Rescue (Leopard) Gecko Lethargic, Not Eating, Eyes Squinted

[dystopoly]

I've owned leopard geckos for about 3 years, and I'm pretty firm on the policy about not getting them from stores like +++++ - but this little girl broke my heart. They claimed she was about 6-8 months old, and she was fully grown living in a tiny (barely 2.5gallon, if I had to guess) tank all by herself. They wanted to get rid of her so badly that the manger offered her to me for 5 bucks. I practically couldn't say no to her, I was already worried about her health and couldn't bear to let her rot away in that tiny tank for the rest of her life. I brought her home and placed her in her current 20gal tank by herself, it's a basic setup as I'm in the process of building a custom hide but haven't quite finished it. There's an undertank heater, a bit of a hide-y cave, a humid hide on the opposite side of the tank, a water dish, and a calcium dish. She doesn't have any kind of lighting in her tank, I'm pretty against nighttime bulbs as I'm not sure whether or not they mess up sleep cycles.
She seemed pretty okay the first few days I had her..... Until about three days ago. I noticed she'd stopped exploring, stopped being interested in food alltogether, and was sleeping all the time. Even at night. Now, I don't know if the petstore was gut-loading or dusting their insects, but she has a good body mass, and her tail seemed healthy when I got her. She's moving normally when she DOES move, and there's nothing abnormal about her poop except for the fact that it's smaller than usual with her not eating. It's been over a week since I got her, and she's successfully shed once since she's been with me. It's actually after that I've noticed her declining. I don't think its parasites, since her poop looks fine, and the ONLY guess I have is that it's some kind of calcium deficiency. But at her age, and her refusing food (for the record, I've been feeding superworms and crickets - trying to move to roaches soon) I'm not sure how I can help her. I've attatched some pictures of her sleeping and her tank to the end of this post, I hope someone has answers because I'm honestly baffled!! I really want this little (or, not so little I suppose) girl to be okay, she's had a really tough life as it is.

 

[acpart]

She does seem to be a good size. I would guess that she and one of her poop samples could use a visit to the vet. Otherwise, keep an eye on her and keep offering food. Definitely take her to the vet if her tail starts getting smaller.

Aliza

 

[Russellm0704]

I would maybe try putting in a more seclusive hide in there. Obviously it will have to be big enough for that big girl to get into. It may make her feel more secure. You could always use a plastic bowl with an entrance hole cut in for the time being or a small cardboard box. Just something with 4 walls that will help get her out of the open when she wants to hide.

 

[dystopoly]

I would maybe try putting in a more seclusive hide in there. Obviously it will have to be big enough for that big girl to get into. It may make her feel more secure. You could always use a plastic bowl with an entrance hole cut in for the time being or a small cardboard box. Just something with 4 walls that will help get her out of the open when she wants to hide.

I put another hide in that she can completely disappear into, but she doesn't seem to want it much... I'm getting increasingly worried as she is still refusing food but seems to be more active than before. She's acting slightly more normal, moving around and exploring the tank, but still seems 'sleepy' even at night. No interest in food whatsoever, including superworms and crickets. I'm thinking about investing in a few waxworms to see if that'll entice her into eating - but as of right now, there's no fecal to even take to a vet to check for parasites...

 

[Neon Aurora]

Since you didn't mention, what are her temperatures at?

Also, how long have you had her? Moving from a small tank to a large one can be very overwhelming and cause stress. She may just need more time to settle. I recently added a leo to my collection and he is still not eating after 3 weeks of being left alone aside from one photo and giving fresh water. It's perfectly normal for them to take a while to settle in.

She actually looks pretty healthy to me, which is a reason I'm doubting that she is sick. Probably just stressed.

 

[dystopoly]

Since you didn't mention, what are her temperatures at?

Also, how long have you had her? Moving from a small tank to a large one can be very overwhelming and cause stress. She may just need more time to settle. I recently added a leo to my collection and he is still not eating after 3 weeks of being left alone aside from one photo and giving fresh water. It's perfectly normal for them to take a while to settle in.

She actually looks pretty healthy to me, which is a reason I'm doubting that she is sick. Probably just stressed.

Her temps across her tank go from 90's to 80's to 70's, highest reaching about 95 in the very middle of the UTH but radiating out from that gets cooler. I picked up some waxworms for her today as she hasn't eaten since I posted last, but she still seems to be turning her nose up to food... I really hope this is due to stress, because everything else seems to be pretty normal with her. She's had such a tough life up to now, she deserves to eat her heart out and be happy. ):

 

[Neon Aurora]

How long have you had her?

 

[dystopoly]

How long have you had her?

I've had her for a total of about 3 weeks now, but she was eating a little bit before, so it's probably only been about two weeks she's refused food. I managed to get her to eat some waxworms last night, but she REALLY did not want them and it was an effort to get her to even swallow them instead of spitting them out.

 

[Neon Aurora]

I don't think you should worry too much. She doesn't look unhealthy. Trying to make her eat if she doesn't want to may be putting unnecessary stress on her and doing more harm than good. The daylight hours are getting shorter at this time of year and many leopard gecko begin to slow down at this time of year. They become less active and eat less food.

 

[TheGeckoSanctuary]

I don't think you should worry too much. She doesn't look unhealthy. Trying to make her eat if she doesn't want to may be putting unnecessary stress on her and doing more harm than good. The daylight hours are getting shorter at this time of year and many leopard gecko begin to slow down at this time of year. They become less active and eat less food.

Agree entirely. I only force feed is absolutely necessary as otherwise it will only add more stress to the animal and possibly prolong the issue. Since she is a healthy weight, would get a fecal done to rule that out and otherwise just keep offering food every other night. You can try different insects (silk worms, dubia roaches, horn worms, etc.) to see if something sparks her interest as well as offering the food in different ways (left in a dish, tong offered, dropped in front of her).

As others have mentioned, it isn't uncommon for them to experience relocation stress as well as going off feed this time of year.