My Leopard Gecko has never eaten - long post

[GeckoHut]

Well in the winter it is 95 but now it is summer so it is down to 90 but if you ask OhioGecko he will tell ya 95 is whear it is suppose to be at lol and my girls have thier cool end at 70 so they have no problems with thier temps in thier cage.

I wasn't refering to you Holly but KD. If that is what works for you keep doing it. I personally don't keep my temps that high ever, even in winter. All 50+ geckos of mine will avoid temps that hot, so my observation is that those temps are too high. It is all relevent to what the gecko wants and not us, we don't live in there lol....

 

[KDFreder]

The Photos

Well I just looked at the photo of her when I first got her. Her tail was huge. Now I'm even more depressed. Yep, you can easily tell she has not eaten one thing from then to now. So what that tells me is she was doing better in a small tank at a chain pet store on sand with no UTH under a regular overhead light all day with several other leopard geckos there. I don't get it.
First photo is how she looked when I first got her.
Second photo is how she looks now. Sleeping in back of tank on top of paper towel directly over the UTH. It's also nighttime when she should be out and about, but she sleeps most of the time, day or night anyway. The reason it looks bright is because of the camera flash. It's dark with just the red light on really.
Third photo is the tank layout. It looks bright because of the camera flash.
Fourth photo is without the flash and how it looks with red light on. The UTH is on the right side of tank. Right now she is sleeping on top of the UTH on the floor, behind the tree hide - picture #2. It's 11:14 pm, and the digital thermometer shows temp right where she is at is 91.1.

 

[KDFreder]

She's up now...just looked at tank, and she's decided to get up and about suddenly at 11:23. I'll see if I can get a pic...

 

[KDFreder]

She's up

Here she is. She's up, but not doing anything; hanging out on plant, near food, just like last night.

 

[leonewbie]

At this point, if upping the temps for a while didn't work, then i would take her to a vet, she more than likely is sick with something, and often when leos completely lose appetite it indicates something like parasites or crypto. It is my personal opinion that the temps need to be higher, but many keep their leos on lower temps that don't exceed 91, i keep all of mine at about 94, like i mentioned with a UTH and a thermostat that regulates the amount of heat (you could try buying one to increase the temps w/o the lamp as opposed to buying a new UTH or tank) Light of any kind tend to irritate some leos, which is why UTH's are good, as well as heat emitters (no light, just heat) Update us

 

[GeckoGathering]

Running Her Away

A couple things to clarify: I do use the red night/heat bulb on all the time. It's over the side of the tank w/ the UTH. I think the red bulb is just a 60 watt. It's on and hot right now, so I'd have to turn it off and check it. I can't find the box it came in. I do have another red heat lamp, at 100w. I can switch to it to get things hotter and see how that goes.

IF your UTH is sized for the 20 gal. and especially if it is a 20 gal. long.....
It is only 12 inches high.
A 60 watt bulb on all the time is running her OFF the belly heat side
she needs to adjust her temp and have an urge to eat.
Plus you are heating up the cool side too.
Get rid of the overhead light.
She does not need it.
She needs to ADJUST her temp. UTH should do it OK.
If you want a light to view her, go to a 13 Watt gas bulb (little heat)
That's why she is staying on the cold side.
Lose that hot bulb and she will probably eat.
Take care. HJ​

 

[GeckoHut]

Honestly the best help for your leo is the vet. It really sounds like there may be an uderlying cause to all of this. Or she could be lonely idk, but action is needed and nobody here can run tests from their comps. so you need to see a vet. If you need help finding one, there is a list here on GF.

 

[KDFreder]

Okay, well I did buy a repti-temp rheostat, with manual control for low, med, or high. I originally got it for the day bulb so I could turn it down, before I read more about not needing the day bulb at all. I did not hook it up to the UTH, though, even though it will work with it. Forgive my ignorance, but if I hook the UTH up to the rheostat and turn the rheostat up to med or high, will it take the UTH above what it is already heating at? Will it increase the wattage? I was thinking it might turn it up and down, not higher than it normally is set to go. But I don't know. I can hook it up right now, but if it doesn't take it hotter than it is already, than what good is it? Or if I turn the rheostat to high, will it take the UTH to a hotter temp than it is already getting?

 

[KDFreder]

Tank is not a 20gallon long. It is a high - it was originally a fish aquarium.

Also, she is not staying more on the cool side now. She only was when I was using the day bulb last month to bring up temps. which I don't have on the tank now. She only has a 60w red bulb on now. Her tank is not hot if the temp is between 88-91 these days...especially if people are saying to bring up temps.

The last couple days she has been sleeping directly on top of the UTH. The pic you see of her lying on the paper towels is directly over the UTH.

 

[GeckoGathering]

TOO HOT ALL OVER

Okay, well I did buy a repti-temp rheostat, with manual control for low, med, or high. I originally got it for the day bulb so I could turn it down, before I read more about not needing the day bulb at all. I did not hook it up to the UTH, though, even though it will work with it. Forgive my ignorance, but if I hook the UTH up to the rheostat and turn the rheostat up to med or high, will it take the UTH above what it is already heating at? Will it increase the wattage? I was thinking it might turn it up and down, not higher than it normally is set to go. But I don't know. I can hook it up right now, but if it doesn't take it hotter than it is already, than what good is it? Or if I turn the rheostat to high, will it take the UTH to a hotter temp than it is already getting?

