Overly Lethargic Gecko

[PiPette3]

Hi everyone

I've been reading threads for a week, but this is my first post!

I'm concerned about my female leo. We brought her home almost 3 weeks ago and she was doing great. Good appetite (not picky! We started her on crickets then switched to mealies immediately and have now transitioned to superworms in the past 3 days). But for 2 days now she's been incredibly lethargic. She slept through yesterday all 24 hours, only raising her head every once in awhile to see what was going on. Saturday, we fed her 4 superworms. Sunday she refused to eat. Today, we got her to eat 3, but she wasn't really interested in them. She also kind of blinks her eyes slowly at you like she's not quite awake. Every day she eats, however, she uses the bathroom in her usual spot.

Here are the stats about her and her housing:
*We don't know her age (bought from pet store) or her weight but she is about 7-8 inches long so we estimate she's possibly older than 6mo but under a year.
*She's in a 10gal tank with 2 hides, regular access to calcium in her bowl, and repticarpet as substrate (we did previously have additional cedar substrate, but tried to get this out of the cage to prevent impaction problems). I have a UTH and a "infrared" lamp that I keep on 24 hours.
*Her temperatures fluctuate a bit, we're going to get a reptitemp thermometer soon to help control this. Usually, the cold side is between 77-81, floor is 93-98, and warm side is 88-90.

When I hold her, however, she seems very alert and runs about my hands (not too surprising) but otherwise, she just seems sleepy all the time.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. If she doesn't improve in the next few days, we will take her to a recommended vet.

 

[Lena]

I don't know if you are currently using a digital thermometer, but those old-fashoned ones are notoriously inaccurate. Get a digital thermometer (or a temp gun if you can, they're SO much easier!) and get a good reading of your temps.

You want the hot side to be from 90-95, the cool side around 75 at the least? (correct me if I'm wrong, guys) 98's a little bit too hot.

Also, if you have a UTH, chances are, you don't need that bulb at all.

As for the cedar chips.. I know some evergreen woods are toxic.. I'm not sure if cedar falls under that category.

 

[EchoPet]

As for the cedar chips.. I know some evergreen woods are toxic.. I'm not sure if cedar falls under that category.

Probably. I know that cedar is toxic for small mammals, so I wouldn't trust it for any of my pets.

PiPette,
If she's still eating, I'd say that's a good sign. Just keep an eye on her for now, but it's a good idea to have a vet picked out in case. Adjust the temps as Lena suggested - you'll probably want to look into getting a thermostat or a rheostat to give you better control. A digital thermometer with a probe (or a temp gun as already mentioned) will be one of the easiest and most accurate ways to measure what the temp is on the floor which is more important than the air temperature. Also make sure that she has three hides instead of two - one on the warm side, one on the cool side, and a moist hide. Otherwise it sounds like you are taking care of her well.

 

[PiPette3]

Thanks for the replies.

We have 2 digital thermometers. One on the cold side, and one on the warm side (I usually probe the floor to get readings). It just doesn't stay warm enough throughout her whole habitat if we don't use a lamp. The air temps shoot down to the 70s, so we need both for now (our apartment is very drafty, so we're cold too! lol). I've tried to maintain temps, based on those recommended here, but there does seem to be a lot of controversy over what is the "proper" temp!

She is still eating, but her tail is slightly smaller (this may just be because we were underfeeding her previously, taking bad advice from the pet store).

We'll keep watching her. It feels great to have found a community that's so informed and helpful!

--Jessica