in them i wet daily. they seem to love to lay in there. I need to get more lights and heat lamps maybe but i am wary of putting one on her, she gets kind of lethargic in real hot temps

 

[vinzyangel]

Just an update, she expired a while back. I'm quite angry, because the whole time, I had been trying to contact the breeder for help and never got a thing back.