WOW!
You are certainly going in the wrong direction.
Suggest a second thermometer reading to make sure it is working.
Also a reading to assure the UTH is working.
She has enough heat if the UTH is OK.
Lose the overhead, get your money back on the rheostat.
You need to let her ADJUST her temp.
Having it HOT HOT HOT is not why she was OK at the Pet shop.
You have Too much heat across the whole tank if the UTH is OK.
Believe me. Its not a guess.
She is either sick.
Take a stool in.
Or you are cooking her if the heat sources are working.
Sorry about being so blunt, but its true.
You heard the last from me so you can relax.
Hope she makes it.
Take care. HJ​

 

[KDFreder]

I plugged in the UTH to the rheostat and the temp has already gone down from 91.1 to 87.5, and I turned the rheostat all the way to high. So I don't know how that is supposed to work.

 

[Ehatcher]

try force feeding with some sort of liquid food, be it rept-aid or a mixture of something else. I Had a female Leo get extremely malnourished and this seemed to help her and save her life.

Also put your temps up to around 95-97 and see what happens. Also try taking some stuff out of her tank. Leave her moist hide, a warm hide and a hide on the cool side, calcium and water dish, Thats it. Do not handle her for a couple days.

The reason she was fat at the chain store is because probably a week or 2 before you bought her, she was sitting in a tub in a rack with proper heat and was eating healthy, before she was sold wholesale to the store.

 

[KDFreder]

Geckogathering,

I'm sorry; I don't understand you telling me that she is cooking. She has been sleeping directly on top of the under tank heater for 2 days. And most people are telling me to turn my heat up from 87-88 to 94.

So I have several people telling me she is way too cold and you are telling me I am cooking her.

what?

 

[Ehatcher]

my probe for my UTH constantly reads 96-97 degrees in both of my tanks. I havent had ANY problems.

 

[KDFreder]

Well UTH temp keeps going down while being plugged into the rheostat. Thinking it's not working like I thought it would. Guess I will just plug UTH back into the wall.

 

[GeckoHut]

DON'T force feed the leo and 97* IS TOO HOT!!!!! You really need to go to the vet!! This post can no longer help you, we have told you everything there is about what could be wrong. If things do not look up by say tom-thur. then a vet visit is in order. We aren't doctors and we can't fix medical issues with some temp. and husbandry tips. Do the right thing and take her to the vet, even leos need to go to the dr's occasionally.

 

[Ehatcher]

so force feeding my gecko who hadnt eaten in almost 2 months, and now she magically has put on over 30 grams in the next 3... so Im wrong? lol I think not.

There are NUMEROUS big name breeders on here that have there thermostats set at 95-97 degrees.

also, Temp and husbandry tips helped my female.

 

[KDFreder]

okay then, sorry to bother everyone since 'this post can no longer help me'.

 

[Ehatcher]

don't give up hope. These tips that we are giving you can and will help you.
Force feeding will not hurt the gecko. I repeat it will NOT hurt the gecko. Here are my pictures for PROOF that it has the potential to help.

before... 1 year and 1 month old, went off feed for almost 2 months for unknown reason.

EXACTLY 1 month after i had force fed her and got her use to eating again, she was taking prey Items like no other. She had put on 23 grams.

Here she is about 2 months later after force feeding her and keeping her basking temps at 96 to 97 degrees and religiously feeding superworms. 69 grams

For the whole temperature argument, Gregg M summed it up the best and this post was the reason for me upping my temperatures. Not only are my geckos more active, they eat better and their colors are better.

Like with most reptiles, your ambient air temp is just as important as your basking spot temps... In some cases it is almost more important...

Your gecko should not be spending all of its time on a hot spot...
The whole belly heat thing is rediculous and it is false to say that they need belly heat... Half of my racks are back heated... Guess what??? No belly heat...

Here are some facts for you...
"Belly heat" does not aid in digestion... Core temperature does...
At rest a reptiles core temp should be between 85 and 87 degrees... They should not be spending too much time basking... You want your basking temps to be pretty hot... No lower than the mid 90's... This way your leo will bask for a very short period of time in order to get their core temp up...

Basking for long periods of time on seemingly low temps can cause many problems including burns...

Your ambient air temps will help your leo maintain their core temp without having to bask constantly... Your cool side and ambient air temps should not be any lower than 80 degrees... It would be better if they were in the low to mid 80's...

Please, do not spread false info, especially to new keepers... Ambient air temp is very important to most, if not all reptiles...

 

[GeckoHut]

KD I am truly sorry I didn't mean for it to come off like that, but this post is going nowhere but round and round in circles. If your dog wasn't eating you wait two months before you took him to the vet? I don't think you would, so why are you trying to solve this problem yourself, it is obviously a medical issue? And yes force feeding is wrong right now it is for AFTER you know what is wrong. Force feeding a leo with a bacterial infection, parasites, or crypto can actually make the problem even worse. Just because your leo has gained weight doesn't mean the underlying cause of it isn't still there. What breeders have their temps at 97*F I would like to know? I don't think there are any out there?? So again I'm sorry for sounding like a jerk but everyone thinks ohh its a leo I'll wait 6 months before I try to get help. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!